From telecommuting to reduced hours, flexible work options were one tactic companies used to help ease economic pressures during the recession. As the economy improves and job opportunities rise, such arrangements could become a way to attract and keep talent, experts say.
Forty-five per cent of U.S. organizations implemented alternative workplace strategies within the past two years, according to a survey by U.S.-based New Ways of Working Network. Forty per cent said the recession was the impetus for expanding their alternative work programs, according to the survey of 103 organizations worldwide.
Now, nearly half – 46 per cent – of Canadian workers say their workplaces offer flexible working options, according to a survey of more than 1,000 employed Canadians by Harris Interactive for Telus Corp.
What may have grown in part as a cost-saving measure is quickly morphing into a talent recruitment and retention tactic. Nearly a third – 31 per cent – of executives globally identified flex working strategies as one of the top three talent management initiatives they plan to implement this year, according to a poll of 340 executives by Ernst &Young.
“We’ve definitely seen an increase in the number of firms interested in flexible work options,” said Ildi Wiley, president of Results Continuum Inc. an HR consultancy in Jordan, Ont. More organizations have a better sense of how flex policies can reduce today’s working pressures, from commuting time to work/life balance, and see their recruitment and retention potential, she added.
Flex options may be of particular appeal to younger workers, noted Daphne Woolf, managing partner at Collin Baer Group Ltd., a human resources consultancy in Toronto. “If you want to be an employer of choice, this is an increasingly high-profile item.”
Flexible start/end times: 76%
Work from home: 59%
Part-time work: 56%
Source: Institute for Corporate Productivity 2009 survey of 306 U.S. organizations
Benefits
Space optimization: 79%
Cost savings: 74%
Employee work/life balance: 66%
Employee attraction/retention: 54%
Employee productivity: 53%
Business agility: 52%
Barriers
Organization culture: 74%
Manager concern: 71%
Resistance/fear of change: 63%
Staff concerns about loss of contact with other staff 36%
Financing: 26%
Lack of IT support: 25%
Source: New Ways of Working Network 2009 survey of 103 organizations worldwide
89
Percentage of employees who say flex work options make a company more attractive.
81
Percentage who say an organization offering a flexible work program positively differentiates one company from another.
67
Percentage of employees who say they’d be more loyal to a company that offered the benefit.
56
Percentage of employees who say having flexible work options would motivate them to work harder.
Source: Online poll of 1,013 employed Canadians by Harris Interactive for Telus Corp.
ERNST & YOUNG CANADA, TORONTO
Who participates: Most of the firm’s 4,000 employees work flexibly on an informal basis. About 200 staff have formal flex arrangements, such as working reduced hours, seasonal schedules or telecommuting, said Karen Wensley, a partner on E&Y’s people team. She estimates that less than 10 per cent of employees cannot take advantage of flex work options.
How it works: Staff who can adopt flex time have no standard work hours, she said. Every employee is equipped with a laptop, and remote-networking capabilities means they can work anywhere. “If you looked at an accounting firm 10 years ago, face time in the office was important. It was evidence of how committed you were. That’s all gone,” Ms. Wensley said.
Full-time staff work a standard 40-hour work week, but how they schedule it is up to them. At the start of every client project, staff teams come up with a working schedule that accommodates every member’s needs.
