On the brink:Flexible working during the fuel crisis of September 2000
Research conducted by Edna Murphy, New Work Solutions, Cambridge 
© New Work Solutions 2000
1. Introduction
This research was conducted during Friday 15 September and 18 September 2000 and involved speaking to senior staff from 35 organisations around the country about the way in which staff were managing to get to work during the fuel crisis. 
The survey was conducted against the backdrop of the easing of the fuel crisis. On Friday 15 September news spread that the blockades had been lifted and oil companies were promising that fuel would start to be seen in filling stations over the weekend. However, shortages and queuing were still noticeable for days afterwards and the uncertainty was made worse by false reports of the blockades resuming their action. 
In any event, at the time of conducting the research, businesses had just experienced a shock from which they were still recovering. Furthermore, they faced the distinct possibility that further action would occur in future.
2. Methodology
Thirty five companies were selected for interview. They represent a cross section of industry, including manufacturing and services firms from different sectors. Almost all are large companies, and almost all are based outside London. Confidentiality was assured because organisations would have been reluctant to reveal weaknesses in their operations otherwise. 
The interview was brief but contained a mixture of closed and open questions, The interviewee was either a senior member of Human Resources, or else a member of the Crisis Team tasked with handling operational problems during the crisis. The interview allowed respondents to provide as much information as they wished. 
3. Findings
3.1 Seriousness of the crisis
At the time of interview, the end of the crisis was in sight and so most (32 out of 35) said the situation was 'not at all serious' or 'not very serious', scoring 1 or 2 on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 was 'not at all serious'. Three organisations said that situation was 'serious', scoring 4 out of 5. Several organisations described their situation in terms of being 'on the brink'.
A second question asked what would happen if the crisis had continued for some time. Most (33 out of 35) responded that if the crisis had continued the difficulties would have been either 'fairly serious' or 'very serious' for their business. Three respondents volunteered the view that even a couple of days more would have caused serious difficulties, two put it at the level of 'a disaster'.
Several firms had formed 'crisis teams' which met daily in most cases to co-ordinate the most pressing matters of the day. Some did this in pursuance of an emergency plan whereas others formed such groups in an ad hoc way.
3.2 Difficulties getting into work
Nearly two thirds of firms said their staff had experienced difficulties getting into work. Those that did not tended to be urban firms well served with public transport. In particular the small number of London-based operations (2) experienced little or no difficulty, and did not anticipate further difficulties if the crisis deepened unless the crisis impacted their customers or markets.
Particular difficulties were reported in connection with the following types of worker:
´	mobile sales forces
´	front-of-house, retail sales or reception staff
´	shift workers
´	administrative staff 
´	staff employed in call centres where there was no public transport access
´	those providing services to people at home - repairs, caring
´	emergency services e.g. fire service, ambulance drivers.
3.3 Car dependency
This survey assessed 60% of the firms surveyed to be highly car dependent, with almost all requiring at least some in-work travel by car.  
The assessment of 'highly car dependent' indicates that a business' core functions are critically dependent upon staff travelling by car. Car dependency can come about in different ways. Sometimes car dependency can be 'designed in', where the location of the business makes it inaccessible except by car, yet remote working may not be feasible because of the nature of the work. Here the business requires staff to travel to a particular location, and in the absence of a works bus or similar, it is building in car commuting. Another typical form of car dependency is where the sales force is only able to perform to the company's requirements by extensive car travel.
But car dependency can arise in more subtle ways, even in local authorities, where budgetary constraints combine with high levels of environmental awareness to encourage a reduction in the need to travel by car. The problem is that organisational goals do not necessarily match individual manager's expectations of their staff, who in turn may receive mixed messages from the organisation about travel as a result. 
Finally, it is perhaps not surprising that car sharing was the alternative mode of choice for highly car dependent firms (see below).
3.4 What people did to get to work
Many people made an effort to get into work, and most firms were beginning to acquire stories about acts of heroism. One incentive for staff was that in many if not most cases staff were having to take the time as holiday if they were not able to make it in to work. The evidence suggests that many people tried using buses, car sharing, cycling and teleworking for the first time. 
Car sharing
80% (28) used extensive car sharing, some organised spontaneously or informally amongst staff. Several firms had already established a car sharing scheme.
Car sharing was widespread during the crisis. Typically small groups of people who lived nearby got together and took turns to drive the others into work. The effect was limited because eventually the petrol ran out for everyone. Having an established practice of car sharing was reported to be 'invaluable' and 'very helpful indeed' in coping with the fuel crisis. 
