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  1. #1
    Thailand Expat jandajoy's Avatar
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    Working from home !!!!!

    Council lets £100,000 executive work from home - in Australia



    Jill Sherman, Whitehall Editor


    A council chief will still be paid to manage his town hall's finances for the next year despite emigrating to Australia.
    Mat Taylor, 44, executive director and chief finance officer of Fenland District Council, in Cambridgeshire, wanted to leave his £100,000 job to move to Adelaide with his family in October. However, he will continue to be paid £20,000 for one day's work a week for the next 12 months to manage Fenland's £18million budget from Australia via video link and e-mail.
    The decision was condemned by the Taxpayers' Alliance, which said that there had to be a more efficient way to cover his role. “It's a bit worrying when ordinary families are struggling to make ends meet whilst council executives are sunning themselves in warmer climes,” a spokesman said.
    Geoff Harper, Conservative councillor for Doddington, defended the decision, saying that the authority did not want to lose Mr Taylor's expertise. “The council is confident it will work for both us and Mat,” he said. “We are the first local authority in the country to fully utilise modern technology to deliver a highly cost effective solution. Retaining Mat's services is much more cost-efficient than bringing in an interim finance director.”
    A council spokesman said that Mr Taylor would continue to monitor the district council's finances from Australia but the rest of his job would be delegated to other members of staff until the appointment of a replacement finance officer next year.



    Sandra Claxton, the council's chief executive, said the only other option would have been to pay an interim manager £800 a day until a replacement was found. She said that Mr Taylor's “excellent finance management” had played a pivotal role in turning round the council's finance.

  2. #2
    I am in Jail

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    Quote Originally Posted by jandajoy
    Sandra Claxton, the council's chief executive, said the only other option would have been to pay an interim manager £800 a day until a replacement was found. She said that Mr Taylor's “excellent finance management” had played a pivotal role in turning round the council's finance. __________________
    ignoring the sensationalism it makes sense.

  3. #3
    Mea-Culpa
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    Good for him..

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    peterpan's Avatar
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    I think the taxpayers alliance is a bit jealous, left in the cold miserable shitty place while the astute Mr Taylor is enjoying a life in the sun. But makes sense, his accounting work can be easily handled electronically. When I left OZ we had 15 engineers, all working from home, paid them the same but didn't have to provide any facilities or even a work station for them, they were so keen they brought their own..Productivity actually improved by about 15%.

  5. #5
    I am in Jail

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    exactly, but that wouldnt make good headlines for the hysterical

  6. #6
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by peterpan
    I left OZ we had 15 engineers, all working from home, paid them the same but didn't have to provide any facilities or even a work station for them, they were so keen they brought their own..Productivity actually improved by about 15%.
    Proven over and over in many industries. Old habits are hard to break and the clock punch bunch are hard to convince. I worked from home almost exclusively in the last few years before retirement. Down side personally, I worked many more hours per day than if I had been in an office.
    "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect,"

  7. #7
    Thailand Expat jandajoy's Avatar
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    So why isn't there more of this?

    Seems great.

    Are there any disadvantages?

  8. #8
    On a walkabout Loy Toy's Avatar
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    ^ None as I see it JJ. A job has been allocated and for a period and Mr. Taylor has comitted to finish his work. Video conferencing is a daily "work pratice" occurance now and digital advancement has made the world a very small place.
    Plus it is cheaper to live in Oz then it is in the UK.

  9. #9
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    I work from home a lot

    I can manage my projects without needing to visit the offices. I do visit occasionally, when in the same country, but mainly just to get the "human interaction" rather than the colder computer analyses

  10. #10
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jandajoy
    So why isn't there more of this?
    There are many "soft" industries in the US doing it. In order for it to work each employee needs to set a clear unambiguous agreed to set of goals and objectives. For example for a salesman, bring in $xxxx in sales in Q1. Report weekly on sales status, etc. Also need some type of knowledge management system which allows employees at home to find out lessons learned from others. No more water cooler to meet at!

    Disadvantages are primarily perceived rather than real. Most objections come from old style management and revolve around "employee control" and monitoring. For the person working at home as I was, the boundaries between work and leisure time get pretty blurred. That is, I was finding myself doing work when I really needed to get up from the desk and take a break, eat or sleep!

  11. #11
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DrAndy
    but mainly just to get the "human interaction" rather than the colder computer analyses
    That is an important bit to any business. Like you I would visit the "office" occasionally to catch up on who was doing what in the business and establish the personal network we all need to get things done.

  12. #12
    ding ding ding
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    Quote Originally Posted by Taxpayers' Alliance Spokesperson
    It's a bit worrying when ordinary families are struggling to make ends meet whilst council executives are sunning themselves in warmer climes
    Statements like this always amaze me, instead of moaning about their lot in life "ordinary" people should fcuk the up, work hard, get some money behind them. Then they can go a live and work in another country with warmer climate, it aint difficult. Nobody is chained to the uk by their ankles and bitching that others that have the balls to get off their arses and make the move is just poor form.
    All power to this guy, he's obviously good at his job.

  13. #13
    bkkandrew
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    ^Quite. Sounds quite reasonable, rather than leaving them in the sh1t, he is on hand during the handover period. Win-win.

    On an aside, I have pretty much worked from home since 1994 and it seems to have worked for me.

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