New Survey Shows Both Employers and Employees Benefit from Flexible Workplaces
A new survey by Wildgoose found that many employees are actively looking to work in a flexible workplace, as their mental health benefits greatly from it. In addition, employers can save on expensive employee costs by cutting down on the amount of staff in the workplace at one time.
A new survey by Wildgoose found that nearly 40 percent of people employed at flexible workplaces say the atmosphere has significantly improved their mental health. The survey asked employees who were aged 45 or under, and were selected from a range of 114 different companies. The participants gave their answers anonymously.
This past year, 62 percent of employees had to take days off for mental health reasons. With this being the case, many employers are looking to flexible working to give their employees a better work/life balance.
The study shows that for companies not offering a flexible workplace, it could be the reason they lose some of their employees. According to the survey, 14.3 percent of employees who are not currently allowed to work flexibly indicated that they are actively considering a career move to an organization that would offer them flexible working. If the employee is a parent, the percentage rises to 21 percent.
In addition, 30.4 percent of those who do currently work flexibly cannot work without it and would leave their job if this were taken away from them. Moreover, 42.9 percent of people who currently don’t have access to flexible working suggested that having the ability to do so would allow them to maintain or even boost their productivity levels.
Harriet Shurville, the people director at McCann London, said that the potential losses make building a flexible workplace a must for employers.
“Flexible working is gradually becoming common practice rather than a nice-to-have, for businesses in every sector,” Shurville said. “This is great news, considering the benefits it brings to businesses and their people. With this research now revealing around 14 percent of employees would consider leaving their job over not being offered flexible working, and 30 percent saying they would leave if it was taken away from them, the potential loss for businesses is hard to ignore.”
Most employees want flexible workplaces for sensible reasons. The majority of respondents said that a flexible workplace would help them maintain a good work-life balance, and many also added that it’s important for them to know that if an urgent situation arose, it could be resolved without affecting work.
Jonny Edser, the founder and managing director of Wildgoose, said that flexible work hours makes good business sense for employers, and also offers many benefits for employees.
“The results from our survey highlight the real benefits that adopting flexible working can offer to both employees and employers,” Edser said. “Trusting your employees to work at times that suit them is fundamental to maintaining productivity and employee wellbeing. If companies value the contribution their staff bring to the table, then giving them the freedom to flex their working hours is a no-brainer when it comes to keeping them.”
In terms of flexible working for good business sense, Lambeth Council said that if their company makes sure no more than 60 percent of its staff are in at one time, they save millions of pounds in property running costs per year.