Six elements of a truly flexible workplace.
For an organization to fully benefit from flexible working, some key elements must already exist or be consciously developed in partnership with senior leaders and HR teams. These foundational teams are crucial for every firm wanting to move from flexible working compliance to truly flexible cultures, from tolerating flexibility to celebrating flexibility. By changing cultures, we challenge the more profound issues associated with flexible working and make flexibility the norm instead of an exception.
Here are six essential elements:
1. Flexibility for everyone
For a lot of jobs and professions, flexibility is straightforward to implement. But there is a type of work where introducing it is more complex, especially in jobs that require a physical presence, such as retail jobs. Just because it is more complex does not mean that flexibility is impossible. Although flexible working options in some roles are stricter, there are other ways to implement flexibility. People often think of flexibility as part-time work or working from home. However, it is crucial to understand the importance of work flexibility and acknowledge that other forms of flexibility, such as job sharing or self-rostering, can be implemented. Employers should ask employees what flexibility means to them in their roles and see how the organization’s structures, processes, and policies can support them so productivity can be at its optimum.
2. Accept flexibility in all forms.
Flexible working has many forms and is about more than just part-time work for mothers returning to the office. Being open to flexible working options such as part-time working, compressed hours, etc., due to employees having different needs, leaders must be available to employees requesting flexible work arrangements. Furthermore, leaders must have ideas about the type of flexible work possible and have strategies for implementing them in their organizations.
Remember, the successful adoption of flexible working does not limit the currently available forms to employees. If you want to know more about different types of flexible working, read our blog on the different faces of flexible working.
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3. High trust is a must.
The critical element of successful flexible working is high trust. It is only present in organizations and is often the leading blocker to flexible working. The main reason managers don’t offer flexible working is because of a concern about measuring and managing the performance of a flexible employee. Those concerns are rooted in a lack of trust. Since flexible work is here to stay, organizations must develop new approaches to performance management.
4. Support your managers and leaders.
In every organization, managers and leaders are the facilitators of implementing successful flexible working strategies and ensuring that flexible working benefits the organization and its employees. However, they can also form barriers and challenges if this is unimportant. Therefore, it is essential to ensure leaders on every organizational level support and live out day-to-day flexible working. All policies and frameworks must be clear, and performance-measuring structures and processes are in place to allow managers to measure individual performance efficiently.
5. Effective policies
A good policy exists to support and guide the organization’s leaders and employees. Effective policies are fundamental for many reasons. First, they must comply with the legal frameworks. Furthermore, they should also be easy to understand in implementation. When possible, the policies should be tailored to specific organizational contexts and create guidance on how to implement them.
6. Enabling Technology
Technology is significant for flexible working, especially for remote working, as it allows employees to be effective no matter where they work. If technology did not exist, flexible working, especially for remote workers, would exclude employees from the workplace. However, this doesn’t mean organizations must invest much money in new technology. Most of the technology used for remote working is the same technology used at the office. The aim of technology in remote and home working is to provide the same access tools and functionality as in the office, including security protocols.
Six elements will help organizations create the necessary change in their organizational cultures to develop flexible working. All these elements are connected, and each one supports the other. For flexible working to be successful and work on every organizational and individual level, organizations must ensure that this is part of the DNA and not an add-on in the company.
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Inclusionem is a global Diversity and Inclusion Consultancy based in Dubai. We specialize in measuring inclusion, diversity and inclusion strategy, inclusive leadership training programs and inclusive communication. Our diversity and inclusion consultants create an impact daily and help to build inclusive organizations in Dubai, the Middle East and all over the world.
