According to a news report, the ability to work flexibly is the number one priority for job seekers across the globe. Nearly 40 percent of global candidates rate ‘schedule flexibility’ as one of the top three factors in making career decisions, as per the findings.
With the workforce comprising all age groups, the time has come to think deeply about giving flexibility to the employees of your company. Such plans are usually created for the senior level in certain organizations, but companies must reconsider the same and extend the benefits of workplace flexibility at all levels.
Today, employees don’t want to work chained to their desks or forcefully do some extra work hours. All that they expect is trust and workplace flexibility and security. Yet packed to-do lists and arduous commutes make few employees believe that their organization is not concerned with their social, physical, personal, and emotional welfare.
Hence, offering more flexibility in the workplace is one of the best ways to help employees have a work-life balance. However, some may believe that flexible working is akin to allowing employees to do their job from home. In reality, it’s just about trusting employees and empowering them to decide how, when, and where they want to work.
In this blog, we cover the following-
What is workplace flexibility?
The term ‘workplace flexibility’ has become the new buzzword in the world of work due to the unprecedented changes that forced employers and employees to be flexible. It is a way of responding to changes in expectations from the people the company is related to like the employees, clients, or the circumstances. The terms presses on ability and readiness to adapt to change regarding the when and how of getting the work done.
It acts as a great benefit to retain and engage employees and results in improved productivity.
Importance of flexibility in the workplace
Flexibility is important because it-
- Gives employees a great work-life balance
- Leads to increased employee satisfaction
- Increases employee morale
Besides, flexibility also makes you resilient and ready to embrace the sudden surges and events with grace,
How To Make Workplace Flexibility a Reality?
Even a gaze at such a monotonous work schedule makes you yawn. Isn’t it?
If you’re planning to offer flexible working options for your employees, here are a few tips and examples of flexibility at work.
Flexibility on the basis of work style and preferences
Flexible work arrangements can be diversified in various forms. One example of flexibility at work in this context can be companies setting different work-from-home arrangements and guidelines. They can even develop and create more flexible work arrangements as per the individual work styles and preferences. Flexible work can also scale in multiple ways. Like, you can test your initiative in one department, then switch to others if it’s successful. You can even do a company-wide rollout from the beginning.
As for the complexity flexibility in the workplace can bring to HRs’ work, we suggest you use attendance management software that can manage multiple shifts.
Get your leaders on the same page
The most important step to instilling workplace flexibility is to get leaders and managers on the same page. To foster a great working environment, both leaders and managers should trust their employees and maintain open and frequent communication, irrespective of their location and how their employees work.
Communicating clear goals and requirements
There must be clear communication of goals and requirements. By keeping a track of goals and requirements, leaders can rest assured that all critical tasks are completed, no matter where employees are working. By this, leaders can also measure productivity, track day-to-day tasks and requirements, and rate employees’ overall performance, once these flexible options are rolled out.
Give employees access to the right tools and platforms such as self-service HRMS. The module indicates your personal stats like leave balance, attendance, performance, attendance correction, expense claims, investment declaration, and more. Within this platform, employees should be able to access everything they need to know and avoid any hassle of communicating and approaching the concerned team frequently.
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Instilling a culture where managers and employees are equally flexible across the board can help create a better future of work. As employees feel the autonomy, trust, and care shown by their managers, employees realize how integral they are to the organization. Remember, employees love to put the best of efforts into the companies that think of the best for them; productivity never drops that way.