Making Flex Work

TL:DR - flexible work arrangements need clear management, careful consideration and have wider ranging impacts than imagined. Flexible working is here to stay, it has more forms than WFH and employers need to find ways to make it work.

Almost every client conversation recently has included an element of how to make flexible working hours work. It's coming from employers and employees.

• how can my employer help me better manage the constraints I have with child care/caring/life
• what options can we provide as an employer to provide manageable flexibility to our workforce
• what does flexibility mean for people in roles that must be done at the work site/workplace
• how can we maintain teamwork and collaboration while many people are continuing to want to work remotely?
• how can I stop the back to back to back online meetings that are exhausting and draining and don't give me any break at all?

This article has also been informed by a session at the Australian Institute of Training & Development - AITD 2023 annual conference where collaboration was a key theme, as well as an article from Beamible a software company. This article is a summary of thoughts and views - which I'd love to hear your response to and feedback on.

The statistics are in - along with anecdotal and lived experience: the majority of employees want flexible/remote working and it is not only a tool to retain your employees, it is a critical factor in attracting new staff.

Questions are rising though in terms of the impact of significant remote working. Anyone who has been in the Melbourne CBD recently will be able to tell you that it's more than workplaces that are affected by these recent and rapid changes to where employees do their work. Some of the impacts noted are:

• greater flexibility and satisfaction of individual employees
• higher levels of discontent and feelings of being disconnected within individual employees
• employers noticing declines in productivity and performance
• higher output and performance being delivered by individuals
• more and more online meetings that are back to back without enough time to drink, eat or stretch in between leading to extreme fatigue
• people feeling better about themselves as they have converted their commute to work into time for self care pursuits (such as exercise and time with family)
• a sense of disconnection on the social side as there's no casual conversations any more
• office spaces are either empty of people or the hot desking is under such pressure that people can't find a place to set up and work
• many hospitality and service businesses are closing: think of the coffee vans, the corner flower and magazine seller, cafes and restaurants that used to cater to the "lunch time crowd"

Let's take an example in a workplace, which covers some of the key success factors (highlighted text is the success tip)

A company had a request from a senior executive who was returning from an extended period of leave. The executive was a high performer in a crucial customer relationship management role. A request was made and the employer and employee had an open discussion about the feasibility and impact of part time attendance in the office rather than a full time on site role. They discussed redesigning the role and how to manage the expectations for "face time" by colleagues and clients.

It was an investment of time that also included getting buy in and support from key stakeholders before the arrangement began. There were to be no surprises for anyone and the discussions included what additional support might be needed from other employees and roles to make sure that the responsibilities of the role continued to be fully met. All of this effort was to ensure success not only for the employer, but to ensure that the employee remote working didn't increase the demands on the role and time.

Assessments were made of how well systems and automation could support the process.

Extra thoughts on the success factors:

• employee performance is typically consistent whether working with others on remotely - a high performing employee will be a more suitable candidate to work remotely. Do not use flexible working arrangements in an effort to lift poor performance - manage it!
• focus on the purpose of the role and how tasks can be assigned and managed by smart design and assignment of people and systems and technology
• engage others in the process to ensure that handovers and hand offs are managed along with revised expectations

We all need to work together to make flexible working work. The data is clear: the ability to work flexibly has changed from a nice to have to a must have.

Disclaimer: there are many roles where flexible working in the form of remote work doesn't make sense (what mechanic can work remotely while servicing a vehicle?)

The process to redesign roles so that flexible working works requires a range of skills in your leaders:

• clear and open communication
• effective performance management and standard setting
• understanding of the role, the work and the team
• stakeholder engagement

Leadership skills need to evolve and adapt to ensure that the workplaces of the future remain effective for employees and employers.

If you think you would gain benefit from coaching or training to develop leadership skills, feel free to contact me.