How To Make A Workplace Flexible

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Having employees that are willing to be flexible as well can have a positive effect on your workplace. Employees that are willing to take responsibility, be proactive, and step outside their job description to get things done are the types of workers that you want to keep. If you encourage this behavior and give them autonomy, they are more likely to engage.

Key Takeaways:

• Workplace flexibility is usually defined as offering a flexible schedule. This can include telecommuting, being able to take mornings or afternoons off, unlimited vacation, and additional leave options as needed.

• Employee flexibility is defined as having employees that take advantage of flexible work schedules, are willing to do work that’s outside their job description, try new things, and embrace autonomy.

• In order to create a flexible work environment, leadership needs to be willing to model the behavior, make sure taking advantage of flexible schedules isn’t punished, emphasize the human aspect of their workers, and focus on results rather than attendance.

What Is Flexibility in the Workplace?

Flexibility has become a buzzword in work culture, meaning that almost everyone’s trying to make their workplace more flexible. However, there are a couple of different meanings to flexibility in terms of work. While there’s definitely overlap between the two primary meanings, they are often separated.

• Workplace flexibility. When talking about workplace flexibility, it generally refers to including flexible work schedules in policies. The term ends up broad in its definition and includes any sort of schedule that doesn’t require employees to be at their desks from nine to five. This includes:

  • Working from home. This was essentially a requirement during the pandemic, though many businesses are scaling back on it. The policy is extremely popular with workers, though, meaning that offering it is a good way to attract talent.

    Note that offering the ability to work from home doesn’t mean that they have to work entirely from home – though that’s certainly an option. But some businesses offer employees the chance to work from home a few days a week, so they don’t have to commute daily.

  • Unlimited paid time off. Offering unlimited vacation or sick days is becoming more popular in certain industries – like tech. There’s an understanding in this policy that life is unpredictable and that your workers may get ill or have to look after their kid for a day or any number of other problems that can’t be anticipated.

    Some employers worry that employees will abuse a system like this. Generally speaking, if employees are treated with trust and the expectation that they’ll act like adults and use the policy as they need it, there aren’t any issues.

  • Taking mornings or afternoons off as needed. There are times when it’s difficult to work a full day – especially for working parents. Sometimes they may want to – or need to – pick up the kid from school. Allowing them to take an afternoon off (so long as their work is getting done) can make a huge difference.

    Some employees will likely just end up taking off a few hours and working from home for the rest of the day or starting the day working from home and coming in later for a meeting or just to be in the office for a while.

  • Four-day workweeks. Dropping the average workweek from five days to four days is being discussed as a way to modernize work. Some businesses will shift to ten-hour days in order to make up for the lost time, while others will just call 32-hour weeks full-time.

    Several test cases have shown higher productivity and more worker satisfaction with this system. In addition, having the office open for only four days a week can also cut costs such as electricity, transportation, and heating.

  • Additional leave. Offering employees additional leave is another way to be flexible. This can be extended parental leave, bereavement leave, or medical leave. Offering a full day’s pay for civic duties such as jury duty is also helpful. Some businesses will offer other types of non-mandated leave, such as:

    • Pet bereavement. Society is beginning to accept the idea that pets are also family. That means that losing one can be extremely painful and require time to grieve. Offering your employees this time shows compassion, especially in a pet-friendly business.

    • Mental health. This is a broad category that can range from addiction recovery, time off for therapy, grief counseling, recovery from burnout, or falling into anxiety or depression.

    • Adoption leave. Adopting a child comes with many of the same challenges as having your own biological kid. Parental leave isn’t just for the mother’s physical recovery; it’s also to spend time bonding with the child and adjusting to a new routine.

      It’s also an excellent way to show support for many different types of families.

    • Temporary disability. If an employee has a condition that turns into a temporary disability, giving them leave to recover and seek treatment is both humane and allows for them to return to work fully recovered and motivated.

    • Voting. Allowing your workers to take a few hours off to vote is another way to show that you value civic participation and see them as having full lives outside of work. In some jurisdictions, it’s even required.

• Employee flexibility. In order for a workplace to be truly flexible, employees have to be flexible as well. This includes making use of flexible policies and adapting to their coworkers working from home and expected availability. In order to do so, they need to:

  • Embrace autonomy. Some employees struggle with not being given clear directives, especially if their previous workplace was rigid. However, you need to encourage them to make their own decisions and be willing to seek out what they need to do.

  • Have clear expectations. Of course, in order for employees to successfully use their autonomy, they need to know what’s expected of them. It doesn’t need to be a detailed list, but they need to know their responsibilities and be aware of deadlines.

