Today’s technology allows for flexibility like never before. Instead of being restricted by the basics that tech can offer, advances allow us to use technology in the way we want to use it, rather than having to use tech the way it was designed in every instance.
This can have a big impact on businesses as well. Most businesses are so reliant on technology to help them and their staff get their jobs done. Businesses can use this to their advantage. one way is through flexible working-replacing the traditional Monday to Friday 9 to 5 with flexible work to suit individual employees.
Here’s how to improve your flexible working strategy.
The importance of workplace flexibility
Keep staff happy
The inflexible 95 Monday to Friday routine won’t seat all of your staff. Whether they have other commitments, or it is personal preference, some staff may want to start earlier and finish earlier or vice versa. Equally others might prefer to head to the office or their Home Office with less predictability.
A flexible workplace goes hand in hand with work life balance. As long as your staff are working their contracted hours and are getting their jobs done, should it really matter what the exact hours in the day are? Keeping staff happy pay play a huge role in staff retention and keeping your business running smoothly.
Save you money
one of the biggest challenges employers face is employee retention. If a highly valued member of staff leaves it can take a significant amount of time to find a suitable replacement, and then it will take time for them to be fully trained in your systems and operations and there may be a few months after they were employed before they have truly hit the ground running.
Often stuff will change jobs if there are changes in their lives. So if you don’t want to lose valued staff implementing a flexible working strategy could be a way of keeping them around for a little bit longer.
Increasing Flexibility at Work
Flexibility isn’t just about letting employees come and go as they please. There are different approaches you need to consider:
- Flexitime: gives employees the freedom to structure their days and weeks – often including when, where and for how long they work
- Compressed workweek: employees get a shorter workweek, but still work the same number of hours.
- Remote work: where staff spend some, or all, of their time working from home or another location that isn’t one of your offices
- Part time work: where an employee opts for a part time role, rather than full time employment.
Understand Your Team
As well as knowing the different types of flexible work available, its vital that you understand your team. Not all roles can be done with too much flexibility – some require presence in the office between certain hours. And some staff might want different things from a flexible work strategy. All of your staff are unique – and so are their roles. Customer-facing and back office staff have entirely different day-to-day jobs, so shouldn’t have the same one size fits all flexible working policy.
