IT departments blamed for lack of flexible working

NEWS IT departments are to blame for the slow uptake of flexible working in the UK, according to a survey of human resources departments. HR departments were not impressed with the amount of support offered by IT departments to facilitate remote working, according to a study by outsourcing outfit Nextra UK. According to the survey of 1,000 medium to large businesses, 57 per cent of organisations had flexible working policies in place to encourage staff to work from home. However, 49 per cent of the HR directors questioned said there was insufficient IT support to enable workers to take advantage of flexible working plans. Dr Richard Sykes, chairman of outsourcing consultancy Morgan Chambers, said: "If an IT department won't cooperate, my advice to HR people is to fire the IT department or get what they want from outside the company." Jon Wight, head of IT at Ginsters, said: "Far too often IT departments see things as difficult. Many people in IT support need to be reminded they are there to support the business, yet historically many IT departments don't function well in embracing changing IT strategies." However, Chalky White, IT director at office equipment company Barkers, disagreed: "People just blame things on IT because it's the easy department to blame. We can support flexible working, but the question is, is the board prepared to pay for it?" A spokeswoman for Nextra said there is a lack of understanding by HR of technical supply and support issues.