Incentives such as offering staff a 'free ride home' (for example a taxi ride home where the car share falls through for whatever reason) are good incentives for car sharing. However during the crisis it was potentially problematic as taxi became affected too. 
Of the firms that used car sharing, almost all were rated as highly car dependent, having numerous staff who need their car for work. 
Using public transport
61% (21) reported many instances where staff used public transport in connection with their travel to work for the first time.
It is an obvious point that public transport can only be used where it exists. A frequently-reported problem was that public transport was inadequate as an alternative to car travel for the firms questioned. But in many cases this was through choice. Office locations which are out of town, perhaps on an industrial site and away from public transport links are vulnerable to any difficulties in relation to car access. By contrast, those firms which are served by public transport reported limited disruption during the fuel crisis. 
The experience of using public transport was reported to have been mixed. In some cases staff tried the journey, realised that the public transport journey was better than expected, and decided to continue to travel in by public transport. In some cases staff had a very different experience and vowed never to use public transport again if at all possible. 
Flexible working (home working / teleworking)
55% (19) used home working or teleworking, enabling staff who were unable to get to work to continue with at least essential tasks. 
Firms using teleworking and home working as a way of overcoming difficulties during the crisis are described as follows: 
´	extending flexible working policy to cover the crisis (32%). This involves relaxing the core hours requirement in flexi time schemes, instructing managers that they must allow flexible working rather than that they may do so, promoting existing policies to a wider group of staff. Often such schemes are voluntary, requiring management approval for individual cases. While the drivers for such schemes vary, the fuel crisis provided a stimulus to expand the take up of such schemes.
´	ad hoc home working on a temporary basis only (23%). Firms where there was no experience or acceptance of home working or teleworking in the normal course of events took it up to cope in the emergency. While firms recognised that flexible working was invaluable in 'smoothing' operations, it is disappointing that most of these firms plan to revert to the status quo as soon as possible. 
The rest, some 45% (16) of those surveyed, came into the following categories:
´	no home working / teleworking possible (11%). In some cases home working or teleworking was impractical, for example where the staff were largely engaged in laboratory-based or factory work. Also, security issues may be particularly important for certain sectors, for example financial services firms.
´	home working / teleworking for a few but not extended during the crisis (11%). Here firms have a policy on teleworking or home working, but have decided that these flexible working policies should only apply to a few people, for various reasons. These firms did not see flexible working as being a possibility for others during the crisis.
´	no interest in home working / teleworking - complacency (23%)? Many firms did not explore alternatives for staff to get to work or work from home. Some firms insisted people came to work in whatever way they could or be forced to take a day's holiday.
Company buses
14% (5) firms either provided or were about to provide a company minibus to get staff to and from work.
Some of these firms have extensive programmes to promote alternatives to car travel, generally because of corporate values to promote sustainable development. In other cases providing a bus was a simple, pragmatic response to a problem, and made staff feel valued by the company.
More accessible offices
14% (5) encouraged staff to use alternative offices which were either nearer to the employee's home or were easier to get to.
Firms with multiple sites encouraged staff to operate out of an office they could access easier than their usual office. Sometimes this involved travelling much greater distances than normal, but by a mode other than by car. The firms' ability to link multiple sites provided staff with alternatives which enabled them to continue to function as near to normal as possible. 
3.5 Flexible working: policy vs practice
The respondents were asked whether they had a policy on different aspects of flexible working, in particular home working and / or teleworking. The purpose of this question was to see what difference having policies on flexible working made in practice. 
Flexible working in practice
The experience of using teleworking or home working during the crisis was favourable. Overall 55% (19) actually used some form of flexible working as a way maintaining operations during the crisis. And of this group the majority - 37% (13) - said that it had made a great difference in their ability to perform normally, and most would continue to use it after the crisis, whether they had a policy or not. 
Comments from representatives about the usefulness of teleworking or flexible working were generally to the effect that it was extremely helpful in keeping people in touch with the office, with customers, enabling short term or urgent matters to be dealt with. It was felt to have been beneficial in 'smoothing' operations. In response to the question about why flexible working was useful one respondent even said 'it's obvious!!'.
Policies on flexible working
´	32% (11) firms had a flexible working policy and had actively encouraged as many staff as possible to use it in order to overcome transport difficulties during the fuel crisis. 
´	11% (4) firms had a flexible working policy but had narrowly defined it to apply only to a specific group within the organisation. These firms did not see flexible working as being of value during the crisis.
