,

How flexible working can bring benefits for all

By Yuliana Topazly, BuddyWith

Over recent years, the rise in flexible working has been largely perceived as a way for women to balance their careers around childcare and other family commitments and it’s likely most working mums appreciate the benefits this brings.

However, a lot more still needs to be done to ensure flexibility and inclusivity is addressed in every workplace and integrated into the culture of the companies, for everyone.  And there are some compelling reasons why!

What employees want!

Recent research conducted by Smarter Working Hub demonstrates the challenges: it found that 67% of employees wish they were offered flexible working; 56% of commuters feel stressed or flustered at least once a month, 66% of whom suffer this at least once a week; 70% of workers feel that offering flexible working makes a job more attractive to them and over half of people believe managers need to adapt their skills to manage a remote workforce. (Smarter Working Hub available from: https://www.powwownow.co.uk/smarter-working/guide-flexible-working-employers).

 

Recruiting and retaining staff

According to Wasp Barcode’s annual State of Small Business Report, 50% of small businesses say hiring new employees is the top challenge they face. It’s the number one challenge for businesses with fewer than 499 employees, which is much more than traditionally-mentioned challenges, such as increasing profits and cashflow (http://www.waspbarcode.com/small-business-report).

The biggest benefit to businesses is that flexible working practices will help to recruit and retain experienced staff. Offering flexible hours widens the talent pool; currently only 6% of vacancies are advertised as flexible. Flexible practices also increase commitment and loyalty of staff members.

Parents overlooked

‘Parents’ represent a great pool of talent; however, they are ignored by many businesses, and therefore represent a missed opportunity. According to The Guardian: 40% of managers avoid hiring younger women to get around the issue and costs of maternity leave:  ‘The cost of maternity leave is too high and women ‘aren’t as good at their jobs’ when they return’; according to a survey of 500 managers (https://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/aug/12/managers-avoid-hiring-younger-women-maternity-leave).

This tendency to overlook this segment can lead discrimination, including the notion that a woman returning from a maternity break is not fully committed to work and/or cannot keep up with workloads.

With the ‘Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination’ Act in place, this has partly helped parents in work but has also somewhat contributed to the avoidance of employing this workforce pool. The exception being ‘women in tech’. It is a shame that there seems to be a lack of information sharing, training and support for businesses in this space. There are many ways small businesses can engage and encourage this hidden talent to work for and with them, as well as encouraging women to go back to work after having children.

 

Business benefits

Flexible working is a way of working that is tailored to suit the employee’s needs, without compromising productivity, and is an alternative to traditional set working hours. It could include working from home, flexible start and finish times, job sharing and many other ways. Businesses should not view it as a challenge but rather an opportunity. According to the recent report by Breathing Space, it is likely to be the main way of working for more than 70% of employers by 2020. Every business needs to develop flexible working practices and understand how it can benefit their business and support their employees. It is about developing modern working practices to fit the needs of the 21st century employees (https://www.breathehr.com/breathingspace/what-is-flexible-working).

 

A Taskforce report highlights the benefits of flexible working for businesses, families, older workers, carers and a growing population who want a better balance between work and home life and, in the current business climate, there is an even stronger case for adapting flexible working practices. (http://www2.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/F36B815C-ABAF-4A04-8842-639EA20E48BD/0/Flexible_working_Taskforce_report.pdf).

 

The evidence

 

According to the Taskforce report:

  • Businesses using remote working are seeing falling absenteeism and higher retention, which leads to a reduction in costs.
  • 65% of employers said flexible working practices had a positive effect on recruitment and retention thus saving on recruitment, induction and training costs.
  • Businesses also reported increased productivity and greater loyalty amongst staff.
  • 70% of employers noted some or significant improvement in employee relations.

(http://www2.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/F36B815C-ABAF-4A04-8842-639EA20E48BD/0/Flexible_working_Taskforce_report.pdf).

Customer benefits

According to the www.workingmums.co.uk Flexible Working Guide, flexible working practices increase flexibility for customers. In our increasingly global environment, with rising customer expectations of service levels and access to products, offering flexible working may well mean that you can adapt more effectively to your customers’ needs.

The options: 

Unfortunately, a lot of businesses think it is just about part-time work and flexible hours. It is actually a lot more than that and can include:

  • Compressed Working Hours
  • Annual Hours
  • Career Breaks
  • Working from home
  • Job Sharing
  • Shift Work
  • Flexi-time

Companies offering flexible working opportunities to all employees, irrespective of legal obligations, find that their employee engagement and satisfaction ratings are higher and they have a good reputation for balancing business and employee needs. (https://www.workingmums.co.uk/flexible-working-a-guide/).

It is time for businesses to realise the benefits of flexible working for all employees and look at introducing these practices in order to support growth and attract and retain the talent they need.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Yuliana Topazly is founder of BuddyWith.org.uk – a supportive community of parents and experts who are there to help each other, offer advice, and share experiences. See: www.BuddyWith.org.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BuddyWithMum/

Twitter: @BuddyWithMum

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yuliana-topazly-seymour-27a3454/

Sources: 

https://www.breathehr.com/breathingspace/what-is-flexible-working

http://www2.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/F36B815C-ABAF-4A04-8842-639EA20E48BD/0/Flexible_working_Taskforce_report.pdf

https://www.workingmums.co.uk/flexible-working-a-guide/

https://www.powwownow.co.uk/smarter-working/guide-flexible-working-employers

 

http://www.waspbarcode.com/small-business-report).

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/aug/12/managers-avoid-hiring-younger-women-maternity-leave).

Share this...
0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *