How to Create a Flexible Working Policy

As the way we work continues to evolve amid Covid-19, employers are recognising the need for (and value of) flexible working arrangements. Here’s everything you need to know about creating a flexible working policy.

In our blog, Why the Future of Work is Flexible, we outline the benefits of flexible working, along with the flexible workspaces that can help facilitate flexible working arrangements.

In this blog, we’ll run you through:

• A quick definition of flexible working
• A brief history of the trend
• How to create a flexible working policy (and what you should include in it)
• The types of flexible working arrangements you can offer your employees
• Five things to consider before implementing your flexible working policy

Flexible working focuses on the individual needs of the employee, ensuring the structure of their working life offers the right environment for work-life balance.

What is flexible working?

Flexible working is an arrangement that gives employees a level of choice and flexibility around: 

• The number of hours they work
• When they work
• Where they work

It focuses on the individual needs of the employee, ensuring the structure of their working life offers the right environment for work-life balance, wellbeing and productivity – all of which, in turn, benefit the company.

A brief history of flexible working

Though Covid-19 has accelerated the trend, flexible working has been gaining traction for some time.

In 1973, telecommuting (i.e. working from home or working closer to home in satellite offices) was suggested as a way to combat a ‘traffic apocalypse’ and the scarcity of non-renewable resources. Much later, lightweight laptops and WiFi freed our working lives from the confines of a designated desk.

In the last decade, flexible working has become much more widespread: digital nomads popularised a ‘work from anywhere’ trend, the startup booms of Silicon Valley, New York and London challenged the traditional nine-to-five, and the global rise of coworking centres gave teams the luxury of choice.

Eventually, companies began promoting flexible working as a symbol of their forward-thinking cultures, offering it out from the get-go to both reap its rewards and attract top talent.

For Generation Z and young millennials, flexible working is viewed as a trendy perk, often listed amid mentions of ping pong tables and free fruit. For older generations of the workforce, it’s a much-needed relief in the whirlwind of juggling family commitments with work ones.

Fast forward to 2020 when the world began to respond to Covid-19. Flexible working trends across the globe were accelerated at speed under nationwide working from home guidelines. Companies that previously rejected working from anywhere but the office were forced to step out of their comfort zones. Everyone was invited to view the world of work through a whole new lens: flexibility.

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For older generations of the workforce, flexible working is a much-needed relief in the whirlwind of juggling family commitments with work ones.

How to create a flexible working policy

If you decide to implement flexible working across your organisation, you should consider creating a flexible working policy.

What is a flexible working policy?

A flexible working policy is a document that outlines a company’s approach to flexible working. It’s likely to include the following:

• An introduction to the purpose of the document and a brief outline of your company’s flexible working policy. This section could offer a definition of flexible working, invite staff to consider flexible working arrangements, and outline the benefits of flexible working.
• A list of the types of flexible working arrangements on offer at your organisation, such as annualised hours, compressed hours, flexitime, working from home, job sharing, overtime, part-time working, term-time working, working closer to home, and staggered hours.
• The needs of the organisation, such as any flexible working limitations (i.e. costs, health and safety issues, confidentiality or privacy issues, the availability of team resources, a role’s workload and team structures).
• Employees’ eligibility to request a flexible working arrangement. All employees have the right to request a flexible working arrangement, provided they have worked for their employer for at least 26 weeks, are legally classed as an employee, and have not made any other flexible working request in the past year.
• Details of how employees can submit a flexible working request. This could be via an email to HR or the employee’s line manager, or via an online form that you have created.
• The next steps involved, such as a meeting with HR or the employee’s line manager to discuss the request, plus information on how the request will be considered, the employee’s right to appeal the decision (if it has been refused or only partly agreed to), the extent to which the flexible working arrangement will be trialled, and whether any changes will need to be made to the employee’s contract.

Even when offering working from home policies, it’s common for employers to have an office that all employees can use throughout the week so that the right environment can be chosen for the day or week ahead.

Types of flexible working

As briefly outlined above, flexible working doesn’t just involve an employee’s freedom to choose their own hours or work from home. There are several other types of flexible working arrangements you could choose to offer. These include:

• Annualised hours: Annualised hours is where an employee is contracted to work a total number of hours across the year, allowing flexible schedules to be put into place.
• Condensed hours: Condensed hours, also known as compressed hours, is where an employee works the standard number of hours each week, but across longer, fewer days. For example, a five-day work week could be squeezed into four, longer days.
• Flexitime: Flexitime is where an employee can choose (within certain parameters) the times they start and finish their working day. Usually, companies outline ‘core hours’, during which employees need to be working or available (such as 10am to 4pm) with flexibility provided outside of those core hours.
• Working from home: Working from home tends to form a large part of today’s flexible working policies. It involves employees working remotely for either all or part of their working week. Even when offering working from home policies, it’s common for employers to have an office that all employees can use throughout the week so that the right environment can be chosen for the day or week ahead.

Did you know?

A Knight Frank LinkedIn poll highlighted that only 8% of employees want to work from home five days a week once the pandemic subsides. The ability to mentor younger teams, get face to face with colleagues and keep work-life and personal-life separate were cited among the top reasons for respondents wanting a blend of WFH and the office.

