The Benefits of Flexible Working and Why it’s Here to Stay

The businesses that will thrive today and tomorrow are those that can be truly flexible. Businesses that are embracing flexible working can use it to help cut costs, attract talent and radically improve productivity.

Technological advantage

Technology has changed the way we communicate and it is currently changing the way we work. Gone are the days when office workers spent every working moment in a cubicle or at a desk. The rise of digital communication tools, collaboration apps, and productivity suites, coupled with the benefits of the ‘always on’ nature of the web, has set the modern business free. Flexible working is the natural evolution of work in the brave new digital world. Today, businesses large and small can operate anytime, anywhere.

What do we really mean by flexible working?

Essentially, it means freeing up your employees to work in the way that suits them best. That can mean mobile working via a smartphone or laptop, working from different locations thanks to remote access to the business network, holding meetings through video conferencing, home-working, and flexi-time, which allows staff to tweak their working hours. Underpinning it all is the technology that helps your team to work in a way that suits them best, from any location.

Benefits for business

By putting the technology and processes in place to facilitate flexible working, rigid and old-fashioned infrastructure can be overhauled, allowing businesses to install more efficient systems. Flexible working can also be invaluable in both staff recruitment and retention, especially for those with family commitments. Beyond parents, flexible working can help keep work/life balance in check for all employees, as they have the right systems and technologies in place to better manage their workload.

By cutting the time your staff spends traveling and by giving them the tools they need to work on the go when they do travel, dead time is converted back into productive time. These hours add up.  It’s not just businesses that benefit, people do too. The boost to morale and productivity generated by scrapping an employee’s commute or their endless travel to and from meetings cannot be underestimated.