Flexible working is the future
While giving my social channels a bit of a spring clean recently, I came across an article I’d written back in October 2018. It was about changing attitudes toward flexible working, and the critical role both HR departments and business leaders can play in supporting these changes.
What made me stop and reread this particular article was its poignant relevancy to what is happening in the world right now. Pandemic-inspired physical isolation and social distancing have been a catalyst for a permanent acceptance of working from home, with several other orthodoxies emerging about the future of working when restrictions are eventually lifted.
In the face of the pandemic, a sudden shift towards remote and flexible working has happened across the board in a variety of sectors (both those that have been historically remote-work friendly and those that usually require their employees to be on-site). But why did it take the outbreak of a pandemic to prove employees could work remotely, and where was this flexibility before the COVID-19 crisis?
The sudden rise in the number of employees having to work from home has presented problems as well as opportunities, but it increasingly appears that the situation may never go back to how it was. Both employers and employees are questioning the need to return to the office full time when lockdown has clearly demonstrated that flexible and remote working can be as effective, if not more so, in some cases.
For those organisations looking to continue with a more flexible approach to working, it’s crucial that this is championed and endorsed by those on the upper rungs of the structural ladder, and how HR plays a key role in supporting these changes at ground level. But how?
By:
Working with different business areas to understand what the benefits of flexible and home working have been;
Understanding the experiences of employees: some may have had an intense and stressful experience, whereas others will have enjoyed the time saved by not having to commute to and from work.
Helping to create solutions, remembering that business isn’t a one-size-fits-all proposition. This will have been evidenced during lockdown as people have differing needs and requirements.
Creating and implementing flexible policies, rather than procedures so rigid that managers cannot see how it might work for them in the longer term.
Continuing to dispel the myths around flexible working: it does not just mean working reduced hours or working from home.
Working with leaders to help them to manage their people, whether they are working remotely or on-site. This could include coaching for mindset change, on-line development training, success stories, and case studies (including from your own organisation, where flexible working has been successful), together with evidence-based research.
Ensuring the technology is in place to help people to continue to work more effectively.
According to a recent OnePoll ‘COVID-19 Remote Working Survey’, 91% of the UK’s general working population would like to continue to work from home, with employers beginning to see first-hand the positive impacts of remote working.
Given this, if employers are to leave with just one takeaway from this pandemic, I hope it will be this: continue to allow your employees to work remotely if they can, and work to create a more accessible and flexible workplace for all.
Published by Heidi Dalgleish (LinkedIn - 10 August 2020)