• Working closer to home: Another type of flexible working arrangement that we’re beginning to see accelerate in light of Covid-19 is working closer to home. This is where businesses provide satellite offices closer to employees’ homes or opt for flexible offices that offer multi-site access, both of which provide employees with a choice of location and shorten commuting times.
• Job sharing: Job sharing is where two part-time employees split the workload of one role. Benefits and pay are shared in proportion to the hours each employee works.
• Overtime: Overtime is where an employee can voluntarily work additional hours on top of those they are contracted to work for extra pay.
• Part-time working: Part-time working is where an employee is contracted to work less than the standard full-time hours. For example, this could involve just working three out of five days a week.
• Term-time working: Term-time working is where an employee works fewer hours or even takes time off during school holidays.
• Staggered hours: Staggered hours is where an employee has different start, finish and break times from others.

Your flexible working policy is likely to split teams out into different locations during the week, but the right technology can prevent any miscommunications, feelings of isolation and the risks of bottlenecks.

5 things to consider before implementing a flexible working policy

Though flexible working has the power to increase productivity, improve employee satisfaction and attract top talent, policies that aren’t thoroughly considered can damage company culture, lead to inefficiencies and complicate workflows.

Here’s a list of things you should consider before implementing your flexible working policy.

1. Do you have the right technology in place?

Your flexible working policy is likely to split teams out into different locations during the week, but the right technology can prevent any miscommunications, feelings of isolation and the risks of bottlenecks. Not only should you opt for a quick and easy communication platform (that prevents a cluttered inbox) such as Skype, Microsoft Teams or Slack, but you should also look into a workflow tracker, such as Trello, Asana or Monday.

It’s also wise to ensure your office is well-equipped to connect remote workers to office workers. For example, some flexible offices have spent the past few months kitting out their meeting rooms with enhanced video conferencing tools so that those working from home can still collaborate effectively with those who aren’t working from home.

2. Who can work remotely? And who should work remotely?

There are some instances where employees who handle sensitive information will be less able to work from home on account of privacy risks. In fact, data security risks have increased over the past few months as employees have been working from home, with human errors being the most common form of data breach. Other risks include fraudsters attempting to exploit unsecure domestic Wi-Fi networks and take advantage of vulnerable businesses.

In national lockdowns, where employees who can work from home should, there are ways to mitigate these risks, such as using a virtual private network (VPN), providing compliance training to employees and using one-time security codes. However, as our working lives return to some semblance of normal, it’s wise to consider whether remote working suits all roles within your organisation.

Likewise, consider whether it’s the most fruitful environment to develop new talent. Collision encounters and overhearing chance conversations add so much colour to employee development. There are careers, for example, that rely on building networks and client bases, and even with the best technology in the world, that can’t be learned in a remote environment.

It’s also worth considering whether your business will support employees in creating effective remote working set-ups, such as providing a budget for screens, desks and ergonomic furniture to prevent poor posture and eye strain.

Across your organisation, different roles, generations and individuals will prefer different working styles, so it’s important to provide employees with the freedom to choose what’s best for them.

3. How will you apply structure to flexibility?

Across your organisation, different roles, generations and individuals will prefer different working styles, so it’s important to provide employees with the freedom to choose what’s best for them.

While some employees will rejoice in the freedom to work around core hours and from a selection of workspaces, some employees will prefer traditional, routine structures. Kickstart some open conversations about individual preferences, and make all teams aware that flexible working will soon become available.

When it comes to working styles, every team member’s decisions will impact those around them. To instil a sense of business continuity, ask those working flexibly to clearly communicate the hours and days they’re available, especially when it comes to managing expectations and meeting deadlines.

4. Does your company culture align with flexible working?

Effective flexible working needs to be based on trust. If it isn’t, issues such as presenteeism can arise. Presenteeism is where an employee works more hours than is required or agreed because they feel insecure about their job, output or performance. As you can imagine, it’s not uncommon for presenteeism to manifest when employees are working part-time, condensed hours or with flexitime – especially if workloads are unrealistic.

Plus, if there are a number of people in your organisation who are sceptical about flexible working, it could place unnecessary pressures on those who are working flexibly, which could lead to poor collaboration, a rise in turnover and the risk of burnout.

If that’s the case, your flexible working policy might need to be accompanied by a culture shift which embraces a more forward-thinking mentality and focuses on the benefits of flexible working.

When it comes to implementing a flexible working policy, there are a number of ways that your office space strategy can support you.

5. How will your office space strategy support your flexible working policy?

Your office is an investment that can help you achieve your business objectives, improve team productivity and boost employee happiness. When it comes to implementing a flexible working policy, there are a number of ways that your office space strategy can support you.

If, for example, you decided to rent office space from a flexible office provider (such as WeWork, TOG or any of the other fantastic providers), you could get multi-site access to several coworking centres. Many providers have a number of locations across London, so while your private office will be your designated HQ, in most cases, your employees will be able to access communal spaces at other locations.

This means that your employees can have a change of scenery when needed, and in some cases, enjoy a shortened commute. Likewise, if you wanted to opt for shift patterns, this will involve some co-ordination from your business, although many workspace providers will be able to help you.