  • Be aware of key performance indicators (KPIs). KPIs are a way to measure an employee’s performance. If management clearly communicates what the KPIs are, then employees know what they’re expected to prioritize and what’s important to management. That helps them manage their time and work.

  • Know how their work fits into the project. It’s important for those who work as part of a team to know what pieces need to be finished before the next part can be started. If an employee isn’t aware that their coworker is waiting for them to finish X, they may decide to do Y first and accidentally hold up the project.

  • Internalize personal responsibility. Most people are willing to take responsibility if something is actually their choice. If you emphasize their autonomy and encourage them to be self-starters, then you also encourage them to own what they do and don’t do.

  • Try new things. Part of being a flexible employee is stepping outside of their exact job description. Sometimes there’s something that needs to be done, but the person who usually does it needs to work on something else – or is on leave. Other times there’s a niche that isn’t being filled by anyone.

    Of course, employees shouldn’t be expected to fill two or three jobs at once. But if they know it’s okay – encouraged, even – to work on different things and expand their repertoire, you’re likely to get to someone who’ll fill in gaps and carve out an essential position for themselves.

Creating a Flexible Culture

There are many benefits to a flexible work culture, and many employees far prefer one. However, just writing down some flexible work policies doesn’t automatically mean that your workplace has a flexible culture. Especially if your previous work culture was more rigid, it’s going to take effort to create a truly flexible culture.

Here are some steps to take to make a flexible culture a reality:

• Don’t punish taking advantage of flexible policies. While this may seem obvious, workplaces that don’t have a flexible culture heavily favor those who show up to the office regularly, don’t take vacations, and focus strictly on their job.

  If the people who get promotions, raises, and recognition are the people who are always in the office, then your employees will see that taking advantage of the flexible policies hurts their careers and won’t use them.

• Model flexibility. If you want your managers and employees to take advantage of your flexible policies, you need to model the behavior. That doesn’t mean you use them all the time, but you emphasize their importance, use them as needed, and encourage employees to make use of them.

• Emphasize the human aspect. Work-life balance is extremely important. There are times when things come up that require taking some time off work. Make it clear that this is expected and normal and that you want to help your employees get through any issues.

  A little compassion goes a long way when it comes to employee engagement, retention, and loyalty. People want to work somewhere where they’re seen as more than just their work product. If they know that that’s the case, you’ll have their loyalty, and they’ll be motivated to do even better work.

• Focus on results. Some management styles are focused more on employees being present and looking busy than what they actually turn out. If you have a flexible policy, the primary focus needs to be the end result rather than how much they appear to be working.

  If employees are able to get their work done well and on time, then it doesn’t matter how busy they look or how often they are in the office. If that’s the primary metric, then neither your managers nor your employees will be worried about taking advantage of extra time off or work-from-home policies.

• Hire people who prioritize flexibility. If you want to make sure that your workplace culture stays flexible, then it’s important to hire others who also prioritize it. If your employees make an effort to be flexible and allow others to be flexible at work, then it’ll be woven into your culture.

  One of the best ways to do this is to make a point of your flexible policies during the interview process. Potential employees that react positively to these policies are much more likely to take advantage of them and make sure that they remain available.

Workplace Flexibility FAQ

1. How can you measure employee flexibility?

   Flexibility is, unfortunately, not quantifiable, which makes it difficult to measure. However, employee feedback and surveys (particularly if they’re anonymous) are a good way to determine how flexible your employees perceive the workplace to be.

   If you’re looking into whether employees are flexible in their job, seeing how willing they are to step out of their comfort zone to help with a task or project isn’t a bad way to take the temperature.

2. How can you tell if employees are still being productive in a flexible culture?

   The best way to tell if employees are still being productive is to measure productivity by the end product. That means that you determine their productivity by whether they finish projects on time and how responsive they are to fellow employees when they’re needed.

   In addition, make your deadlines and expectations clear. Most employees understand that having a flexible schedule is contingent on continuing to perform well. Be sure to check in with your employees as well to see if they’re struggling.

References

1. The Harvard Business Review – The Future of Flexibility at Work

2. Gallup – Do You Offer as Much Flexibility as You Say You Do?

Author

Di Doherty

Di has been a writer for more than half her life. Most of her writing so far has been fiction, and she’s gotten short stories published in online magazines Kzine and Silver Blade, as well as a flash fiction piece in the Bookends review. Di graduated from Mary Baldwin College (now University) with a degree in Psychology and Sociology.