How flexible work can help you create a thriving workplace

Many job seekers today prioritize work-life balance and are more likely to be attracted to employers who offer flexible work arrangements. Flexible work initiatives can help create a workplace culture that values employees’ well-being, promotes work-life balance, and fosters a more positive and productive work environment. That is why your company may be at risk of losing 50% to 70% of potential hires if you don’t provide flexible work options.  

Offering work flexibility can lead to increased employee engagement, motivation, and overall job satisfaction. It boosts enthusiasm and improves employees’ physical and mental health.  

Read on to find out how flexible work can improve the workplace experience and help you attract and retain thriving employees.

Combined with positive psychology principles, flexible work makes your workplace flourish

Positive psychology focuses on promoting positive emotions, traits, and behaviors. By incorporating the principles of positive psychology into the workplace, you can build a culture of positivity and employee well-being.

If this is a new approach for your leadership team, here’s how you can apply principles of positive psychology to create flexibility in the workplace and a thriving environment:

 
• Promote flexibility and autonomy in the workplace by encouraging employees to have more control over their work and take an active role in creating their work schedules which will be better aligned with their work capacities and personal life.
 
• Highlight the importance of establishing good communication and collaboration between employees as it improves the process of decision-making and problem-solving.
 
• Encourage social connections between employees to promote positive psychology in the workplace environment. Provide opportunities for employees to socialize and get to know each other outside of work-related tasks. In the era of remote work, this is especially important to help your remote employees feel more connected.
 

Remember, the flexibility of having options to choose from is the main contributor to the feeling of self-determination and motivation in employees, who will be driven by enjoyment and intrinsic rewards rather than external obligation, which is a less powerful motivator.

Flexible schedules enable a better work-life balance for employees

Flexible schedules can help employees achieve work-life balance by giving them more control over their work hours, reducing stress, and allowing them to better manage their personal and professional responsibilities.

Here are some ways flexible schedules can help employees achieve work-life balance:

 
• More control over work hours: By setting their own work hours or adjusting their schedules to accommodate personal or family commitments, employees can achieve better time management and reduce stress. Linkedin reports 57% lower chances of employee stress and burnout among organizations that implemented workplace flexibility.
 
• Reduced commute times: By adapting their schedules in order to avoid rush-hour traffic, employees in hybrid workplaces can save time and avoid this source of day-to-day stress. This can also result in more quality time spent with family or engaging in other activities outside of work.
 
• Improved physical health: Flexible work arrangements can help mitigate the negative effects of sedentary work. Staring for long hours at a computer screen has negative effects on both body and the brain. This includes back and shoulder pain, headaches, eye strain, blurred vision, problems with sleeping, stress, anxiety, and burnout.
 
• Enhanced personal relationships: Flexible schedules can help you not miss important family events or take care of personal obligations without having to sacrifice work time. This can lead to improved family and personal relationships, which can contribute to overall happiness and well-being.
 
• Cost saving: One of the advantages that flexible work arrangement offers employers is that they can save money on costs such as office space and equipment. This, in turn, can enable employers to offer more competitive compensation and benefits packages, such as private healthcare plans, to help retain employees.
 

Flexible work provides tailored and enhanced employee experience  

Employee experience includes a range of work-related factors such as compensation, work-life balance, job security, growth and development opportunities, recognition and feedback, work relationships, company culture, and job autonomy and flexibility.

With flexible work arrangements, employees have the ability to work in environments that are more conducive to their personality traits and work style. Some employees find it difficult to focus in busy office spaces and prefer the commodity of home offices, while others reach their best performance in collaborative environments such as coworking spaces.

Flexible work arrangements often give employees more autonomy and control over their work. By providing employees with flexible work initiatives, they can manage their workload according to their own schedules. With the ability to set their own pace, employees can take the time they need to complete tasks and projects to the best of their capacities.

This allows employees to work during their most productive hours when their focus and concentration are at their peak. For example, an employee may choose to work on a project early in the morning when they are most productive and then take a break in the afternoon to take care of personal responsibilities.  

Flexible work options improve work relationships

Flexible work arrangements help build trust between employees and their employers by encouraging more open and frequent communication. The lack of on-site collaboration may call for more often check-ins with remote or part-time employees.  

As managers need to ensure that their team members are on track, intensified communication can help foster a stronger relationship between them. Regular check-ins, goal setting, and performance feedback can help to maintain and increase a sense of accountability and engagement among flex employees.  

