Up until a few years ago, flexible working hours were the domain of only the most cutting edge and innovative companies. Today, though, after countless studies showing the value of greater independence for employees, as well as increasing demands from the next generation of workers for a more flexible schedule, flexi-time is increasingly becoming the norm.
There are three main reasons why flexible working hours are so valuable to the average business. Before we dive into exploring these, it’s worth pointing out that of course there are many exceptions to this rule – jobs that require their workforce to be present at specific times, or in specific combinations are the most obvious case, but there are plenty of others.
But, still, for the majority of regular office jobs, the new age of flexi-time is a bit of a godsend. Here’s why.
1 – Better work, and more of it
When you get down to it, demanding that your employees come to a particular place at a particular time every day to do their work, has many really obvious downsides. First up, you’re communicating a lot of distrust to your employees; and when people expect us to behave poorly, that’s exactly what we do.
By showing yoHigur staff that you trust them to work remotely, or put in their fair share of hours whenever best suits them, you’re much more likely to get a higher standard of work in return. A recent experiment – conducted by Stanford University at China’s largest travel agency – found that productivity increased by an astonishing 30% after the company introduced working from home practices.
Higher levels of job satisfaction has lots of knock on benefits. Most notably, if you’re in the customer service industry, just ask yourself: would you prefer a workforce who feel empowered, trusted and like they’ve chosen to be there, or one who’s clock watching and worried about whether they’ll be able to get home in time to pick up the kids?
In short, when employees feel as though they have the trust, freedom and flexibility to work how and where they want, they are likely to be more productive, happier in their work, and less resentful towards their employer. Which leads us on to point number two….
2. Attracting and retaining talent
Flexible working is one of the main expectations of today’s up and coming workforce. Those coming out of college and university are not afraid of putting long hours in, but they don’t expect to be chained to a desk to do so.
A third of workers under the age of 30 say they would prioritise social media freedom, device flexibility and work mobility over salary when it comes to considering a job offer. That means, by including flexi-time as part of your welcome package for new starters, you’ll be able to attract the best talent out there without blowing all your budget on salaries.
Flexible working hours will also help you hang on to your best employees. Because they know you trust them, they’re much more likely to return that trust – which often translates into loyalty. Flexi time also means they’ll be able to manage their work-life balance better. All those hours saved from not having to commute every day means your employees will be able to fit in more of the activities that keep them happy and well – like spending time with their families, cooking properly and exercising. And when life’s treating you that well, you’re much less likely to start looking for something new!
3. Massive cost savings
The third main reason why flexible working hours are important is the potential cost savings that it brings your company. YouGov conducted a comprehensive survey in March 2013 which showed that flexible working could save British businesses £34 billion a year. (In the same survey, more than 30% of employees said that they had not even considered flexible working as a way of saving money!)
These savings will likely come from a variety of places, and will depend on the nature of your business. However, one of the biggest and most consistent is simply rental savings. Office space is expensive. As long as you have a meeting space that can fit everyone in for special occasions, and the right technical set up to support hot desking, there’s no need to have a desk space reserved for every single one of your employees.
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Of course, the value of flexible working can only be felt if you implement it correctly. The biggest risks are failing to create good policies around communication, and not having the right technical set up to support remote teamwork. However, given the potential advantages, overcoming these barriers is a minor inconvenience and should definitely not hold you back from taking the plunge.
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