Guy Laurence, the CEO of Vodafone since 2009, has spoken about his unconventional attitude towards offices and how he utilises hot desks and flexible working in an interview with the Telegraph.
Announcing that a lot of the ways in which the western world works are broken he spoke of his decision to break every rule not performing a useful function.
In Newbury where the company’s UK arm is based the executives don’t have their own offices and each member of staff is not allocated their own desk.
Instead the 3,500 staff each have a drawer in a filing cabinet and the tools needed to hot desk around the office, company coffee shop or even from home.
Such flexible and mobile working conditions come with some strict rules including not leaving anything on a desk, as it will be removed if it stays there overnight.
Research into flexible working by Advanced Workplace Associates recently found that companies who allowed staff to work from home suffered from less absenteeism.
Mr Laurence said: “When you remove the barriers of offices, meetings and all the rest of it, people can spend more time doing what they’re supposed to do.”
