Flexible Working Options in the era of Covid-19

The great (well, depending on who you ask) Bill Gates once said that as the competition for talent gets tougher, ‘companies that give extra flexibility to their employees will have the edge.’ Well, it seems that old Gates may just have hit the nail on the head.

Latest research has shown that flexible work arrangements can actually improve the effectiveness of both individuals and teams – with 91% of HR professionals reporting employees to be more engaged and satisfied in the work.

The case just gets stronger for employers, as three-quarters of millennials report that they are willing to take a pay cut to work for companies that offered flexible work hours. What’s more, millennials, who have been infamously stereotyped for being job hoppers, are more likely to stay in a job for more than five years, if the company is flexible about where and when they work.

But, the sad truth is despite this overwhelming evidence, many companies are hesitant to provide flexible work options. Even the big boys like IBM and Yahoo are cutting back on their previous flexible work options – fearing that it will hurt productivity, foster unfairness, and make it difficult to manage teams.

So, the devil is in the details and companies can provide flexible work options, while keeping everybody aligned, supported and engaged. The first step is to build clear communications channels to keep flexible workers both accountable and informed at the same time.

The next step is to create a strong support network to prevent feelings of isolation. This can be done by increasing manager oversight and even using platforms such as Slack and Campfire to help off-site workers build a sense of belonging and community. Even just creating a fun chat channel for employees to share jokes and weekend plans can go miles in this regard.

It is also crucial to develop clear and consistent guidelines for flexible work, so that it’s fair to everyone. This means having clear and standardized guidelines for flexible work that apply for everybody within the company. This can take the shape of having 1 remote working day per week for everyone or something of that like.

The next area to address is to encourage managers to model healthy flexible work arrangements. There is still a negative stereotype that those seeking flexible work arrangements lack of ambition or hurt their chances of advancing. So, managers to need to manage this stigma well within the company.

P.S. I work remotely most of the time and based on my experience, it has definitely increased productivity and efficiency ;).