Time to Rethink Flexible Working
Flexible working is the number one request from employees and in today’s business world a key employee benefit.
Hiring and retaining talent is harder today than at any time in modern history. The ongoing labour shortage has created a highly competitive jobs market that is only expected to intensify in the coming years.
The cost of hiring an employee is arguably one of the most expensive parts of running a business. But, what is the true cost of not offering flexible work to new hires and indeed our greatest business asset - the current workforce, and how by becoming a flexible employer can it bring a plethora of benefits not just to your team but to your bottom line too?
Numerous benefits are just a mindset shift away.
Less attrition
More applications to job adverts
An enhanced employer value proposition
Greater autonomy & performance
A healthy work life balance for all
Empowered employees
Increased output & productivity
Less office space, meaning savings or affording a better working environment
The chance to have extended operating hours
A higher level of skills because the business is able to attract and retain a skilled and more diverse workforce
Increased job satisfaction and better staff morale
Reduced levels of sickness absence
Access to a greater talent pool as you become a more attractive, equal and inclusive employer
The Freedom of Choice.
All too often, the term flexibility is used interchangeably with remote and hybrid work and whilst linked, it is of course, different. Flexible working is much more about having the freedom to choose when to work and Who you work with. If coupled with the autonomy of how the work happens, and not enforced from where the work gets done, it can mean success for both the worker and the organisation. Latest research suggests that 67% of business believe that flexibility is crucial when it comes to competing for the most sought after skills. Yet despite the huge change to the working world, there are still only three in ten jobs advertised with flexible working or put another way, people who need to work flexibly are unable to apply for seven out of ten jobs.
We need everyone who can work to work.
Flexibility is becoming a key factor across the whole jobs market and consideration to every which way of attracting all people to the hiring pool is essential. Fixing this, could improve both living standards and give business more access to talent, experience, and skills.
Offering flexible working will also attract people back into the labour market who may have left because of burn out, childcare or caring responsibilities helping them consider switching jobs, retraining, or transferring skills to another sector or role. In our own business we have proven successful case studies of how flexibility has retained members of our team.
Failing to offer flexibility cuts out a growing proportion of the talent pool. As research shows we need everyone to be part of it, including differently abled people, minorities, women, people with a prior conviction and retirees. Many who have the experience, maturity and skills, and who represent some of the best available talent, but who can only consider a job with say hybrid patterns, specific working hours or who need to work part-time, because of other commitments.
So, what is flexible working….
Flexible working is any working pattern to suit a worker’s needs, described as any one of the following. The list is growing:
Flexi time including flexible shift patterns, start and finish times
Reduced hours and or part-time hours
A compressed work week or term time working
Hybrid, Home, Remote, Work from Anywhere, working
Job sharing, side hustles, second and sometimes third jobs
Banking of Hours. Annualised hours
Gradual Retirement
Leaves and Sabbaticals
How much freedom can employers and organisations give people to set their own working patterns offering more control over their job role?
Whilst giving more freedom to your workforce may sound like a risk, so is squashing it. Giving people the space to do their best creates an entirely different connection to the organisation bringing even more energy to the contribution they are making. Talented people are the first to walk away and their ideas, their full potential, as well as the contribution an organisation can benefit from, will never come to fruition.
A few ideas …
I believe as employers we have a little more room to consider some form of flexible working.
1. When hiring, it’s key to ensure real clarity over what flexible working means to both parties. Often recruiters hear of candidates starting a role where their expectations of how flexible working in the role was advertised doesn’t play out in reality. Talented people wont stay or will be cajoled away if the flexibility they were looking for is then offered by another company.
2. Workers are nervous to ask about working flexibly so as well as being transparent in the job advert, consider leading an open discussion at the interview stage around any ideas a potential new hire has, gaining their input and then agreeing together what working patterns work best, will help both the worker and the organisation. This would also apply to an existing member of the team who is looking to leave!
3. Giving people autonomy is the best way to support intrinsic motivation, resulting in workers being more satisfied at work, effective and committed, taking real ownership of their role. Everyone has their own unique way of achieving an outcome, give people more room to deliver in their own way.
4. Better job design could make flexibility possible, so how can managers and leaders extend a mindset shift to make permanent improvements by thinking more around the question.. “how can we make flexibility work across ALL job roles.” It may be offering something as simple as flexible start and finish times, the difference to both retaining an employee or securing one.
5. One size does not fit all. Different people need different things to thrive and achieve at work. Being mindful that a flexible and autonomous way of working might not be for everyone especially when people are at various stages of their career. As employers we need to be individualising employment and designing the workplace around bringing to life the human spirit that helps people on a pathway to success, progress and growth.
6. Taking advantage of the available technology to ensure your organisation is adopting a “hybrid first approach” is key. Whilst, this doesn’t necessarily mean everyone will be working remotely, having the capabilities to operate this way will allow all of the workforce to have all of the tools they need to be able to connect, communicate and access systems, real time information and data from wherever they choose or need to be working from.
In Summary.
In today’s new world of work, there ensues a tight labour market, talent scarcity and a skills shortage, that isn’t going to miraculously get better anytime soon, meaning as employers, we must find different ways to capture and bring talent into our workplaces as well as keep them once secured.
Flexible working isn’t about managers and companies giving up control and letting anyone do what they want. It’s about giving people more control over their time. The agency to run with their ideas and ways to advance the purpose of the company they work for so they can achieve the goals for the business as well as their own career goals.
It’s also about workers accommodating “life” alongside their work with all the complexities and challenges that brings, so that the most valuable business asset, our people, are able to prioritise not just their work life but all the other things in their life important to them.
Flexibility is not just a key employee benefit, but a business imperative.
Over to you!
I’d love to get your thoughts on flexible working and know more about how its affecting your workforce, talent management and business, please do leave your insights and ideas here
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Until next time,
Michelle