Giving team members the freedom to work in a way that best suits them shows that the employer or manager values their judgment and trusts them to get the job done. This results in a more pronounced feeling of support and trust from their employers and is therefore much more likely that employees will be less burnt out and stressed and more satisfied with their jobs. For companies, this ensures higher retention rates and better productivity.  

Flexible work arrangements allow employees to work more collaboratively with team members who may be situated in different parts of the world or time zones. When employees are able to work at different times or locations, it may become necessary to share responsibilities more effectively. This can foster a greater sense of teamwork and collaboration among colleagues, leading to increased creativity, knowledge sharing, and innovation.  

Flexible work arrangements can also lead to a greater understanding among colleagues. For example, when employees work remotely, they may gain a better understanding of the challenges faced by their colleagues who have parenthood duties, take care of family members, or have other responsibilities outside of work. This can lead to a more supportive and empathetic work environment, which is crucial in these unprecedented times.  

Workplace culture becomes intentional

Workplace culture becomes intentional in flexible work when companies actively promote and support flexible work arrangements as part of their overall company culture. This involves creating an environment that values employee well-being, promotes open communication, and prioritizes work-life balance.  

Companies can create an intentional workplace culture by empowering employees to make their own decisions about their work schedules and locations. This means providing employees with the tools they need to work remotely or outside of traditional office hours and trusting them to manage their time effectively.

The process of promoting an intentional workplace culture requires fostering open and transparent communication with employees about their flexible work options. This includes setting clear expectations and guidelines for flexible work arrangements and ensuring that all employees have access to the same opportunities.

Employers and managers need to embrace and be supportive of flexible work arrangements and encourage their teams to make the best of them. This can involve modeling the behavior they want to see and providing resources to help employees navigate flexible work options.

An intentional workplace culture requires ongoing evaluation and adjustment to ensure that flexible work arrangements are meeting the needs of both the company and its employees. This may involve soliciting feedback from employees and fine-tuning policies or procedures as needed.

Use the Thriving Workplace Index benchmarking tool to measure the success of your efforts!

New employees can join from anywhere in the world

When searching for top talent, you might realize that the professionals you need are abroad. One of the advantages of flexible work arrangements is the fact that they can help companies tap into a larger pool of talent and have more flexible hiring processes. This leads to a more productive, innovative, and diverse workforce, helping companies remain competitive in their industry and better reflect the needs and perspectives of their customers.

By expanding the pool of talent, flexible work arrangements can help reduce bias in hiring. Remote work and flexible schedules can help attract and retain a more diverse workforce, as they can accommodate a wider range of needs and lifestyles. It can be particularly beneficial for persons with disabilities who may have difficulty traveling to work due to mobility issues.  

New employees can join a company from anywhere in the world in a flexible work environment by providing remote onboarding, offering flexible work arrangements, providing technology tools and cultural immersion experiences, and offering ongoing support. These strategies can help new employees feel connected to their team and the company culture, no matter where they are located.  

Flexible workspaces cater to the entire team’s needs

While many employees worldwide claim they’d rather quit their job than return to the office, some workers would rather sit with their team and collaborate in person. The lack of social interaction made the world rethink the benefits of fully remote work, so many employers embraced hybrid work with flexible working arrangements.

Flexibility in choosing where your team will work from is widely supported by the rise of coworking and flexible workspaces. Whether you need “hot desks”, dedicated conference rooms, fixed office schedules, or space for sporadic on-site meetings, the flexible office market will have a suitable workspace option to offer to you.  

This way, everyone’s needs are met: bosses get to see their teams face-to-face, employees who miss socializing can meet whenever they like, and those who enjoy working remotely 99% of the time can keep doing it, knowing they have a flexible office in case they need it.

Allow your remote employees to experience the benefits of a thriving workplace first-hand

In a thriving workplace, employees are supported in their personal and professional growth, and their contributions are recognized and valued. They feel a sense of belonging and are part of a team that is working towards a shared vision or mission.  

Despite the many advantages that flexible work offers, the lack of in-person contact requires introducing new strategies that can help reinforce the company's culture and ensure that remote employees are living up to its values. Seeing each other is crucial in maintaining a sense of belonging and company culture in remote teams. It helps build trust and better communication, strengthens relationships, and maintains the team's culture and values.

If you are looking for support in allowing your employees to experience the benefits of a thriving workplace first-hand, Gable can help you.