A recent study carried out by Investors in People revealed that 31% of employees polled would rather avail of flexible working arrangements, such as working from home, rather than take a pay rise. Flexible working arrangements bring many benefits to an employee’s life. Such benefits can include increased job satisfaction, an improved work/life balance and an increase in employee morale & motivation. But did you know that by introducing flexible working to your business you can also enjoy a number of business and financial benefits?  Before we explore these benefits, let’s take a look at the various forms of flexible working that can be offered to employees.

Types of Flexible Working
The most popular form of flexible working in the modern work environment is Flexitime or Flextime. Flexitime generally incorporates core hours that employees are required to work, but outside of these hours employees can come and go as they please. Flexitime will suit those employees who work better at certain times of the day, while also helping to maintain a better work life balance. Another popular flexible working arrangement is “Remote Working” or “Working from Home”. Similar to Flexitime, Working from home grants employees to have a better work/life balance. Other types of flexible working include Job sharing, part time, annualised hours and staggered hours.

Business Benefits
Employee satisfaction is key to recruitment and retention. By recruiting, retaining and optimising quality employees your business will enjoy greater productivity and success. Employees who avail of flexible working arrangements are provided with a greater sense of control over their working day and are likelier to work harder and increase their output, thus benefiting the business. Flexible working reduces stress and fatigue; factors which may lead to employees losing focus and as a result, underperforming at their job function. Being granted a flexible working environment also allows your employers to better balance work demands with personal demands ensuring improved concentration on work tasks during work hours.

Each employee is different. Some work better in the morning and find that their concentration and motivation tends to become depleted by the afternoon, whereas other employees may work best from mid-morning to early evening. Flexible working allows individual employees to play to their strengths in order to ensure maximum output.

Financial Benefits
In addition to flexible working conditions optimising the output of your employees there are a number of financial benefits to be gained from introducing flexible working. Flexitime reduces the costs to your business associated with employee absenteeism, tardiness and sick leave. As Flexible working improves employee satisfaction and retention, the need to recruit new employees and the associated costs are diminished.  Most importantly, flexible working arrangements are inexpensive to implement and offer a quick, measurable return on investment in the form of employee output.

Overall, a flexible work environment is beneficial to both employers and employees. Employees have more freedom to work in an environment that is conducive to increasing their output and work rate, while employers can benefit from a happier and harder working workforce.

For more information on how to strategically implement Flexible Working Practices to benefit your business, please click here to download our free Whitepaper.