More than half of the global workforce say they are prepared to leave a job that is lacking in flexibility and remote working options. This according to the EY 2021 Work Reimagined Employee Survey, which revealed that 90% of office workers want more flexibility in where and when they do their job, with over half of them willing to leave if they do not get it. Moreover, the Survey indicated that millennials are twice as likely to quit as baby boomers over inflexible working arrangements.
As lockdown measures begin to ease, more businesses require that their WFH employees return to the office for at least part of the working week. On average, employees expect to be allowed to work remotely for two to three days after the pandemic.
As of 2021, 67% of workers say that their employers can accurately measure their productivity regardless of whether they work in the office or from home. As teams start to gain experience and confidence in working and communicating off-site, around 41% of employees surveyed by McKinsey said they were now actually more productive when working remotely than in the office.
The growing demand for flexibility at work is reflected in the high number of jobs with remote offerings now becoming available. For example, in the past month alone, Glassdoor has posted over 80,000 jobs advertised as “remote” and 490,000 advertised as “flexible”. Meanwhile, only 10% of employers expect their employees to revert to pre-pandemic working arrangements with a full return to the office. Most of these are companies operating in the services sector.
Tips for improving work flexibility
To help businesses create a thriving, sustainable and flexible workplace, Instant Offices provided a few HR kick-starter tips:
- Research a variety of flexible work plans from other companies and think about what would work best for your teams. An official flex-working policy is more likely to work than an informal ad-hoc system.
- Start with a trial period—a pilot programme to see what works and what does not. After the trial run, gather feedback and see what needs to be changed or refined.
- Put training in place to get everyone up to speed on the new flex policy and how you plan to implement it.
- Ensure that all employees are using the correct tools to promote productivity when working remotely.
- Emphasise the importance of communication. Ensure that all employees can communicate effectively from their remote or home office locations. Keep communication channels open, so you can catch any potential issues before they become a problem.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
