Flexible Working In Switzerland: Where Are We Now?

What is the current state of flexible working in Switzerland and what best practices are proven to be effective? In an effort to answer that question, we have partnered with Advance to launch a new research project on Flexible and Smart Working.

There is growing pressure for businesses to compete for talent, build gender balanced leadership pools and be future ready. One of the biggest barriers for women advancing into leadership is the lack of flexible and smart work options.

The imbalance between the demand for smart working and the availability of flexible jobs continues to cause a bottleneck in the Swiss talent market and pipeline, blocking career progression and job mobility for millions of people who need to work flexibly. We call this flexism.

The challenges and needs for smart and flexible working are well known but what is less known in Switzerland are the tactics and rewards that make this approach a game changer for businesses.

Flexible and Smart Working Research

Thriving Talent have partnered with Advance to launch a new research project on Flexible and Smart Working. In doing this research, we will attempt to speed up culture change by showing what has worked for other companies who have already committed to change. We want to share best practices that are proven to be effective, to demonstrate that getting this right will drive success in business, and inspire companies to be bold in trying new approaches.

Many companies are now leveraging simple, yet effective options to attract, motivate and retain their staff and improve gender equity. The aim of our research is to promote role models, share best practices and define a blueprint for other businesses to follow. Our goal is to help Swiss companies accelerate adoption of flexible and smart work approaches and enjoy the many benefits these bring. 

The research will be reported and shared publicly and will debunk the myths surrounding flexible working and create a blueprint for change for Swiss businesses. It will showcase: 

1. Tangible proof around the business return on investment and benefits that smart and flex working provides
2. Interviews with senior leadership role models and champions from Swiss businesses
3. Shared best practice and a blueprint for attitudes and actions

How You Can Help

We are seeking businesses located in Switzerland who have implemented flexible or smart working and whose management and employees are actively enjoying the benefits this has to offer.

We also want to interview flex-role models or ‘champions’ in senior leadership to share their story and how they make smart and flexible working approaches work for themselves and their teams.

The research is made up of two phases: 

Phase 1 - Role Model Interviews

Are you a senior leader actively adopting and/or championing flexible and smart work approaches in your teams? 

Would you like to share your experience in an interview of approx. 1 hour?

Phase 2 - ROI of Flexible Working 

Does your company offer flexible and smart working?

Do your employees actively benefit from these options? 

Would you like to measure the impact this is having on your business?

This will only require an investment of time of up to 1 business day to define and share the data required for the analysis.

What are the benefits of taking part?

By taking part in the research we will help you to:

• Articulate the ROI and commercial benefits that smart and flex working has brought to your business
• Showcase your best practices to the talent market and industry peers
• Contribute to a smart working blueprint that other companies can learn from 

You can take part in any one (or all) of the research objectives. We will work with you to analyse your data and evaluate the ROI and impact that smart working has created for your business. We will interview leadership role models to help share their story and identify the key attitudes and actions that have helped them to successfully apply smart working.

The benefits for participating also include the possibility for your company to be profiled in the final report and be featured alongside other industry leaders, and for phase 2, companies will receive a tailored report highlighting the benefits and return on investment that flexible working has generated for their business, as well as a set of recommendations on how to gain even more from this approach.

Please email us at [email protected] to find out more.