Flexible Working What You Need To Know

West End Office: City Office: Flexible working: what you need to know It’s a phrase we’re listening to increasingly. We’re listening to HR managers, with growing enthusiasm, tell us that flexible working now types a part of their official employee benefits package deal. But what does it truly imply, and extra importantly, what are the implications for businesses? Earlier this year, the Harvard Business Review ran a Working From Home Experiment with Ctrip, China’s largest travel agent. This demonstrated a 13% enhance in productivity and a 50% drop in turnover among staff working from home. Surprisingly, one other outcome of the experiment was a rise in loneliness. Yes, workers truly missed the office and the corporate of their colleagues! So what does this experiment truly tell us? To our minds, it’s clear. When hiring, employers don't have anything to lose by providing their employees flexible working arrangements and the opportunity to do business from home, and every thin g to realize. Some extra advantages to think about are: • Avoiding the direct and oblique prices of changing a team member if flexible working isn’t an possibility • Improved responsiveness â€" especially if working in different time zones • Engaged workers present a better consumer/customer expertise • Placing trust in workers breeds loyalty and dedication • Autonomy drives engagement and job satisfaction • Reduced prices on office space and equipment (to not mention tea and coffee!) With benefits like these, why then are companies still hesitant to adopt flexible working arrangements? Strangely sufficient, know-how is one objection we hear as a rule. While pace of internet entry at house is of course going to impact communication, at present there aren’t many areas with out fast broadband accessibility. By investing in a distant server, staff can log on from home and works just as in the event that they had been within the workplace. Unavailability for meetings and cellphone calls is another excuse we hear quite incessantly. The answer: expertise! Skype and other video conferencing solutions are extremely straightforward to implement and use. If there are reception issues both with sluggish broadband or limited phone reception, merely make it clear that meeting attendance is compulsory, and if they will’t be there through a display, they will must be flexible on their WFH day. The apparent major concern is round workers not working when they need to be â€" but when they get the work accomplished at house at the identical tempo and to the same quality that they'd within the office, does it matter? The key word in flexible working is ‘versatile’. At the tip of the day, for it to be a successful working arrangement, there must be a lot of this on both sides. From an employer’s perspective, there needs to be sure considerations in place (similar to having the expertise for workers to dial in or skype), and for workers, the understanding t hat it only works if their productiveness and performance isn’t impacted. If each parties are open to this, and the result's happier, extra productive and longer standing employees then practically, the advantages far outweigh any potential dangers. Get in touch today to find out extra about what candidates are actually looking for in their dream employer. Watch: Improving staff’ psychological well being remotely I hosted a webinar with three mental well being specialists â€" Jo Yarker from Affinity Health at Work[1], Business Psychologist Julie Osborn[2] and Ruth Cooper-Dickson from Champs Consulting[3] â€" who offered their ideas for employers managing workers’ mental well being during the pandemic. They cover: Tips for managers in looking after their own mental health The importance Read extra A complete guide to onboarding remotely for the first time Onboarding workers is among the most integral stages to the recruitment course of. As you realize, carrying out complete and efficient onboarding ensures that your employees could have the very best probability of efficiently integrating into their new function, group and firm. Conversely, poor onboarding might impression turnover, workers morale and coaching which may prove Read more Sign up for the most recent office insights. Looking for a job Looking to recruit