The benefits of providing flexible work policies in your organisation

The future of workplaces is vastly changing. The most sought after benefit is “flexibility in the workplace.” Whether your employees work reduced hours, part time or from home, there are huge benefits to consider for your organisation.

Happier Employees

Recent evidence suggests that employees that are given this flexibility are generally seen as happier, positively engaged workers and are less likely to burnout. Many have shorter commutes to work, are readily available to attend personal appointments and can spend more quality time with their families.

Staff Retention

In December 2017 JustMums Recruitment surveyed 500 mums who were either returning to work from parental leave or were currently employed and were looking for flexible work. More than half of the survey respondents said that they were looking to change employers and were actively seeking work– with 45% mentioning that it was due to their current employer not supporting their flexible work request.

When given the trust and autonomy to work flexibly you will find employees tend to be more loyal.

Higher Productivity & Lower Stress Levels

Productivity surveys also find that 65% of employees feel that flexible and remote work would increase their productivity. A global survey of more than 24,000 people reiterated the “need” for this flexibility in the workplace in order for businesses to truly succeed.

In July 2018 Perpetual NZ released their findings after running an 8 week trial where employees worked 4 days but were paid for 5. The results were astounding. Staff stress levels went down from 45% to 38% and work life balance substantially improved from 54% to 78% with the trial having absolutely no impact on the staff fulfilling their weekly duties.

Appeal to a valuable new generation

Flexible work isn’t only for mothers considering their family obligations, a recent UK survey conducted by powwownow found that 75% of millennials would favour a job that gives their employees the option to work flexibly. Millennials are increasingly demanding flexible work schedules to ultimately achieve a better work-life balance. Dads too, are increasingly seeking a flexible work arrangement.

Increase your talent pool

Employers that shy away from offering these benefits are limiting their talent pool of highly capable, productive and experienced candidates. Flexibility is the key to creating diverse and inclusive workplaces and organisations can implement flexible work strategies without it affecting business outcomes, although a supportive leadership is crucial to its success.

Advertising your role

If you are a business looking for a cost effective way to advertise a role, source talent and promote your brand to a growing community of more than 70,000 professionals, Working Parents Connect offer a number of packages to support your recruitment and attraction strategy. Visit our website today.

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