This positive employer-employee dynamic not only makes the company more attractive to new recruits, it also inspires them to go “the extra mile”, she said.

The only downside to flexi-working? Some employees who have only ever had nine-to-five jobs can struggle to adapt to autonomous working, Hales said, but Waterstons now screens for this during the interview process.

Flexible working practices are having a moment post-pandemic, not only in the Asia-Pacific but around the world – underscoring a shift in attitudes towards work and its impact on modern life.

The change was turbocharged by pandemic-era remote working, which forced some companies to adapt to the practice for the first time, while others simply expanded on their existing policies.

‘Return-to-work’ mandates

Despite sweeping endorsements for the benefits of flexi-working, for employers and employees alike, it has also triggered concerns about its effect on productivity.

Many companies voiced concerns that a lack of face-to-face, in-person collaboration could undermine employee development and younger staff members’ ability to learn.

As tensions simmered, some employers like the Commonwealth Bank of Australia moved to impose “return-to-work” mandates last year, prompting a labour backlash.

While unions have fought back against the change, bosses chalked up a win in November when the Fair Work Commission, Australia’s industrial relations tribunal, denied an Adelaide man’s request to work from home full-time – calling his employer’s requirement for face-to-face contact justified, in what was seen as a landmark decision.

Technology security company Okta, which has around 6,000 employees worldwide, believes in the benefits of in-person interactions, but still allows its employees in Sydney and elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific to follow the hybrid work arrangements that best suit their needs.

“So rather than being prescriptive around times when people should be in the office, we’ve guided people to say these are the forums where you will probably gain benefit from being physically around other people, and created a platform [of events] to bring them back into the office.”

The company, which has 230 staff in Australia and New Zealand, also recognised that some of the changes brought by the pandemic were more permanent, such as employees moving away from urban areas or dedicating extra time to childcare, Goodman said.

“We have seen people struggle to recalibrate those elements by potentially being asked to come back into the office,” he said. “Ideation and strategy is always more effective when it’s in the office, but it doesn’t mean they need to be in five days.”

Even with the freedom to work when and where they wish, some staff will still choose to visit the office every day, as Waterstons has found. A company that needs to threaten employees to get them back in the office likely has a wider problem with work culture, managing director Hales said.

Indeed, the implementation of flexible working practices can shine a light on the health of a company’s relationship with its employees, says Andrew Barnes, founder of New Zealand’s largest corporate trustee company, Perpetual Guardian, and a leading advocate of the four-day work week.

“To make flexi-working work, there has to be a pact between employees and employers,” he said. “Because everybody’s got to get something out of it, businesses need to get better productivity … and if companies can find these solutions, the benefits would be in the form of more time off.”

“It’s very clear that this is something where there is mutual responsibility and respect,” Barnes told This Week in Asia, warning that a one-size-fits-all approach such as legislation or government guidelines may not have the desired effect.

When Perpetual Guardian rolled out four-day weeks in 2018, it told employees that they would continue to receive their full salaries – so long as their productivity did not suffer.

“If you don’t have any conversation about output, and all you’re ever talking about is time and location, you’re missing the point,” he said. “Is flexi-working a sign of good leadership? No, good leadership is key to flexi-working.”

At professional services firm Deloitte, offering 13 different ways to work flexibly has also helped the firm retain top female talent. “The world of work has changed forever, so it’s better to lean in than it is to push away,” said Pip Dexter, chief people and purpose officer for Deloitte Australia.

John Hopkins, an associate professor at Swinburne University of Technology who studies flexible work practices, said the traditional five-day week dates to a time “when there was typically only one wage-earner in a household and the average life expectancy of Australian workers was 54”.

“Most four-day week pilot programmes benchmark themselves against five-day week performance metrics and are coming out on top,” he said.

In addition to productivity, other benefits of a four-day week include reduced employee attrition and absenteeism, Hopkins said. But there are also problems.

The flip side

While employees can largely be trusted to make good decisions with flexible working, issues can arise, according to Gillian Brookes, a flexible workplace consultant in New Zealand.

Some might become “entitled” and spurn in-person interactions altogether, she said. Others are prone to overwork and job burnout, or feeling disconnected from their teams while working remotely.

Too much flexibility can also cause employees to disengage if they lose sight of the purpose and meaning of their work, Swinburne’s Hopkins said.

03:41

How companies can use staff benefits to win the ‘war for talent’

How companies can use staff benefits to win the ‘war for talent’

But the practice looks like it’s here to stay, with Brookes predicting it may even be adopted by the likes of doctors and tradesmen, who she said could write reports, do research and hold meetings remotely.

According to Stats NZ, New Zealand’s official data agency, 80 per cent of employers in the country now offer some form of flexi-working.

“People need flexibility these days,” Waterstons’ Hale said. “At the end of the day, it’s not about hours … but what we have is lots of metrics that people are happy, clients are happy.”