The concept of “flexibility” is nebulas. Its implementation can vary
from organisation to organisation and even within departments and
teams. Earlier many companies such as IBM and Bank of America
deployed extensive flexible working but years ago they began pulling
it back as they felt that their businesses weren’t benefiting from those
arrangements.
However, following the pandemic, Many businesses have declared
their intention to “embrace flexibility,” especially through a hybrid
working paradigm. It happened due to 3 main factors:
1 . Companies believe that working remotely 24/7 will increase the
productivity in the organisation including the efficiency and
effectiveness of the employees.
2 . Due to the epidemic, the employees were threatening
to leave their jobs unless they have been granted flexibility.
3 . Leaders believe that permitting employees to work flexibly
creates work-life balance and harmony in the organisation.
However, these justifications oversimplify the difficulty of integrating
flexibility into an organization’s operations and goals. Therefore, the
majority of organizations approach the issue superficially.
Increasing flexibility at the workplace for the workforce can aid to
company’s DEI strategy (Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion), help in
motivating employees, and both the organisation and workers can
grow simultaneously. It is to be believed that if a company’s
flexibility policy doesn’t include employees then something is wrong
with the organisation.
Constructing a flexibility policy that offers employees to work
remotely only if they accept the pay reduction is not acceptable. This
is not an idol flexibility policy. Working remotely should not depend
on compensation except in cases when an employee’s location is
essential to the people they are serving (such as the government).
As a result of the pandemic, many workers have changed their
perspectives on the value of work in their life so the importance to
review flexibility policies is increasing. The organisation has to stop
thinking of flexibility policy as a mere HR policy and should start
seeing it as an opportunity for organisational transformation that will help both employees and leaders.
Source : Harvard Business Review