Flexible working is becoming more acceptable for an increasing number of organisations. During the recession, many organisations offered roles on a flexible basis in order to prevent redundancy. This allowed organisations to not only realise the benefits of a flexible workforce, but it also allayed many of the fears surrounding flexible working.
It allows the female workforce the flexibility to combine motherhood and work, while allowing the organisation to hold onto experienced talent
For many organisations, asking their employees to work flexibly had a positive impact: it created a sense of everyone being in it together, that they were a team working for the good of the company. Although most employees will have now gone back to work full-time, it has paved the way for many HR departments to consider flexible working as a genuine, alternative offering. As business improves, flexible working is being seen as a credible way for HR departments to resolve a number of employee challenges, allowing as it does for greater flexibility on the part of the employer.
Flexible working offers the employer the ability to retain talent when circumstances may have changed and staff otherwise leave, or as we have witnessed recently, economic factors dictate a reduction in staff. Many organisations face a shortage of females at the senior end, often due to the struggle to balance work and family commitments. By offering flexible working, organisations are far more likely to retain this female talent, and for the long-term. For many women, a break in career is only a temporary factor and by introducing flexible working, it allows the female workforce the flexibility to combine motherhood and work, while allowing the organisation to hold onto experienced talent. Within the HR sector, there are a disproportionate lack of females at HRD level. The increase in flexible working may go some way to resolving this disparity in the future, as women can continue to work in an organisation on a flexible basis, until they are ready to return to work full-time – and then continue to progress up the career ladder.
Flexible working could also become invaluable when the default retirement age is abolished or phased out. According to forecasts by the Office for National Statistics, by 2020, 31% of the UK’s workforce will be 50 years or older. Older employees are less likely to want to work a traditional full-time week, and are more likely to suit a flexible working set-up. In doing so, it will allow organisations to retain a wealth of knowledge. If there is a shortage of talent coming through from underneath, not only can the older workforce bring a wealth of experience, but they can also make up the shortfall where needed.