´	23% (8) firms practised flexible working as a pragmatic matter despite not having a policy and many will continue to use it after the fuel crisis.
´	57% (20) firms had no policy on flexible working, home working or teleworking, although nearly half of this group actually used flexible working during the crisis.
´	34% (12) firms did not use flexible working, but only 10% (4) had reasonable explanations for not doing so. The rest - 24% (8) - seemed very complacent about the need to respond flexibly to changes in the external environment. 
Observations
Of the firms that actively encouraged flexible working during the crisis (55%), more than half (32%) had both policy and established practice in place already. Thus developing the policy provided these firms with an additional capability which could be acted upon in a crisis. 
Of those without a policy, less than half were able to act in the crisis to encourage staff to work flexibly. Almost the same number seemed indifferent to the ability to respond flexibly and placed little or no value on it. These firms come from a broad range of sectors (high tech, retail, insurance, energy etc.) and so it is likely that the barriers to flexibility derive from the particular company's culture. A total of 26% of the survey sample was complacent about the importance of flexibility and had been unable to or uninterested in developing flexible working as a way of managing in the crisis.
3.6 Respondents' reflections on the crisis
Most respondents said they had been taken by surprise by the crisis. Some areas were very rapidly affected (for example the West Country, Suffolk, Lincolnshire) making those affected feel particularly vulnerable.
'We're an emergency service. We were taken by surprise. However we coped - we had to.'
'In the end it was not as bad as we feared, but the petrol arrived only just in the nick of time.'
Where flexibility is an option for managers, there may be very positive effects for the business. But in some cases offering the facility to managers while at the same time insisting that administrative staff struggle into the office or lose holiday entitlement has caused resentment. 
'It's all right for managers, they get to stay home and check their email. But admin have to get in somehow. And there's hardly anything for them to do because most of the managers are away. Before this crisis there wasn't resentment about this, but there is now.'
'Only Directors are allowed to have access to the system from home. But it would have been useful if more people could have done this.'
Some firms formed ad hoc emergency or crisis teams, while others were better prepared. Several organisations had the benefit of detailed emergency planning, for example public service organisations. These were all found to be extremely valuable, as staff had plans in place and had spent time ensuring that they were prepared:
'It really highlighted how important the emergency plan was.'
'The planning we'd done really came into its own.'
A small number of organisations in the sample had implemented Green Travel Plans (GTPs). These involve detailed work, developing alternatives to car use and promoting them to staff within the organisation. Generally organisations decide to implement GTPs in line with corporate values of environmental sustainability or in response to local planning pressures. In this sample there were two local authorities and two companies with GTPs, and the companies' views are: 
'Having a GTP means we're always talking to staff about alternatives to car travel anyway. During the crisis we had a lot of options in place already.'
'What the fuel crisis has taught me is that all our work on GTPs has been worth it after all. It has all paid off.'
4. Conclusions
During the recent fuel crisis flexibility enabled many firms to come near to 'business as usual' in terms of the office staff continuing to perform their key tasks. Those firms with the experience and embedded knowledge about different forms of flexible working were in an excellent position to extend the opportunity to many people. The policies were in place, but importantly so too was the infrastructure, the experience, the management skills and the support. 
Firms without the benefit of such experience were operating in an experimental way, which was appropriate given the emergency that many firms saw the fuel crisis as being. But while the firms without policies reported successful experiences, they are likely to have missed out on many benefits which typically flow from introducing a well-managed flexible working scheme. Also, for the duration of the crisis when using flexible working, it is possible that staff and employers may have been exposed to risks, for example relating to health and safety or company security. For those wishing to continue with flexible working, it would be advisable to consider how best to support flexible working within the organisation. 
During this crisis, many of the firms who responded flexibly perceived that the need for flexibility was a temporary one. However, it is likely that disruptions will continue. In any case, in an increasingly competitive environment, the ability to respond flexibly is increasingly viewed as a core capability. 
One effect of the fuel crisis is that it has highlighted the car dependency of most companies and their lack of resilience in the face of transport problems. In addition, the crisis brought home the vulnerability of the economy to fuel supplies. 
The ones who managed best in this crisis were those firms with flexibility wired in. That is, where flexible working was firmly embedded in the culture, and where the appropriate infrastructure to support flexible working was already in place. The value of such embedded knowledge and experience is apparent in the rapid responses which were possible in these firms - and the price of not having the relevant knowledge would have manifested itself if the fuel crisis had continued any further.