Why flexible working is the future for continued employee satisfaction
When offices and businesses across the UK closed their doors in March this year, no one could have imagined that at the end of the year working from home would be the new normal for the majority of people in the UK. While there was once a school of thought that said working from home would be impossible, it appears that not only are employees more productive, but this more flexible way of working is having a positive impact on their job satisfaction.
What is flexible working?
Flexible working is simply a way of working that suits an employee’s needs. Flexible working can include a number of different ways of working, including job sharing, working from home, part-time work, compressed hours, flexitime, and even annualised hours. Since lockdown, the majority of people who are able to work from home, have done so. In fact, a recent study by instantprint found that around 86% of people who are able to work from home are.
Why employees like flexible working
Not only has this new way of flexible working been shown to increase productivity, as well as increase collaboration between teams, but it has shown that employees have an increase sense of job satisfaction.
Prior to lockdown, the average commuter journey was 59 minutes, and having this extra hour a day is something that employees don’t want to give up should we ever return to the office 9-5. With 97% of people saying they use that hour productively, from reading to cooking, as well as running and cycling.
And it’s not just the extra hour employees are enjoying; working from home is leaving us more in pocket. By working from home we’re saving on fuel, parking costs, train and bus tickets, and even that meal deal we like to grab ‘occasionally’. These small savings soon add up.
This new way of working has also helped employees find a better work-life balance. instantprint, the business card specialists, have found that despite some working fewer hours than they normally would have done in an office, they’re actually being more productive. This could be down to a number of factors including being less stressed because the morning wasn’t spent in traffic worrying about being late, there’s no distractions from other colleagues, and meetings that were once deemed important are now reduced to a daily round-up email.
Why employers should embrace flexible working
Prior to lockdown, many employers were reluctant to allow employees to work from home. The main fear being that the work would suffer, and that team moral would fall. However, the pandemic has in fact shown the opposite to be true. The trust that employers have had to cultivate over the last few months has paid off.
Allowing employees to work flexibly has meant that employee retention is higher. And moving forward, this could save a business not only time, but money in finding replacement staff. In addition, with fewer people working in offices full time, the amount of money spent on large office buildings will drastically reduce a business’ overheads.
Similarly, allowing a workface to work remotely means that candidates from further afield will apply for a job. This allows employers to select the best candidate from a wider pool and not just ones who are willing to travel for work.
The pandemic has shown us all that the old way of working in an office is neither sustainable nor healthy. We may not know all the ways in which the working world will be different, but somethings are for certain: the majority of people will be healthier, happier, and wealthier.