Flexible working arrangements are well on their way to becoming mainstream as more organisations reap the benefits.

The dream of flexible working has most employees running towards flexible opportunities with open arms, ready to grasp on tighter than to their keep-cup of coffee on a Monday morning.  As an employer this will not necessarily be the case.  Chances are that flexible working just isn’t something on your radar, or you’re somewhere on the spectrum between ‘hesitant’ and ‘completely terrified’ at the suggestion of adopting flexible working practices.

You’re focussed on sustaining or growing your business, productivity and profits. Not to mention trying to attract good employees and keeping them motivated and engaged.

Well, what if there was a way you could have it all? Because there is.  Shift your mindset to flexible working and the increase in productivity and profits will be a natural by-product. Here’s why:

Strengthen your employer brand

Advertising job vacancies as ‘flexible’ instead of full time or part time opens your organisation up to a wider and more diverse pool of talent who otherwise wouldn’t consider working for you. After all, ‘flexibility and greater work-life balance’ have been shown to be the biggest motivation when considering a new role. So when it comes to getting the best people for the job organisations that fail to embrace flexible working are likely to get left behind.

Improve employee retention and engagement

Not only will flexible working help you attract  great people, it will also help you keep them because happy employees are loyal employees.  Think of the investment of time and money you currently spend on recruiting and inducting new people into your team because you can’t hang onto your people and the positive impact this change would have on your bottom line.

Increase productivity in your business

There’s a lingering perception that remote workers don’t work as hard as office-based ones; but in fact the opposite is true. Productivity of flexible workers has been shown to increase while the amount of sick days has been shown to decrease. It’s common for people in flexible roles to manage their time better, put in more effort and work smarter than their fixed-hour counterparts. They often complete a similar amount of work in a shorter timeframe, giving business more bang for their buck.

Build a more diverse workforce

Open up all levels of your organisation to flexible working and you will create a pathway for career progression that encourages people to diversify their skills and experience without having to look elsewhere. It’s also more likely to increase the number of senior women within your organisation, which again, will improve the diversity of your workforce.

Reduce your overheads

It goes without saying that running a flexible workforce directly reduces the costs of running an organisation. Allowing some or all of your staff to work remotely, for example, can reduce your overheads, leading to substantial cost savings.

Flexible working is the new way of working that is rapidly gaining momentum as more employers cotton-on to the benefits. There’s no question that employees are seeking roles with flexibility within organisations that have a flexible working mindset. The question now is, are you ready?

Get in touch with one of the team at Freerange Works for support with how to adopt flexible working practices in your organisation.