The 9-to-5 is dead – hello ‘made-to-measure’ work day
It’s been all over the news recently – if you’re an employer, you really ought to be considering offering your staff flexible work options. While the request for flexible working has been legally available to UK workers for almost twenty years, takers have peaked at no more than 27% of the working population since 2010.
As Millenials become the dominant sector of the workforce for the first time, however, it is expected that the offer of flexible working will become a more decisive factor in attracting the brightest talent, as well as encouraging those temporarily on the outside of the job market to dip a toe back into working life.
In order to address the issue, the Flexible Working Taskforce (a partnership of government, industry and trade union and charitable bodies) has launched a campaign to encourage employers to promote flexible working across the board, rather than to a select few. Members aim to encourage employers to use the strapline, ‘Happy to Talk Flexible Working’ when advertising jobs, in the belief that once critical mass is reached, flexible working will become the norm rather than the exception.
Why introduce Flexible Working?
Research demonstrates that the benefits of flexible working are wide-reaching, including:
- Encouraging skilled workers, such as parents or carers, back into the workforce
- Boost employee morale
- Improved productivity by raising employee motivation
- Attract the best talent, as well as retaining them once they’re onboard
- Creation of a more diverse workforce
Many employers have reservations, as do many employees who often report they are concerned about feeling ‘out of the loop’ with company news and communications. While a large proportion of business is conducted by phone or email these days, employees fear becoming isolated once they are no longer sat at their desk from 9-to-5, five days a week.
Typical communication channels currently include a dizzying combination of email, text groups, Twitter and Facebook, as well as physical notice boards dotted around the office. Company news can, therefore, be confusing to keep track of and end in missed or mixed messages as a result.
‘You’re still one of us!’
Our satisfied clients, many of whom have highly dispersed workforces, already recognise the value of ENGAGE as a part of their employee engagement strategy. While flexible working is a boon to those who have to work around family commitments or indeed find they get more work done out of the office (a hypothesis supported by research findings, by the way), the ENGAGE app ensures that out of sight does not mean out of mind, presenting a ‘one-stop-shop’ for corporate (and social) news and information.
Company news can be disseminated with timely ease via the News and Engagement feature, ensuring everyone still feels part of the work family. Encouraging notes, announcements or indeed any relevant messages can be sent via push notifications from leaders in order to stoke team spirit, while morale can be regularly monitored with pulse surveys.
With a host of features designed to engage employees and ensure flexible workers still feel ‘one of us’, ENGAGE can help your plunge into flexible working easy and intuitive. Contact us for a demo today to see how ENGAGE will help you achieve your employee engagement goals.
