Flexible work has changed the work and personal life of the entire FLYDESK team but beyond our modest experience, many researches are also confirming the benefits of flexible work across many industries and functions. Below is our selection of the top benefits of flexible work:
- Employee work-life balance
- Company & employee performance
- Retain & attract employees
- Stimulate creativity & innovation
- Cost savings & return on investment
- Environment-friendly
- Adapted & safer work conditions
Employee work-life balance
Flexible work contributes to a better work-life balance for employees as they spend less time in transport and more time for personal or family matters. According to the “Global State of Remote Work” report released by Owl Labs, people who have the opportunity to work remotely at least once per month are 24% more likely to feel happy in their roles. A better work-life balance reduces stress and contributes significantly to better mental and physical health. Ultimately, flexible work allows employees to work where they want, and to live closer to their friends and family, which often improves their quality of life.
Company & employee performance
Employees working with more flexible conditions are optimizing working hours with more focused time reach objectives faster. Avoiding the disturbance of an open office can be critical for concentration or privacy. According to an IWG report from 2019, 91% said that flexible workspace enables employees in their company to be more productive while on the move. In addition, creativity and motivation from stimulating environment are also factors contributing to the performance of employees and consequently companies.
Retain & attract employees
Job satisfaction, success and happiness are sometimes difficult to combine, and anyone being given the chance to work with more flexibility will appreciate it, resulting in more loyalty with employers. Beyond the retention of employees, a flexible work model will be one of the main arguments to attract new talents to join the company. According to IWG, in 2019, 80% stated that enabling their company’s employees to work from anywhere helped them recruit and retain top talent against 64% in 2016. Employees can become the best advocates of the talent acquisition.
Stimulate creativity & innovation
Flexible work breaks the workplace routine and stimulates minds. It allows creativity and innovation to flourish from work environment diversity and extra company networking. People who are happier in life and at work, are in a better state of mind to reach defined objectives but even go beyond. From that same IWG report 2019, 42% stated that flexible workspace enables employees to be more creative. Thriving employees will spread this mindset not only with colleagues but also with clients and partners.
Cost savings & return on investment
Flexible work is now proven to allow cost savings in terms of office spending (rental, furniture, stationery) when using shared office facilities or public spaces. 27% of business people say that their business could save between 5-10% by converting all leasehold to flexible working space and 51% report 10-20% cost savings were achievable (IWG report 2019). Beyond the workspace costs, savings will come from the retention and recruitment of employees saving on recruitment costs, onboarding and training. Productivity and time optimization from flexible work conditions naturally lead to return on employee salary investment.
Environment-friendly
Flexible work has a positive impact on the environment on various levels with the first one being the reduction of pollution from transport. Working from home or simply avoiding traffic congestion to go to the office will reduce your carbon footprint. Remote workers today have the same impact on air quality as planting a forest of trees. People who are working from home in the United States right now avoid emitting 3.6 million tons of commuting-related greenhouse gasses annually. To replicate those results, it would take the planting 91 million trees to offset the same level of emissions, according to 2017 data from Global Workplace Analytics. Replacing some of your business trips with video conferencing not only will preserve the environment but will also reduce a lot your expenses. Lastly, Bring Your Own Device policies also avoid the duplication of similarly capable devices and wastes.
Adapted & safer work conditions
Flexible or remote work allows employees to work where they need to be instead of forcing a journey to the office. Disabled or injured employees can remain effective working from their home where the equipment could more adapted. Employees can work from a safer place in case of a difficult political situation or climate threat for instance. Other employees might punctually need special equipment such as photo studio or manufacturing machine, only available certain locations.
The benefits of flexible work are certainly more than what we have listed above. Flexible work provides so many benefits that are good for both the business owners and its staff. If you are a business owner and are still on the verge of considering flexible work for your people, talk to FLYDESK today.