Flexible Work arrangements are becoming more and more attractive, especially to younger generations. They are the promise of a perfect lifestyle, in which any individual can choose when to work and when to enjoy some free time, as well as where they are most productive at each type of task. In fact, studies show that 70% of the Millennial generation believe flexible working arrangements make a job more attractive, while 81% of women say the same. Is flexible work an actual solution for today’s main human capital challenges, or is it just a nice perk to attract relaxed Millennials?
Types of Flexible Working Arrangements
There are many names and types of flexible work, which tend to cause some confusion. Here are the main 8 ones:
- Part-time: working less than normal hours, normally half of the 8 hour/day schedule.
- Flex-time: the number of working hours is scheduled by the employer and the employees can come in and out as they please.
- Working Remotely/Telecommunicating/ Telecommuting/Flex-place: employees are allowed to work away from the office, either at home or at other preferred place, such a coffee shop or a park.
- Annualized hours: employees are expected to work for a certain number of hours for a year, but the hours are flexible when they work.
- Compressed hours: employees are expected to work for a certain period, which can be “compressed” into less working days.
- Staggered hours: different starting, break and finishing times for different types of employees.
- Flexible leave/Flexible paid time off: employees have a greater level of flexibility to choose the type of time off they need, to celebrate special religious holiday or birthdays, for mental health breaks or wellness days.
- Sabbaticals: employees are able to take an agreed amount of time off, without pay, but having the security of returning to their job. This option is common at Universities, in which professors request one or more semesters to work abroad or in a different topic of investigation, as well as in big consulting firms, where employees are advised (and sometimes even obliged) to take six months to a year off, for an MBA or a volunteering experience.
Advantages and Disadvantages, for workers and for companies
Independently of the type of flexible work, one can identify many advantages and disadvantages of this arrangement, both for workers and for companies. Here are the most relevant ones:
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Going through this list of advantages and disadvantages for both sides, it’s clear that both win and lose with this type of work. Five topics pop out in this comparison that need to be better analyzed:
- Type of job – not all jobs are suitable to work flexibly. The more obvious ones are those in customer service, which face customers daily, such as shop assistant, healthcare provider, teacher and security workers. Others who have a hands-on work, such as construction, manufacturing, sports, arts, also don’t apply to this type of work. And let’s not forget all the office jobs that require high-intensity of collaboration, discussion and brainstorms – it might be hard to perform them from home or at irregular hours.
- Productivity & Self-management – does flexible work increase productivity? This is the big question to ask. The answer is not clear, and it mainly depends on the employees’ self-management, as they have the control over their work. If they are disciplined and accountable, they have the opportunity of juggling all their professional and personal responsibilities, at their own pace and favorite spaces. However, if they tend to procrastinate and slack off, they will pile up work, be less focused, and ultimately bring an unsatisfactory output for the company. Also, it is important to mention that people around them might not respect their time management, such as family and friends asking for favors at work time, and managers calling with requests at family time. Everyone needs boundaries, even flexible workers!
- Leadership and teams management – with the current Digital Transformation, it’s not easy to change from a traditional “supervisor” role, in which managers are used to oversee everything their employees do, to a new management style of delegating and coaching. Not all workers are prepared for this adaptation in the leadership style, and not all managers are able to do it quickly, as it requires high amounts of trust. Also, it makes it harder for managers to fairly evaluate and compensate employees working in different models, especially if they don’t change the evaluation criteria.
- Customer service – it’s not clear if flexible work helps customers or not. On the one hand, workers have more flexible schedules and may be available to provide support after-hours. On the other hand, most clients would be fussy when they can’t get help at normal working times.
- Employee engagement – there’s no doubt that flexible work attracts candidates, and it surely respects their own time and pace - but does it promote engagement? How can managers know if workers are engaged and have high levels of motivation at work, if they hardly see them? And how to create strong relationships between co-workers, if communication is mainly done by electronic devices? These are challenges that companies will have to deal with daily, and solutions must be found to tackle them, such as regular coaching sessions with managers, scheduled events for employees to know each other, team building activities, and many other.
How to make flexible work - work?
There are several ways to promote a productive flexible work culture, here are a few:
- Understand if your company’s organizational culture and way of working may accommodate flexible working – if it’s very hands-on or if it has a very traditional culture, with mostly senior employees, maybe this is not the right type of work to invest in.
- Understand your company’s purpose, values and priorities, and how your job relates to them – this way, you will also be able to prioritize and build a common sense on what is acceptable and what is not.
- Set clear expectations and simple rules for flexible work – managing virtual teams is not easy. Establish the best way to share the tasks each employee is responsible for, in which dates are they due, how and when to communicate, etc. You can also set core days or core hours during which everyone needs to be in the office for meetings.
- Build an organizational culture trust and a general sense of accountability – share responsibility with employees and let them know you trust them to make the right decisions to benefit the company. Give them regular feedback and offer them coaching, in order to help them grow and build skills, while bringing value to the company.
Concluding, flexible working arrangements can be a win-win situation for both companies and employees, if - and only if - both sides promote a positive culture of trust, accountability and respect for each person’s needs. If you believe your company and employees are able to do that, then you should, for sure, join the Flexible Work Revolution!
Inês Andrade | Marketing Manager at Bright Concept
