Flexible Workweek
Flexible Work: An important tool for Employers to enable employee productivity, retention, satisfaction & overall work-life balance
Conversations around the four-day workweek have been reignited by the COVID-19 pandemic, with workers and employers rethinking the importance of workplace flexibility and benefits. It wasn’t as such that workweek flexibility was not performed earlier; it’s just that the COVID19 pandemic pushed it further into the lives of people giving it the importance that it needed.
The idea of workweek flexibility is simple - Workplace flexibility emphasizes the willingness and ability to adapt to change, particularly regarding how and when work gets done.
Companies reducing their workweek would therefore operate with fewer meetings and more independent work.
Hailed as the future of employee productivity and work-life balance, advocates for the four-day workweek suggest that when implemented, worker satisfaction increases, and so does productivity.
Many European nations such as Iceland (most prominent) were the first nations ever to understand the importance and need for workweek flexibility. Between 2015 to 2019, Iceland conducted the world’s largest pilot of a 35 to 36-hour workweek (cut down from the traditional 40 hours) without any calls for a commensurate cut in pay. The study also led to a significant change in Iceland, with nearly 90 percent of the working population now having reduced hours or other accommodations. Researchers found that work stress and burnout lessened and there was an improvement in work-life balance.
Apart from this, recently Microsoft also surveyed Japan, providing its people a 4-day workweek. The shortened weeks led to more efficient meetings and happier workers and boosted productivity by a staggering 40%, the company concluded at the end of the trial.
All these trials being conducted by different companies across the globe provide a crystal clear image of the importance and efficiency of a flexible workplace.
HOW DOES A FLEXIBLE WORKPLACE WORK?
1. Flexible schedule - Workplace flexibility can also refer specifically to regular work arrangements that promote work-life balance. Since the working hours are already reduced in a flexible workplace, scheduling can help the employers and the employees manage their time efficiently and can be productive most of the time that they work.
2. Telecommuting – Telecommuting allows employees to work from whatever place they are comfortable. It can be working from home or sitting in an office. It allows employees to be in a free state of mind and work without any disturbance.
3. Condensed schedules - Rather than a five-day workweek, a condensed schedule fits the same amount of work over a shorter amount of time, such as three or four days, giving the employee an additional day or two off during the week.
4. Flextime – It is a system in which employees work a particular number of hours each week but are free to choose when they start and finish the work each day.
BENEFITS OF WORKPLACE FLEXIBILITY
1. It helps workers achieve work-life balance leading to increased employee satisfaction.
2. Increased employee satisfaction further leads to high morale and loyalty among the employees of the organization. This helps the organization as it reduces the employee turnover ratio.
3. Flexible employees, for their part, are willing to do whatever is necessary to get the task accomplished, whether that means taking on more responsibilities, doing different tasks, or doing more at work. Thus, they have more to offer their employer than employees who can only do one or two tasks. Having employees who are willing to step outside their job description means employers don't need to find others to take on more work.
4. With a flexible workplace (four-day workweek), the usage of electricity, stationary, and the cost of other materials reduce leading to fewer overall carbon footprint
5. Lastly, with the increase in productivity, employees are also motivated to take less time off since the working days are already reduced.
In a flexible workplace, the needs of both employee and employer are met. Workplace flexibility is often used as a tool for retaining and engaging employees. It can also help an organization reach its goals thanks to improved productivity.
The flexible work trend was on the upswing before COVID-19, but it’s become even more commonplace, meaning that job seekers are more likely to choose the job that offers flexible schedules over the one that doesn’t.
- Akanksha Singh & Rijul Arora
