Four things employers should know about the benefits of a flexible work culture

Flexibility has become a popular buzzword for organisations. However, it is a vague term that refers to many different ideas. Flexible working arrangements are one example. Flexible working arrangements refer to organisational plans that allow employees to change when or where or how they work. They mean employees can move away from traditional working times and structures. Examples include flexitime, job sharing, compressed workweeks, annualised hours and telecommuting, among others.

Flexible working arrangements are popular but also controversial. Supporters of such programmes often focus on the business case for flexible working arrangements. They argue that these arrangements boost productivity and reduce employee turnover. They claim that flexible working arrangements keep organisations at the leading edge of best practises. In contrast, critics argue that these arrangements are too hard for workplaces to use effectively. To them, these arrangements have unseen costs that harm the bottom line of an organisation and can damage organisational cultures.

But what does science have to say? Should managers use flexible working arrangements to improve employee productivity and reduce turnover? Are they helpful for employee morale? Are they harmful to organisational culture? As luck would have it, the evidence-based scientific research on flexible working arrangements is fairly clear. Here are four key takeaways from the scientific study of these arrangements.