With the advancement in technology today, many jobs can facilitate the option of working from homeAs more and more of us spend our days in front of computer screens, there’s even more reason for companies to adopt and encourage a flexible working scheme.
With technology advancing at a rapid pace and with the benefits of commuting time and emissions cut, workers are bound to be happier. Work/life balance has proven to be top of UK workers benefit list, with 33% stating it as the most important factor.
Not convinced? ITPro have listed their top 8 reasons flexible working is the way to go for UK businesses, regardless of size. Taken from their online article, here are some things to consider when adopting a flexible working scheme:
- Cost savings
For any business, the renting of office space is a major contributor to operating costs, yet on any given day large numbers of desks may be left empty as employees visit customers, attend meetings or work remotely. This makes a more flexible arrangement, like hot desking, a far more efficient use of space, and could save companies 30% of their office costs per year.
Working from home could save employees money too. A survey by BT Business shows two-thirds of people save money by working from home, be it from travel, making their own lunch, or being able to buy less work-friendly clothing. All of these things add up, especially given that the salary freezes many companies have already implemented mean many won’t be seeing extra cash anytime soon.
- Morale
Flexible working is widely believed to improve work/life balance and enhance employee happiness, as it’s a much more employee-centric policy. There are also benefits of increased productivity, reduced absenteeism and improved staff retention.
BT is one example of a company who have adopted flexible working practices and has seen some workers show a 30% increase in productivity, as well as seeing stress-related illness fall by 35%. Bill Murphy, managing director at BT Business, said: “Anything employers can do to help their staff save money in the current climate is not only great for morale but can also have a big impact on performance.”
- Productivity
Many people feel they work better surrounded by the comforts of home without the distractions of the office, but much of that depends on personality and the type of job you do. That said, there’s no avoiding the fact that you save on commute time, unless you have a very, very congested hallway.
Indeed, a study by Avaya suggested flexible workers save 39 working days a year by avoiding their commute – and a fifth use that time to do more work. How charitable of them.
- Work-life balance
Flexibility is a straightforward way to improve work/life balance. According to a European Workforce survey by ADP, more than a third of workers wanted to combine working from the office with working from home.
But there’s more to life than work, and that time saved can help employees spend more time with their families or whatever else they’d like to do. People value their time so much that many surveyed said they’d take a salary cut to be able to work when and where they choose.
- Green
Cutting that commute time is good for the planet too. All those avoided journeys add up. If every commuter worked from home one day a week, not only would the travel networks be less congested, but fewer cars and trains would mean fewer emissions being released.
- Staying competitive
Whether you work for a large enterprise or an SMB, your competition is global. While the UK has made great strides in introducing flexible working over the past few years, it trails behind Nordic countries and Germany, where 40% of employees use teleworking, compared to 20% in the UK, according to figures from Work Wise UK.
A 2017 Millennial Survey from Deloitte showed that there are competitive rewards, finding that those in organisations that offered flexible arrangements were rewarded with higher levels of loyalty from its employees. It also found that in highly flexible working environments, only 2% more millennial workers saw themselves leaving their job within two years than those anticipating staying beyond five, compared to those in the least flexible organisations where the gap reached 18%.
- Equality and diversity
Companies with flexible working hours that let people work from home have a wider pool of potential employees. Flexible working is good for anyone with small children or other commitments, while being flexible on location could help introduce disabled – or even distant – employees to your workforce, letting firms hire based on who really is the best for a job, not who has the time for it.
- The tech is already in place
Not all job roles can be carried out away from the office, but many people spend their days parked at the same desk, in front of the same computer screen. Dish out laptops instead of desktop machines and most employees will easily be able to connect to the office via their own broadband network. Collaborative apps are free and easy these days, but do keep an eye on security as it is harder to keep systems safe from beyond the firewall.
Tech firms are well ahead of the curve on this one, so there’s just no excuse not to be a bit flexible.
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