Are you fit for London 2012?
Published Monday, February 8, 2010 - 18:01
With fewer than 1,000 days to the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, public sector organisations should be asking themselves if they are prepared for the worldâ??s largest sporting event. Mark Quartermaine from BT discusses.
Far from London-based, the Olympic Games are due to take place in 34 competition venues across the UK, including Glasgow, Manchester, Cardiff and Weymouth; the Paralympic Games will take place across a further 21 venues. Thousands of athletes will train at over 600 training camps nationwide, across towns and cities including Loughborough, Aberdeen, Bradford, Belfast and Cardiff.
A recent survey carried out by BT Global Services, looking at how prepared UK companies and public sector organisations are for how the Games will impact their businesses and staff, found that almost half (43 per cent) of board-level executives in the public sector said they are unaware activities will be happening in their area.
While offering huge opportunities for many regions, the Olympic Games will also have large implications for how many go about their work. An influx of visitors and athletes will mean resources will be stretched: travel, medical care, and refuse collection are just a few examples.
The number of people using public transport is expected to rise to 800,000 during the busiest day of the Games – equivalent to the entire population of Leeds - and approximately 300,000 foreign visitors are due to stay in Britain during this time.
With more than 9.2 million tickets expected to be sold for the Games, customer contact centres will also be under pressure to cope with huge call volumes 24 hours a day, and even to support multilingual inquiries. Over a quarter of public sector organisations expect an increase in call centre volumes during the Games, and encouragingly 64% have made provisions for this.
A quarter of public sector organisations surveyed expect the Games to affect their staff but have not yet assessed what impact this will be, while nine out of ten organisations (88 per cent) have not assessed what impact the Games could have on their staff getting to work, supplies being delivered or other effects on their business.
For some, flexible working could be a key proponent in business planning. However the survey found that only 32 per cent of public sector organisations have a fully-implemented flexible working policy in place. Of those that do not have a policy, two-fifths are unsure whether it is achievable to install flexible working technologies in time, so that staff could work from home or elsewhere during the Games. However unlike some private sector counterparts, the public sector has embraced flexible working. 90% of public sector organisations have policy of flexible working, a fifth more than private sector counterparts. In addition, they are more likely to have had this in place for a long time, and a third of staff work flexibly on a regular basis. The Games will have an impact on nearly every public sector organisation in the UK and, by using technology to support remote or flexible working, those businesses will not only be prepared for the situation, but could also take advantage of the change it compels.
Those in the public sector also recognise the benefits of having a flexible workforce. Safety and security are key to this with 96 per cent of those surveyed believing a successful policy could support their business continuity plans. The majority also said it would help minimise the effects of transport disruption (72 per cent), pandemics (66 per cent) and natural disasters (68 per cent), including inclement weather.
The report highlights further advantages that a flexible working policy can bring, including improved productivity, reduced costs and attracting and keeping talented employees. Some 64 per cent of public sector organisations agreed it would help their people achieve a better work/life balance and two thirds (66 per cent) felt it would ultimately result in happier staff.
Some organisations are adopting a short term approach to the Games. Less than a third (30 per cent) of those that will have a flexible working policy in time for the Games said they will not continue once the athletes have gone home.
Public sector organisations should be asking themselves in the run-up to London 2012 whether their systems and processes are scalable, sustainable and secure. Public sector organisations need to plan to deliver a reliable and resilient service. Scalability will allow public sector organisations to meet an increased demand for services – can staff work flexibly; can they allocate resource accordingly?
Increased demand is not the only problem in the run up to the Olympic Games. A cyber attack is seen as the biggest security threat to London 2012 – are public sector organisations ready to mitigate and respond to this risk? For example, a pandemic could cause absenteeism rates of 40%, resulting in severe operational disruptions.
The focus on sustainability is also important - for many London 2012 is about leaving behind a legacy, be it reducing carbon emissions, making your operations more efficient, or creating a flexible working policy that could help reduce risks and future proof organisations.
The athletes are getting in shape, and so too should we. Now is the time for public sector organisations to get stretching and make sure they are in shape ahead of these Olympian challenges.
