Has flexible working stalled?

It's National Work Life Week this week and it's an opportunity to celebrate the advances we have made in flexible working over the last decade. We've moved from an era when it was the exception, to one where it is common. Or have we...?

New research from Manchester University has revealed that there has been no significant overall increase in the number of employees working flexibly since the legislation came into effect in 2014. They analysed data from almost 25,000 employees and looked at those working flexible start and finish times, fewer hours, or from home. In 2010, 44.1 percent of all employees worked flexibly, and by 2015 the figure was 44.3 percent. Despite the legislation being extended to cover all employees in 2014 it seems to have levelled out.

The CIPD's report on UK Working lives earlier this year pointed out that 42% of workers have the option to vary their hours and 40% are able to work for home but the trend data suggests they are 'stalling'. Nearly two thirds of employees would like to reduce their hours and one in four finds it hard to relax outside of work because of their job.

Another recent survey showed that majority of working parents want to move to a more flexible working culture, but three quarters of them don’t have it as an option. So we are still a long way from getting the ideal work-life balance.

We need work to be redesigned for the Digital Age.

How people work, and the freedom they have to choose their own work environment, is

critical for today’s knowledge economy. We need leaders to think through how people can be most productive and what constitutes a healthy working experience.

We know, for example, that concentration drops off  rapidly if people are tied to a desk for long periods. But how do we stop people from being tied to technology instead?  That question is not being addressed by the IT department or HR.

There is no equivalent to the office designer in cyberspace. We need a new discipline of ‘work design’ that combines understanding of psychology, sociology, and technology.  This is the key to the successful 21st Century organization, and it’s about time leaders took some notice.

See my article in the latest edition of Work&Place Magazine for more explanation. (You will first be asked to become a member, which is free initially. Then you will have access to the whole of the latest edition and this link will take you to my article).