Benefits of Adopting Flexible Working Practices
Flexible working is becoming increasingly popular with companies and employees. Breaking the rigid 9-5 working day provides a practical solution to the demands of life.
Traditional working hours erodes the time we have to pursue personal endeavors.
Whether that be spending more time with the family, playing sports, taking up a hobby, or simply taking time out to relax and recharge.
Historically, employees with family commitments have been granted flexible working hours, but in doing so have to accept a lower salary.
Flexible working hours extend to the entire firm and provides key benefits you may not have previously considered.
Work-Life Balance
Today’s workforce predominantly consists of millennials. This age group is more interested in developing a work-life balance than they are in salary or job security.
Telecommuting offers one solution to the work-life balance problem, but large businesses are finding a better solution is to design flexible office space.
Adding social areas to the office and giving employees the freedom to work in different areas has seen a rise in interior office designs that accommodate both lifestyle and best working practices.
Improves Company Culture
Flexible working practices also improve company culture. This is true whether you adopt telecommuting or a flexible workspace. The key is for CEOs to make their business human-centric.
The focus should be on employee satisfaction. Giving your staff more freedom to work wherever they choose makes them feel less isolated and confined.
They also take the responsibility to ensure they meet their targets as a sign of gratitude and commitment.
Cost-Effective
Flexible working hours offers financial benefits on both sides. Employees save on travel expenses together with coffees, sandwiches, and beers they may purchase when they go for drinks with colleagues after working hours.
From a business perspective, agile working is shown to reduce operational and workforce costs by 3-13% whilst increasing productivity. With a flexible working program, businesses pay less in salaries, Benefits-in-Kind, and utilities.
Less Stressful
For some people, commuting to and from work, and sitting in an office environment can raise stress levels. Surveys show that 70% of workers stress about the health, job, and finances, which causes them to be disengaged and unproductive at work.
Flexible working relieves many of the day-to-day pressures workers typically experience. Avoiding rush hour traffic, crammed trains and buses together with being able to take a break when they feel stressed improves physical and mental health and reduces the number of sick days.
Increases Productivity
A two-year study conducted by researchers at Stanford University revealed that telecommuters significantly improve their productivity levels. It turns out flexible working encourages people to focus for longer and put in a true-shift, which enables them to raise their game.
Working in an office environment is full of distractions. It can take around 20 minutes to regain your focus after being distracted.
Furthermore, studies show that employees waste more than an hour a day when working in an office environment.
Flexible working provides several benefits to businesses. Whether you choose to accommodate telecommuting or design a flexible office depends on the nature of your business. Also, it depends on how much you need to innovate and collaborate.
Agile working also depends on the nature of your employees. Remember, a happy and healthy worker is a productive worker.
