Should more of us be working in our pyjamas?

It sounds like a frivolous question, but we’re serious.... Office culture is changing. Flexible working is becoming more acceptable, and even encouraged with more and more jobs advertised as ‘location flexible’ meaning that the role allows you to work from home, and probably in your PJs if you really want to.

But flexible working is about much more than working from home. The CIPD describe ‘flexible working’ as a type of working arrangement that gives a degree of flexibility on how long, where, when and at what times employees work. So it’s about the times people work, not just the location.

The benefits of flexible working

The top three benefits of flexible working commonly cited by employees include:

An improved work-life balance for employees
Reduced stress levels and relieved pressure
Improved staff loyalty – and an additional perk to help recruit top talent

But there’s more…

The CIPD found that the use of flexible working has a big impact on employees’ attitudes to work–life balance, with 65% of flexible workers satisfied or very satisfied with their work–life balance compared with 47% of employees who don’t work flexibly.

A survey by Vodafone, titled ‘Flexible: Friend or Foe?’, found that flexible working boosts company profits and employees are more productive. The survey also suggested flexible working boosts corporate reputations too and has a positive impact on their organisation’s reputation.

It’s a benefit that everyone loves

When it comes to the millennials in your workforce you can pretty much guarantee that they want some form of flexible working arrangement. A report by professional services firm EY highlights the millennials’ need for flexible working arrangements. A need which makes millennials far more likely to change companies for a better work-life balance.

But flexible working policies don’t just appeal to millennials, they appeal to workers of all ages. In fact the EY report highlights that for adults aged between 18-67 working for a boss that doesn’t allow you to work flexibly is one of the top five reasons people quit their jobs.

Flexible working is one of the few employee benefits that appeals to everyone because it can be so varied. Such policies allow parents, carers or people with additional commitments to manage their time, improve their work-life balance and as a result improve their health and wellbeing.

According to the CIPD there are a number of flexible working patterns which include:

Part-time working: work is generally considered part-time when employers are contracted to work anything less than full-time hours.
Term-time working: a worker remains on a permanent contract but can take paid/unpaid leave during school holidays.
Job-sharing: a form of part-time working where two (or occasionally more) people share the responsibility for a job between them.
Flexitime: allows employees to choose, within certain set limits, when to begin and end work.
Compressed hours: compressed working weeks (or fortnights) don't necessarily involve a reduction in total hours or any extension in individual choice over which hours are worked. The central feature is reallocation of work into fewer and longer blocks during the week.
Annual hours: the total number of hours to be worked over the year is fixed but there is variation over the year in the length of the working day and week. Employees may or may not have an element of choice over working patterns.
Working from home on a regular basis: workers regularly spend time working from home.
Mobile working/teleworking: this permits employees to work all or part of their working week at a location remote from the employer's workplace.
Career breaks: career breaks, or sabbaticals, are extended periods of leave – normally unpaid – of up to five years or more.
Commissioned outcomes: there are no fixed hours, but only an output target that an individual is working towards, also known as a Results Only Working Environment (ROWE).

Companies embracing technology

Organisations are embracing technology to facilitate flexible working, improve employees’ work-life balance and improve employee health and wellbeing.

Technologies such as smartphones, fibre broadband services and working using cloud computing and conference calling software enable employees’ to work from virtually any location and at any time of the day or night.

Forward-thinking organisations are now also using apps to provide a truly connected employee engagement platform. Theses apps can be the ultimate employee engagement and communication tool, enabling you to reach all of your employees wherever they are.

As well as giving you the ability to send staff urgent bulletins, news and announcements employee engagement apps enable you to:

Keep employee contact details up-to-date
Use for inductions by providing a staff handbook, induction information and videos
Improve participation staff reward and recognition programmes and staff suggestion schemes
Provide learning and development opportunities for staff, such as interactive training and product quizzes
Give staff the opportunity to provide feedback via staff surveys and feedback forums
Give your employees access to useful tools such as a mileage calculator

You can also incorporate information from your employee benefits scheme, so you can let your employees know the benefits they’ll receive by participating and opting in to your employee benefits scheme.

Employee benefits need to reflect the move towards flexible working

Optimising your approach to flexible working can help you reduce costs, improve employee engagement and loyalty and increase productivity – but don’t forget to ensure that your employee benefits support your flexible working policies.

There are numerous employee benefits that can help improve your employees' work-life balance and support flexible working, from holidays for that important work-life to bicycles for commuting.

Many employees don’t want the world when it comes to flexible working. Flexible start and finish times or the ability to work at an alternative location a couple of days a week is usually enough to get the benefits of flexible working. But by offering employee benefits that support workplace flexibility, organisations can bring major advantages for both employers and employees, it’s a win-win scenario.

James Malia is the director of Employee Benefits at P&MM Motivation, part of the Sodexo family.