Harvard Business Review Flexible Work Arrangements Based on Culture

Physical flexibility is often something we envy in the young. At work, we may besides look back fondly on the flexible hours we enjoyed when younger. Now employees are replacing that longing with action. Many task seekers are prioritizing flexible piece of work arrangements.

Research shows need for flexible work is growing:

• Amongst millennials, 92% "identify flexibility as a top priority when job hunting"
• eighty% of women are looking for flexibility in their adjacent function
• 79% of employees believe "flexible working would brand them more productive"

Even staffers over fifty are angling for more flexible working schedules as they look to ease into retirement with part-fourth dimension hours first.

COVID-nineteen has only amped up the desire for more flexibility at work. According to Deloitte , 82% of companies now see flexible work arrangements as a disquisitional component of employee management. Information technology'south part of a greater trend Deloitte identified in its 2020 Global Human being Capital Trends Written report towards " designing work for well-existence. "

Why Flexibility Matters at Piece of work

It's important to recognize flexibility isn't just a "wouldn't it be squeamish if" want of the worker who wants to remain in pajamas most of the work day. In a Harvard Business concern Review (HBR) study , 96% of the nearly 2,000 of white-collar professionals surveyed said they needed flexibility.

Some 97% of men and 95% of women reported said they needed access to flexibility, women were more less probable to have access to flexibility options. Even so only 47% of their companies offered flexibility.

HBR identified three ways a lack of flexibility can negatively impact employees:

• Burden on parents and employees with care giver responsibilities
• Struggle to incorporate exercise and good for you living
• Burnout as it becomes more than challenging to sustain performance and productivity levels

Flexibility extends across working hours too. Employees want more choice in how and where work is done. The spectrum of flexibility options tin include:

• Enabling employees to create unconventional piece of work schedules (fourth dimension shifting to optimize productivity, performance)
• Giving employees agility to leave work for a few hours to accommodate an appointment or family unit obligation and make up those hours later
• Basing workers out of the concern part but allowing them to piece of work in locations of their choosing some of the time
• Offering employees the ability to work from anywhere
• Minimizing travel
• Reducing workload for employees who want to piece of work role-fourth dimension merely
• Providing unlimited paid time off
• Accepting flexible arrival and departure
• Compressing shifts or workweek
• Supporting caregiving leave

Prioritizing Flexibility to Recruit, Retain the Best

Flexible working arrangements recognize the many ways in which business as usual has evolved. With globalization, the 9-to-5 work day has been replaced with a demand to be available 24-7. Concern is washed across time zones with customers in countries effectually the world .

Offer flexible hours and recognizing work can be done exterior of the traditional office cubicle tin can help an organization gain a competitive edge. For one thing, the potential talent puddle gets wider and deeper when flexible work patterns are offered. Additionally, employee engagement , multifariousness and retention benefit in environments that provide flexibility.

The number of people leaving jobs  considering the positions lacked flexibility doubled in Flexjobs' surveys from 13% in 2014 to 31% in 2018.

In Manpower Group Solutions's survey of fourteen,000 employees ages 18-65 in 19 countries, nearly forty percentage listed "schedule flexibility" in the peak three factors they consider when making career decisions. Further, 63 percent of candidates "do not believe they need to be sitting at their desk to become their work washed."

"Workplace flexibility as a talent management policy is no longer an option; information technology is an essential do that enables organizations to attract and develop skilled talent," Manpower's authors noted.

The international study did identify differences beyond regions. Americans had the greatest interest in unlimited paid fourth dimension off while those in India were more than eager for location independence. The Japanese respondents were more interested in choosing the fourth dimension of their work shift.

Yet the authors concluded, "regardless of the blazon of schedule flexibility desired in their countries, candidates are seeking a wider diversity of flexible workplace options to help them discover a amend work-life rest."

This means business organisation could benefit from:

• Investing in engineering supporting non-face-to-face or off-site piece of work
• Establishing parameters for remote work accountability
• Determining how piece of work hours will be tracked and performance will exist measured
• Specifying ways in which office or section coverage will be maintained
• Securing mobile work to avoid compliance or regulatory concerns
• Learning from employees what is constructive and what could be improved

The Futurity of Flexibility

Along with unlike priorities for work environs flexibility regionally, the employee's industry as well plays a role. Co-ordinate to Manpower, individuals with desk jobs were more likely to prefer location independence while those in healthcare or retail were more interested in compressed shifts.

Ultimately, though, the essential truth remains: flexibility allows individuals to live and perform at their all-time. Employers who remain rooted in the traditional ways are going to struggle to concenter top talent every bit job seekers look at flexibility as a deciding gene.

Think flexibility would work for you? The Society for Man Resources Management suggests employees consider the post-obit questions first:

• Are you self-directed and comfortable working without close supervision?
• Exercise you manage your time well?
• Are you comfortable working lonely for long periods of fourth dimension?
• Tin you effectively manage work interactions with co-workers, clients, supervisors and subordinates working flexibly or virtually?

Better understand employee opinions on flexibility or what kind of options would appeal most to your people. SoGoSurvey'south comprehensive employee feel survey platform helps you lot assemble and analyze the data you demand to make informed decisions.

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Source: https://www.sogosurvey.com/blog/the-future-is-flexible-how-flexibility-attracts-job-seekers/

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