Four strategies to boost

Flexible work is in high need. Actually the report from Apollo Technical found that 72% of workers would prefer working in flexible environments rather than a full return to office.

And organizations are seeing measurable benefits. The productivity has increased by 47 percent and higher performance of employees ( 40% lower risk of a defect in the quality of work) and increased profits (with the average of of $11K saved/year per halftime remote worker) Flexible work can look more like a requirement as opposed to a benefit for employees.

If you're looking to design flexible work options or enhance the way you can get your team to work remotely, you're in the appropriate location.

In this article, we'll look at some of the essential elements of flexible work, changing employee expectations, and some tips for how you can prepare your company for the future using video-powered tools.

What exactly is flexible work?

A flexible working arrangement allows employees to decide where and how they work. Research from SHRM suggests that increased flexibility for employees provides a host of benefits such as higher engagement and retention with less overhead as well as more time for family and work.
There are two kinds of flexibility in the workplace:

Flexibility in location

Flexible location permits employees to work from an office, or a specific workplace. Some common types of location flexibility include remote work, telecommuting, hybrid work and more. The 2021 survey by SHRM revealed that 30 percent of employed Americans prefer the possibility of working from home or doing some form of remote work or hybrid work, and if the employers don't offer that option would search to find a job that has it.

Flexibility in scheduling

Flexible scheduling is about the ability of employees to arrange their work hours outside of the typical five-day a week 9-5 schedule. Some of the most popular types of schedule flexibility include:

• Workweeks compressed
• Shift work
• Flextime
• Job sharing
• Part-time schedules

Our work methods are shifting

It was reported that the US Labor Department reported over 47 million Americans were laid off in 2021 in an unprecedented massive labor exodus.

From dental offices to gas stations, the shortage of workers is making employers rethink how we think about the traditional job. 64 percent of the workers who took part who participated in the recent Pew survey felt uneasy coming back to their workplaces and 57% opted to work from home due to COVID-related concerns. In the Harvard Business Review reported that 36 percent of those polled would seek alternatives if they were not offered an alternative that was hybrid or remote as well as 6% who would be willing to leave even without a job secured.

Uncertainty in the economic climate, a changing labor markets and competitive employee expectations are forcing businesses to reconsider what and where employees are employed.

Recent research shows that flexibility at working hours boost employee hiring, retention, satisfaction, and efficiency. Gartner found 43 percent of the respondents to the Digital Worker Experience Survey said flexibility in working hours helped them be more productive. Thirty percent said that the time they saved in commuting improved productivity.

Four tips for creating a flexible work environment

As the workplace evolves, onboarding, training, enablement, and leadership teams need virtual communications, training, and engagement technology to help their organizations.

Here are four tips to create the perfect flexible working environment to your employees. They will also prepare your team to be successful.

1. Engage employees

As your workers don't gather as regularly as in the traditional workplace, it is important to come up with other strategies to increase employee engagement. 74% of employees report they are more effective working in a workplace where they feel valued. The majority of employees in leading companies are heard but only 62% employees in financially struggling companies are heard.

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The boring town halls can be a problem however, live stream issues can be even more frustrating. A decision to invest in video of high quality means exponential returns on team alignment and productivity, engagement of employees and connectivity to establish a cohesion and flexible workplace.

"We will not go back to the way it was. Video isn't a COVID-19 solution It's a more modern approach to the changing work environment."  
 Peter Strella, Director, Communications & Creative Media Services at Rite Aid

2. Develop a virtual Onboarding and training processes

When work shifts from office work, the training and education is also changing with it. Despite remote working or maybe because of it, onboarding and education have become increasingly essential. 97% of employees have been onboarding through virtual training sessions. it's the job of the business to develop efficient and efficient programs.

"Technicians do not always wish to go to our training centers, it's not a 'one-size-fits-all' for our diverse group of learners...What we began to think about was take the same great class material and put it on the internet."   Steve Hamaday, Virtual Training Manager at Axalta

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3. External and internal communication

"With  our platform, we created a bi-weekly live broadcast for all of our customers during a pandemic, in just weeks and not months. We handled the entire operation using the platform, working remotely with our team as well as our agency. We went live several times per week, in several different languages."   Alvin Mudun, Senior Web Product Manager for Zendesk in EMEA

4. Invest in tools for remote collaboration

If your employees are spread out across areas and time zones, the tools you use will determine team productivity and motivation.

Offering more options for using video could have an measurable effect on your team.  The State of Workplace Communication report found video-forward workforces have a 75% higher percent of employees who report excellent engagement as well as better working together as a team. Collaboration is the ability to communicate with teammates, and video improves communication and makes it more inclusive by:

• Better employee engagement
• Increased productivity
• Accessible content anywhere, anytime
• More Transparency
• Easy-to-use training libraries and resources

  The was originally written by Clara Wang and updated by Bianca Galvez on July 26 2022.