Tim Clapham, marketing director at Planon, says: “Cultural, economic and social changes are all influencing the way in which we balance our work and personal lives. As such, we are seeing the traditional 9-5 work pattern being replaced with more flexible working practices. However, our survey reveals the surprising fact that this practice is not yet completely widespread.
For modern businesses, providing employees with increased options to suit their working styles has become increasingly important to boost employee retention and satisfaction whilst also improving the efficiency of the business. As such, the large number of employees that are still being denied these options could be working below their full potential, and may also be less efficient than others who are enjoying greater flexibility.”
Planon collected the views of more than 100 professionals over a three-day period in order to gauge their views on flexible working. The results indicated that businesses could gain a number of benefits by introducing more flexible policies, and that many of these initiatives could be implemented very easily.
Tim Clapham explains “There are many options available for businesses that want to introduce flexibility to the workplace. This could involve allowing employees to work remotely, operating a hot-desk environment or providing employees with business-to-employee applications that allow tasks to be managed from a mobile device whilst on the go.
When managed correctly, flexible working schemes can even allow businesses to reduce their real estate portfolio since fewer employees will be in the office at the same time, which can lead to even greater cost savings.”