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Trust is a two-way street
Our recent research with IDC revealed that whilst flexible working directly impacts employee engagement, 29 percent of European line managers and HR professionals were neither proud of their workplace nor would recommend it, with only 37 percent agreeing that their company was an attractive employer. So where is the disconnect between the flexible feel-good factor and the managers and HR staff that are meant to wave the flag for their organisation?
As we grow accustomed to a candidate-led job market, with employees job hopping with increasing regularity, trying out new roles as they please, how to stop your best talent leaving is an agenda topper. Well, keeping them happy is a start and as our research reflected, flexible working and the freedom to work remotely are positive influencers, employee pride and willingness to recommend their employer to others, meaning flexible working practices and systems should be a CEO and senior management priority. This importance of flexible working has already received recognition, with steps being taken to introduce this new work practice through public policy changes. We are now approaching the two-year anniversary of the UK legislation implemented on June 30th 2014 to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees. It should be highlighted that this new law only grants employees the opportunity to request flexible working, it is not a given right.
Yet, this new opportunity has raised employees’ expectations in terms of workplace flexibility and the available technology to support it. Companies that are not responding to these changes risk losing and failing to attract talented employees. Despite this greater anticipation of flexibility from employers, within the first year there was shown to be little take up of this new initiative. The Institute of Public Policy Research found that after this extension of the law, only 19 percent of women were adjusting their working hours. Even at the two-year mark, there are still many obstacles to overcome before this new right to flexible working is fully accepted. Nearly a fifth (19 percent) of the UK organisations surveyed by IDC still do not permit flexible working hours and 23 percent do not allow employees to work from home. New regulations are only trickling down into the workplace and are clearly not enough to incorporate flexible working practices into the everyday ethos of businesses. This will only happen if company leaders ensure that they become a main concern.
In some parts of Europe, this prioritisation has happened, but the research reveals that other areas, such as the UK, are lagging behind. We found that there is a North/South divide, where the Nordic countries had the highest acceptance of flexible working and Central and Southern Europe had the lowest. For instance, among the Polish respondents, fewer than 50 percent of surveyed organisations allowed employees to work from home, while that figure was 87 percent for the Nordic countries. On average, the countries with lower flexible working adoption were Poland, the UK, Switzerland and Germany, while those countries with the highest general adoption of flexible working practices were the Nordics, Spain, Benelux and Austria. These differences have to do with variations in working cultures and managerial practices, as well as technological maturity. The Nordics, for example, had the highest percentage of companies offering flexible working hours and the opportunity to work from home but also the most companies providing the required technology to do this. In general, however, more than two-thirds of organisations (71 percent) in Europe permit working from home and 76 percent have made company systems and data available for remote workers. Interestingly though, when it comes to happy workers, there was a clear correlation between flexible working and happiness. Respondents in the Nordics (88 percent), Austria (84 percent), and Spain (81 percent) – countries with high levels of flexible working – had the highest scores for happiness, while respondents in Italy (59 percent) and Switzerland (64 percent) had the lowest. The percentage of European companies allowing employees to work from home (71 percent) in fact directly corresponds with the percentage of respondents who stated they were happy with their employer (71 percent). Those numbers aren’t to be ignored.
So it’s clear: flexible working is pretty important. But, when we talk about flexible working, some practices are more important than others. The most important flexible working practices in terms of respondent happiness were found to be those related to career flexibility and tool flexibility. Organisations with a high tolerance of internal mobility and internal career moves had much happier respondents than those who did not. Likewise, organisations with flexible IT systems and policies to support remote working, such as working on mobile devices and personal devices in the workplace, had a significantly better happiness score than those without such policies. It seems trust is a key common denominator here, given that the first five criteria are highly linked to the notion of trust from the company towards the employee. Do I trust my staff to be efficient in new positions? Do I trust my staff to use technology remotely for the good of the company, and to work from home without direct supervision? Put simply, it seems that the more trusted the employees feel, the happier they are.
Although Europe is already well progressed in the adoption of flexible working practices, there is plenty more that can be done. The fact that acceptance of employees applying outside their department had a high impact on “happiness”, as did permission to work occasionally from home, shows what sort of flexible working initiatives would yield impact. Yet, these are still facing resistance across institutions in Europe. On average, 25 percent of European companies still do not permit employees to work from home. It needs to be recognised that employee happiness is not just about employee IT; it’s also about flexible management and trust. Cultural attitudes are a major obstacle for the full acceptance of this flexible way of working, preventing us from viewing it as a legitimate work practice. HR and line managers themselves do not perceive there to be good internal opportunities for development and movement within their organisation, as only 38 percent have career ambitions within their current company. Leadership beliefs are a particular problem, with almost two in five line managers (36 percent) admitting that they do not want their employees to work from home. Even if a company facilitates remote working, bosses’ attitudes are keeping their employees in the office.
But this stigma around flexible working does not only apply to managers, employees also do not feel comfortable with this new concept. Only 13 percent of employees are choosing to work from home when given the option by their employers and the majority of employees (83 percent) who do work from home still spend more than half of their working days in the office. Not every worker can work from home – it simply doesn’t work in some industries – but even many onsite jobs have significant administrative elements which could be done remotely. There are other barriers to flexible working which can also be overcome, such as those to do with HR policies, IT limitations or leadership beliefs, and European organisations will need to progress further to become flexible and attractive employers. So, how can we move forward? First, European organisations need to realise that employee IT tools should concern the CEO. Having the necessary IT to support flexible working is now critical for employee loyalty and pride.
Second, the fact that acceptance of employees applying outside their department had a high impact on “happiness”, as did permission to work occasionally from home, shows what sort of flexible working initiatives should be implemented. European organisations need to do more to combat cultural resistance to these schemes and to demonstrate that they trust their staff. Likewise, while some barriers are intrinsic, organisations can and must overcome others. European organisations, for example, need to open up flexible working to job functions outside of those such as sales or finance. Finally, throughout all of this, HR must remember that Europe is not a single country or entity. Cultural differences can mean something that works in the Nordics may face resistance in Poland or Switzerland. However, cultures can also find their own unique processes that allow and enable flexible working to be part of the norm. Employee retention is now recognised as one of the biggest concerns for businesses’ success. The solution? Happiness. This year’s Universum Global Workforce Happiness Index revealed that the key to ensuring loyalty is happy employees. These results from IDC clearly demonstrate that this job satisfaction is best created in part through flexible working. Certainly, some employees will leave employment due to reasons that you cannot control. But, by properly adopting flexible working practices, you can ensure that being unhappy is not one of them.
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