How Flexible Working Can Boost Productivity and Customer Satisfaction

Since June 2014 a new flexible working rule has been in place in the UK, which means that all employees have the right to request flexible working, (where previously it was just working parents with children under a certain age), and employers must consider the request seriously and offer a yes or no response.

Flexible working has been known to put the fear-of-god into many small employers as they become concerned that flexible working will damage business continuity and client relations as a result.

But, this fear or concern is not justified, as, if done well, flexible working can actually increase staff productivity and staff retention, both of which should lead to increased customer satisfaction. It can also make your business more attractive to top talent, meaning you should be able to more effectively service your clients.

For example, research shows that productivity declines by 50% after 8 hours of work or 40 hours a week. So, rather than having one over-worked staff member working 40 hours a week, it will be far more effective to employ two flexible workers in a job share or simply working part-time.

Also, if you can offer homeworking, you can also increase your productivity further as this Stanford study has shown that staff who worked at home showed a 13% increase in performance. This study related to call center staff.

In addition, if you offer staff the ability to work flexibly it will also help you to attract new hires. Yes, this study reported on inc.com revealed that 64% of small business owners believe that offering, flexible, mobile and remote working options has helped them to both hire and retain staff. Therefore, flexible working should reduce the amount of empty desk time which enhances business continuity and customer satisfaction and it should mean you also have access to better quality talent, increasing productivity and customer satisfaction.

What is The Right to Request Flexible Working

The right to request flexible working is a legal right to request a change in working arrangements (most commonly working hours).

The new rules will make the right to request flexible working available to all employees with at least 26 weeks’ continuous service, not just those with children or who are carers.

They will also see the above process relaxed with employers having to respond to requests reasonably within a reasonable period of time. The Government intends to publish guidance to assist with this.

The specific business reasons for refusing a request will remain.

They are:

The burden of additional costs.
Detrimental effect on ability to meet customer demand.
Inability to re-organise work among existing staff.
Inability to recruit additional staff.
Detrimental impact on quality.
Detrimental impact on performance.
Insufficiency of work during the periods the employee proposes to work.
Planned structural changes.

The positives

It is possible that a flexible working policy will encourage businesses to be more open-minded and less rigid. They may find that significant workforce cost savings can be made by adopting more flexible working practices. A more flexible approach is also likely to promote greater loyalty and productivity from employees in return. Of course the move will be welcomed by employees, as it gives them the option to work to a schedule which suits their personal life, allowing them to improve their work/life balance. And obviously if they prefer to stick to a 9-5 routine they can do that too.

The potential problems

From an employee’s perspective, it is possible that they will not feel able to request flexible working if they do not have children or carer responsibilities. They may be concerned that employers will look negatively on them, perhaps because they would be considered demanding, or not a “team-player”. Employees may worry that they suffer as a result, for example by being overlooked for promotion.

From an employer’s perspective, there is the likely scenario that too many members of staff will want to condense their working days into 4, and take, say, a Friday off. Operationally, this is clearly unlikely to be possible for an entire workforce, and employers could end up in the difficult position on being required to agree to some requests and then reject others. From a health and safety point of view, employers will need to make sure that employees condensing their working week into fewer days still have their required rest breaks etc.

Communication is key!

There will undoubtedly be creases to iron out for many businesses when implementing flexible working so the best thing for HR and management to do is to communicate openly and honestly with employees.

By making all members of staff aware of how to make a request, (by publishing a flexible working policy) the process for considering a request, the business grounds for refusing a request and the commercial reality that not all requests can be accommodated, everyone should know where they stand.

It may also be a good idea to encourage employees to discuss possible flexible working arrangements with their colleagues in advance, which would not only assist the employer but also avoid resentment amongst colleagues.

All of this information can be set out in a Flexible Working Policy. Employers who already have Flexible Working Policies in place will need to ensure that they are updated appropriately.

Infographic on How to Implement Flexible Working

But, this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the benefits of flexible working, as there are many more advantages to flexible working relating to: work-life balance, job satisfaction, stress, attendance levels, increased effort etc – and you can read all about the benefits and how to implement flexible working in your business in the infographic below, provided by gotomeeting.co.uk.