Flexible working ‘in vogue’

Flexible working appears to be in vogue across the UK after a survey of 1,000 managers revealed that 94% of companies allow their staff to work remotely and half of managers say it’s the norm where they work.

Survey results

The survey, compiled by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM), revealed that:

• 3/4 of organisations supported flexible working
• 62% said they had senior managers acting as role models.

The most common forms included flexible hours, part-time working and off-site working, with job sharing also seeing a resurgence.

Government extending rights for flexible working

The results come as the government looks to extend the current right to request flexible working to all employees from the start of 2014. Carers and those with children already have the right to request time off at work, but the new rules will apply across the board to meet the demands for diverse working patterns.

ILM’s research found that men were just as likely to work flexibly as women, with more disparate patterns emerging further up the lines of seniority. Some 77% of chief executives and 54% of senior managers worked flexibly, compared with 37% of first-line managers.

Cultural barriers to flexible working

Charles Elvin, the ILM’s chief executive, said: “Our research did identify a number of residual cultural barriers, which are preventing some organisations from fully embracing the advantages of flexible working.

“Openness and honesty about flexible working policies can alleviate worries and uncertainty, help to address negativity and highlight the opportunities and advantages to all staff.”

Mr Elvin added that negative attitudes towards flexible workers were generally prompted by a sense of unfairness and poor communication from senior management on policy, which is why a transparent system is more likely to benefit the organisation as a whole.