A flexible workforce is essential to meet customers’ demand for agile, adaptive and responsive services.
Even before Covid-19, the evidence for flexible work had connected working flexibly with improved productivity and revenue.
The enforced flexibility and remote working brought on by the pandemic have proved that realising these goals is critically important. Covid-19 has shown that roles and industries previously considered unsuited to flexible work can be adapted.
Since Covid-19 ushered in greater flexibility, employee productivity and engagement have increased, according to a recent Bain & Company survey, dispelling the myth that flexibility undercuts outcome. Individuals mention greater team agility, zero commute time and better ability to focus on “deep thinking work” as reasons for their improved productivity.
Flexibility enables greater organisational agility and can empower teams to identify their own ways of achieving an organisation’s strategic goals.
It has highlighted the need to identify new ways of measuring organisational productivity and output, and it has required some organisations to redefine the way they reward and assess performance.
For many individuals and teams, working from home will be a form of flexible work that suits them and fits their needs.
During the crisis phase of Covid-19, organisations have supported individuals’ work from home with technology and, in some cases, funds to set up and run a home office.
Ensuring that individuals who work at home have the right health and safety setup, and have access to best-in-class technology and collaboration tools, will continue to be critical. In the longer term, potential savings from reduced office space could be reinvested to support individuals working remotely.
For other employees, however, the home environment is not conducive to working. They may not have a dedicated workspace, may need to accommodate family members or flatmates, or have personal safety considerations.
Giving people the choice of where to work is an important principle of ensuring that flexibility is truly flexible.
Flexible work, when done well, has significant and widespread benefits. It is not for everyone all the time, but about providing choice and accountability to maximise individual and organisational outcomes.
