Worksmart at Aberdeenshire Council

The Aberdeenshire Worksmart programme includes four working profiles: Fixed, Flexible, Mobile and Home, with eight different patterns of working time: Annualised Hours, Compressed Hours, Day and Time of Day changes, Flexitime, Part-time working, Self Rostering, Shift Swapping and Term-time working (more information on these work profiles can be found in Aberdeenshire, 2014). Aberdeenshire Council faced additional challenges in adopting a flexible working programme, given their rural location and unreliable 3G and mobile phone coverage. However, the programme was successfully introduced, one team at a time, with each of the early adopters consulted on an ongoing basis to highlight and counteract any initial difficulties associated with agile and homeworking.

The programme has exceeded expectations with a 10-15% reduction in employee commuting and business mileage, and significant reductions in associated CO2eq emissions (Carbon Trust, 2014). Between 2010 and 2011, figures from 230 officers who recorded their commuting mileage (out of 1200 who went through the Worksmart programme) showed a 69% reduction  in CO2 emissions over the previous year from 104,593kg of CO2  to 51,116kg CO2 through working from home or at a location closer to home (Flexibility, 2012).

The council has also achieved a minimum of 1.4 employees per desk across all teams, releasing fourteen offices and achieving annual savings of around £270,000 and a capital receipt of £200,000 (Carbon Trust, 2014). Employee productivity has also increased according to 61% of managers, with only 2% feeling that productivity had decreased.