Forcing employers to embrace flexible working may not have as positive an impact on equality as we expect

Welcome to the latest edition of my newsletter. This week, I’m opining on why legislative change to flexible working will not be the silver bullet we seek.

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This week, I’ll be covering:

???? The incoming legislative change around flexible working

?? Why forcing flexibility is like forcing a child to eat their broccoli

? The crucial difference between allowing and enabling flexible working

Millions of British workers will have the right to request flexible working from their first day of employment, under new government plans which had their first reading in the House of Lords last month. I am delighted that flexible working is so high on the government’s agenda, and that the people campaigning for so long for this to be discussed have succeeded. However, I don’t think that the intended outcome of better equality and access to work will be as easy to achieve as we believe it will be. I fear that there is a risk of exacerbating the stigma still sadly attached to flexible working, and increasing the resentment that employers still place on those who require flexibility.?

It is a huge problem that 71% of flexible working requests were turned down in the first year of the pandemic, according to Pregnant Then Screwed , and this shows that there is a concerning lack of understanding about the business upside of flexible working environments. Legislating it won’t change that lack of education, nor will it change company culture. Companies tend to find ways around rules and regulations when they don’t see a clear business case for adhering to them, and I don’t think that this will be any different.?

Our world of work has evolved through the process of businesses adapting to be as successful as they can be. The arbitrary phenomenon of a set 8-10 hour working period in a 24 hour day started because of farming, and access to daylight hours. This then developed into the stock-market opening at 8am and closing at 4pm in order to trade farming-based commodities. Eventually, this further evolved into a world that centred around the stock-market as we now know it.?

Now, the economy has evolved and diversified significantly, and companies no longer need to be operational at certain times of the day. With that in mind, does it make sense to legislate for a new way of working that abolishes these expectations of adhering to the arbitrary work day??

No; because change is a process. As human beings, we need to understand the consequences of our actions, and to make choices that may end badly. We all know that the companies that don’t offer any form of flexibility will eventually suffer from a brain drain and will no longer attract the talent that they need to thrive.

The future of work is flexible

The data is in front of decision makers and senior leadership about the future of work. According to our Flexa user data from February 2023, 12% of candidates want to work in a hybrid way; 53% want to work fully remotely; and less than 1% wish to work full time in an office.?

If senior leadership are still denying the need to offer flexibility as standard, then forcing them to do so through legislation will serve to intensify the suspicion that flexible working “won’t work for my company”. If these companies are still under the illusion that they can function as high-performing businesses without embracing flexibility, then let them think that. They will soon have to think differently because factors such as decreased hiring power, productivity, and retention will lead to unsustainable business practices and decline in performance.?

Organic factors like this will lead to long-term and sustainable change. If it is inorganically forced, then the natural response from those reluctant to change will be to try to find a way around it. Like a child forced to eat their broccoli - they’ll end up feeding it to the dog when you’re not looking.?

Of course, senior leadership can create a culture that does not enable flexible working, and this is the crux of the issue with legislating flexibility as a right.?

There is a crucial difference between allowing and enabling flexible working

There is a vast difference between allowing and enabling flexible working. The former is the approach currently being championed by the government under their new plans, which are coming up for a second reading in the House of Lords.??

Allowing flexibility means, in theory, one can access it, but the working culture is not guaranteed? to encourage it. There might be remarks and disapproval; likely subtle penalties for working flexibly such as slower career progression or redundancy; and generally those who have availed of the new flexibility after their employer has been forced to do so will not feel comfortable or supported in their newly flexible environment.?

On the flip side, enabling flexible working happens when employers see the upside and therefore make a strategic move to offer flexible working. It is embraced and encouraged, with all employees treated equally regardless of their choices and ways of working. “This is an unrealistic utopia”, I hear you say. Well, we work with hundreds of truly flexible companies at Flexa - and they are hiring.

According to our data at Flexa, c.40% of UK employers are truly flexible. But what does that mean? That means that, from day one, there is a level of flexibility in location (minimum 1-2 days per week at home) and / or hours, as well as flexible benefits (dog-friendly offices, enhanced parental leave, etc) that add to flexibility for employees.?

These kinds of employers are out there and, in order to drive truly positive and lasting change that doesn’t leave senior leadership of inflexible companies penalising their workers who may avail of their “right” to flexible working, then we need to encourage employees to pack up and leave for a more flexible workplace.?

Flexibility is about choice. We ended up in this position because of a lack of choice around ways of working, so why respond to that by removing choice from companies?

Do you offer flexible working? Start showcasing it on Flexa today!