What is flexible working, what’s in it for the employer and who’s doing it?

Organisations must adapt to economic and cultural change by embracing more flexible working practices or risk losing the new war for talent. Fifty percent of employers surveyed who had flexible practices in place admitted these were borne out of the GFC where flexibility in terms of shortened working week and other necessary trade-offs with employees were implemented as a survival strategy to retain employees whilst necessarily reducing their salary levels.

Our recent survey of business leaders in Australia and New Zealand, conducted with The Rubicor Group also sought to uncover the current extent of flexible working practices already in place across the business communities of both Australia and New Zealand. We were interested in understanding the perceived benefits and challenges that flexibility brings into the workplace and whether flexible arrangements are now an integral part of the employee value proposition employers are presenting to the external candidate market as well as their internal employee audience.

Does successful flexible working really mean boosted productivity and improved staff morale, as many claim?

The findings below reveal a powerful argument in support of this.
The findings below seem to support this notion.
The sentiment observed in our survey responses seems to say so.

• Only 2% of the surveyed audience felt that there were no positive business benefits gained from introducing flexible work practices
• 86% of the businesses surveyed now provide some form of flexible working initiatives
• 84% felt flexibility would create higher levels of retention
• 75% of respondents agreed that flexible work practices would have a positive benefit in attracting quality staff
• 74% also felt employee morale would increase
• 70% of all respondents believed that employee engagement would improve
• 64% felt they would reduce absenteeism in the workplace

It seems then that flexible working can deliver significant benefits for both employer and employee. There appears however to be little awareness of how to fully harness this via the EVP and employer brand, with 57% of respondents admitting that these benefits were NOT regularly discussed with applying candidates.

We know that work-life balance is increasingly on the radar for employees and candidates. We also know work-life balance is a key driver of job satisfaction for generations X and Y, and increasingly the Boomers. We can then suggest with confidence that flexibility and work-life balance then are an integral part of the EVP and as such represent a significant element of any employer brand. It is not without reason that the adoption of flexible practices is widely supported by HR practitioners.

Work-life balance keeps individuals healthy, stimulated in all areas of their life, and more likely to stay and contribute productively to their employer’s vision.

It is getting harder for employers to ignore that there are more flexible working models and more technology to support them than ever before. Employers must mind-shift away from needing to see an employee in a seat to fostering a ‘results-oriented’ environment.

The key words here are ‘trust’ and ‘empowerment’. If you don’t trust your employees and are not a manager who works hard to empower employees, then you will struggle to make such a scenario work and will likely be left behind. We are witnessing more remote and flexible working than ever before. Business sectors that have fiercely resisted the model, such as the legal sector are finally succumbing to employee pressure in order to retain and attract in a very competitive field – they are not alone.

Many office policies relating to Flexibility are not formalised (statistic) which could represent a ticking-time-bomb for employers. Employers beware – when rules and favours are not applied with equity across a workforce – if this occurs then previously settled employees may well become disengaged or even move on.

Healthy Internal Communications

• Over 43% of managers surveyed said their teams were unaware or only partly aware of the current flexible benefits available to them

There is a clear communications gap here between having the benefits available and making employees aware of them, even when these benefits have been specifically designed to keep them in the business! – this communication gap is hurting many employers who do not have a robust EVP, have poor internal communications and no effective employer brand to recruit to.

The most desired flexible practices suggested by survey participants included: Childcare support, Sabbatical, Job share/Flexi-time and Technology support.

The strongest perceived or expected problems/difficulties outlined by survey participants included: Supply and support resourcing, No trust from leaders and managers, Potential fragmentation of teams and Expense.

Sample response (see below)

To access the Flexible Workplace Survey – March 2010  report document click here.



Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia with affiliates in Melbourne, Gold Coast, London, Singapore and Mumbai.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au