Limbering up for flexible working practices
Time to make working life more productive
While Dolly Parton’s catchy Working 9 to 5 once embodied the nature of most employment in the 1980s, today’s professionals are embracing a whole new business culture as flexible working provides a better environment for work life balance.
Introducing flexible working to your firm can help:
- Improve employee retention
- Increase productivity
- Reduce absenteeism
- Create greater staff commitment
- Reduce employee stress
Whether your employees want to juggle complicated family commitments or simply tune into their own body clock, flexible working gives a greater degree of control for them to productively manage their own time and commitments at work and home, so that they can operate more effectively for you.
There are many options for providing a framework for more flexible working including:
- Part time working
- Shift work
- Job sharing
- Home working
- Flexitime
- Compressed hours
Home sweet home
In 1993 1.3 million people worked from home, but by 2014 this figure had almost doubled to 2.4 million, which is not surprising given that not only does it suit many employees, but often benefits the business dramatically too, as it can:
- Cut overheads
- Reduce office space
- Reduce commuting and motoring costs
- Reduce IT technology in the office
If an employee initiates a request to work more flexibly, they must make such a suggestion in writing, and as the employer you have 3 months to respond with a decision.
Consider:
- Whether it could have a detrimental effect on customer demands
- Could it result in additional costs
- Whether you believe it could have a negative effect on their performance
- How the infrastructure of the team may be affected
- Do you have enough staff to cover the hours your customers expect to be able to engage with your employees
Take a look at the ACAS Statutory Code of Practice, or call us at Clockwork HR on 01756 790124 for tailored advice for your particular situation.