4. Flexibility is no longer optional; it is a core… Why?

1.      4. Flexibility is no longer optional; it is a core… Why?

 


The landscape of work has evolved significantly over past few decades with technological advancements, changes in employee expectations and new global trends on work-life balance. One of the key revolution is flexible work arrangements and in the modern business era, flexibility has emerged to be an essential part of any organization, especially; within and after the pandemic period, world has moved towards flexible working arrangements and remote working.

Flexibility can be in the form of remote working options to flexible working hours and compressed workweeks.

So why is the flexibility crucial?

1.      1. Improve the work-life balance: Flexible work arrangements allow employees to better manage their personal and professional lives and helps to reduce stress and increase job satisfaction (Davidescu et al., 2020).

2.   2. Enhance productivity: With the flexible work models, many organizations have been able to maintain or enhance its productivity levels. Giovanis, 2018 has asserted that there is a significant and positive relationship between flexible work arrangements and workplace performance.

3.   3. Talent attraction and retention: Flexibility has become a key factor in acquisition and retaining of talent. As per the annual survey done by flexjobs, 80|% of employees would be more loyal to their employers when they have flexible work options. Also this has allow employers to hire talents regardless of geographical barriers.

4.   4. Cost savings: Both the employers and employees can experience the reduction of costs associated with physical space maintenance, personal expenses like traveling cost and other related expenses.

5.   5. Increase diversity and inclusion: Flexible work models have removed the barriers in traditional working methods and have open-up more opportunities for people with special needs, parents etc.

So when implementing flexibility, organizations need to consider about below factors.

1.   1. Trust and Autonomy: Organizations need to have a culture where they provide the autonomy to employees to manage their work and time effectively.

2.   2. Clear communication and collaborations: Employers need to have proper communication methods to ensure accountability and alignment and to keep employees connected and engaged.

3.   3. Technology infrastructure: It is essential to invest in necessary tools and platforms to support remote collaboration and seamless workflow.

4.   4. Continuous learning: It is important to have an encouraging mindset on continuous learning and adaption to keep pace with evolving work practices and technologies.

However there are some challenges also in implementing flexibility.

1. Managing remote teams: Through using of technologies, setting clear expectations, fostering a team culture organizations can manage the team effectively.

2.   2. Ensuring productivity and accountability: Organizations can use KPIs and clearly defined and measurable goals, regular performance review and feedback sessions and to ensure accountability organizations can have result-oriented work environment.

3.   3. Balancing flexibility with organizational needs: Organizations need to develop the flexible work models that align with their goals and having core working hours will help to balance it.

In future of work flexibility is no longer a nice-to-have, but a must-to-have.


Reference:

1.   1. Davidescu A.A., Apostu S.A. Paul A. and Casuneanu. I (202), Work Flexibility, Job Satisfaction, and Job Performance among Romanian Employees—Implications for Sustainable Human Resource Management, Sustainability, 12(15), pp 6086 [Online]. Available at https://www.researchgate.net/. Accessed on 05th November, 2024.

2. Giovanis, E (2018), The relationship between flexible employment arrangements and work place performance in Great Britain , International journal of man power, 39(1) pp 51-70 [Online] Available at https://www.researchgate.net/. Accessed on 05th November, 2024. 


Comments

  1. Hasitha WijayasuriyaNovember 7, 2024 at 2:29 AM

    Flexible work arrangements are crucial for work-life balance, productivity, and talent retention. They foster a diverse, inclusive environment and offer cost savings, while requiring trust, communication, and technology for success.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Chamini DharmathungaNovember 7, 2024 at 6:32 AM

    Your overview on the importance of flexible work arrangements is insightful, highlighting key benefits like improved work-life balance, increased productivity, and talent retention. The focus on essential factors for successful implementation trust, technology, communication, and continuous learning captures the balanced approach organizations need to adopt for flexibility to thrive.

    ReplyDelete

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