British businesses are being urged to implement flexible working hours during the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Research by Deloitte revealed that almost half of businesses will encourage their employees to attend Olympic and Paralympic events over the months of July, August and September in 2012.

In addition, the business advisory firm found that a third of big businesses say that they will introduce flexible working in order to allow their staff to watch the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Almost a third of bosses said that they would enable their employees to watch live events during work hours as long as they made up the time at the start or end of the day, while 42 per cent said they will install television screens in the workplace.

Heather Hancock, London 2012 lead partner at Deloitte, said that it was positive that businesses were already planning for the Olympics as the event is likely to increase the levels of employee absences next Summer.

She said: "Businesses need to think about the policies they will put in place for their workforce next summer. For example, they will need to consider how they are going to manage the potential increased demand for annual leave during the Games period.

"They will also need to carefully consider how they can help employees manage their working practices to accommodate flexible or remote working; ensuring business needs are met whilst facilitating a Games experience."

Ms Hancock went onto say that flexible working hours will benefit employees but may not be practical for every industry that will still need to meet the demands of clients during such a busy period.

Those businesses that can practically implement flexible working will increase their employees' job satisfaction and experience better morale in the workplace as staff will feel respected and valued.

Flexible working can result in reduced levels of sickness absence and higher rates of staff retention which can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty as employees become more productive.

Introducing a flexible working policy can involve a lot of planning so firms may want to employ the services of performance improvement consulting experts as they will be able to provide invaluable business advice.

Deloitte also discovered that London businesses will recognise that transport troubles during the Games will affect employee commutes as 30 per cent said they will understand if their workers turn up late.

More London employees may be working from home next Summer due to potential commuter problems.

Author Martin Hofschroer is from Himsworth Consultancy, a leading management consultancy firm of senior business and consultancy professionals that specialise in improving corporate and operational performance, delivering world-class customer service improvements and offering alternatives to business and functional outsourcing. Visit http://www.himsworthconsultancy.com/ .