Four things employers should know about the benefits of a flexible work culture

Flexibility has become a popular buzzword for organisations. However, it is a vague term that refers to many different ideas. Flexible working arrangements are one example. Flexible working arrangements refer to organisational plans that allow employees to change when or where or how they work. They mean employees can move away from traditional working times and structures. Examples include flexitime, job sharing, compressed workweeks, annualised hours and telecommuting, among others.

Flexible working arrangements are popular but also controversial. Supporters of such programmes often focus on the business case for flexible working arrangements. They argue that these arrangements boost productivity and reduce employee turnover. They claim that flexible working arrangements keep organisations at the leading edge of best practises. In contrast, critics argue that these arrangements are too hard for workplaces to use effectively. To them, these arrangements have unseen costs that harm the bottom line of an organisation and can damage organisational cultures.

But what does science have to say? Should managers use flexible working arrangements to improve employee productivity and reduce turnover? Are they helpful for employee morale? Are they harmful to organisational culture? As luck would have it, the evidence-based scientific research on flexible working arrangements is fairly clear. Here are four key takeaways from the scientific study of these arrangements.

Firstly, flexible working arrangements benefit productivity, growth, and survival of organisations. Research shows again and again that they have positive relationships with organisational performance. A quantitative review of 41 studies over a total of 4,492 organisations showed that such arrangements benefit employee productivity. I have studied a group of over 1,000 businesses all started in 2004 and tracked them for seven years. I found that the use of flexible working arrangements is linked to increases in business survival, productivity and growth over time.

Secondly, flexible working arrangements reduce turnover and often benefit organisational culture. Study after study shows that these arrangements reduce employee absenteeism and turnover. Further, study after study shows that they help build trust between employees and organisations. Such trust is necessary to build positive organisational cultures. Finally, research shows again and again that employees report that working under flexible working arrangements is highly desirable. Such arrangements can help organisations attract and keep talented employees.