Businesses Still Not Offering Staff Flexible Working Options

Despite the fact that a Flexible Working Policy was introduced into UK law back in June 2014, many companies are still failing to offer any sort of flexible working arrangements.

This is according to a survey carried out by Censuswide (commissioned by communications services firm Unify), which found that 37 per cent of those questioned said their organisation did not offer flexible working options.

And 39 per cent said they would be more loyal to their business if they did have some form of flexible working scheme. And the same amount, 39 per cent, also said their home was one of the most productive places they can work in.

40 per cent of those surveyed said it would be a “major liberation and improvement to their professional life” if they could do their job from outside the office the entire time. One of the major reasons for this is the fact that in the working day in the office, over half of respondents (51 per cent) said that interruptions from colleagues prevented them from doing their job efficiently. That, we’re sure, is a familiar story for many people.

Other niggles of working in an office included commuting (which bugged 30 per cent), dodgy low quality equipment (22 per cent) and poor communication infrastructure for talking to colleagues who do engage in remote working (14 per cent).

Robert Keenan, Head of Portfolio Management at Unify UK & Ireland, commented: “Employees are serious about finding better work life integration. Last year, Volume 4 of Unify’s NW2W (New Way to Work) Index revealed that nearly half of all employees would have chosen a flexible working arrangement over a pay raise, and almost a third revealed that they would change employers if offered flexible work elsewhere.

“For those employers that are serious about attracting and maintaining the best talent, it is time to start enabling new ways of working amongst employees.”