Offering flexible working is now a must for organisations as employees want to be able to balance their career with their home life. We are seeing a huge shift in the workplace of how people want to work. Companies have to change their approach and offering if they want to attract the best talent and retain their current talent.
Many organisations are reaping the benefits of flexible working with improved productivity, focus and engagement as employees feel happier. Improvements have also been seen with mental health and managing stress, plus has addressed issues such as presenteeism.
Introducing a flexible working policy across an organisation must be led by the leadership team and needs to be consistent across all offices. Flexible working requires trust and good communication. Change doesn’t happen overnight, so it needs to become part of the company culture so that it is accepted as the norm. Managers and employees need to share success stories. To effectively implement flexible working, companies must put the following into place:
Introduce a system of core hours of work.
Put a framework into place to manage performance.
Ensure employees have the right technology and equipment to support them.
A health and safety risk assessment for working from home.
Having a co-working space for employees who may feel isolated working from home.
Introduce collaboration days for team meetings.
Put a set of principles into place to ensure client needs are met.