There Is More to a Flexible Workplace Than Meets the Eye

Studies show that companies are much better at developing flexible work options than at executing them

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Flexibility has already become the word of the year: Flexible hours. Flexible workdays. Flexible geographies. Flexible work environments.

Anything and everything having to do with flexibility is being discussed daily by leadership across the country. And when you consider “The Great Resignation” and the challenges we are all facing with staffing and recruiting, how we manage flexibility is of incredible importance.

It might be easy for some leaders to think today’s employees are entitled, only want to work when it suits them or want to be paid well beyond what their experience dictates. But the pandemic proved this isn’t true. Employees are motivated, hard-working and ambitious. They just want to work with flexibility in mind.

To gain a better understanding of what flexibility looks like, there are three parts to consider: philosophical flexibility—or how leadership wraps its mind around a new way of thinking about work culture; executing flexibility—or how an organization practices flexibility daily; and the future of flexibility—or how we will operate our businesses with flexibility in mind going forward.

Philosophical flexibility

To start, we need to wrap our minds around the idea that people work differently today and accept it philosophically. When most baby boomers and Gen Xers were climbing the corporate ladder, we understood that getting into the office early, staying late and working weekends was the way to impress your boss, get rewarded with raises and promotions and prove to those around you that the way to the corner office was going above and beyond what was expected.

This is where the greatest mindset shift needs to take place. Today’s workforce isn’t interested in climbing the traditional corporate ladder—in fact, the new structure has been described as more of a lattice. Thus, the path to the top isn’t necessarily vertical work from an office. This means we must change our philosophical ideologies to more readily accept what flexibility looks like.

Executing flexibility

Like it or not, today’s employees are not married to their jobs. They want work-life balance and care as much about the things they do outside of work as what happens within the office.

Historically, leaders wanted their employees to think about their job first. But times have changed. Employees today realize that having a balanced life is the key to health and overall happiness.

Flexibility is particularly important for parents. According to a McKinsey report, parents are more likely to prefer working remotely while non-parents desire more flexibility in work hours.

What does this mean for your workforce? Once flexibility is defined within an organization, it is incumbent upon its leaders and managers to uphold it. When you tell your team, “We will be flexible,” but are constantly looking over their shoulders via Teams, Zoom or Slack to see where they are, what they’re doing and how they’re spending their time—that’s the opposite of flexibility.

Studies show that companies are much better at developing flexible work options than they are at executing them. We must understand that our people want to live their lives, not work their lives. Recognizing this will help you to retain your existing workforce as well as attract new employees to your organization.

The future of flexibility

What will the work environment look like in the days, months and years ahead? LinkedIn called this scenario the “Great Reshuffle,” where companies are rethinking culture, expectations and policies to reflect the hybrid model we are all facing. And employees are evaluating whether the work they do fits within their values, goals and needs.

Of course, questions abound. Will we go to four-day work weeks? Will we live in a project-oriented environment, where job expectations are based solely upon outcomes, regardless of where or how long it takes to accomplish them? Will we change our perceptions of teamwork, collaboration and what is gained from an in-office work environment? What about training? How will this be accomplished in a hybrid environment with varying degrees of attendance?

Our flexibile future will probably be the greatest change in the work week that we’ve experienced since we moved to the modern computer age of the ‘80s and business casual work attire in the ‘90s.

As the working world changes with or without Covid-19, modern leaders have every opportunity to rethink how they provide a work culture that not only engages its workforce to feel valued and empowered but also delivers the best results possible. Leaders are only limited by their inability to embrace a new and ever-evolving world.