Employees the world over are taking charge of their working lives. They’re moving beyond the traditional nine-to-five and taking on a more flexible approach to work, and assuming control over where they work, when they work, how they work and who they work with.
This is causing employers to rethink exactly how their businesses operate day-to-day, and to explore how best to give their workforce the flexibility they crave. Of course, every organization is different, and so the key is to first understand exactly what employees want from flexible work, and then investigate the processes and technologies that can enable the desired better workplace outcomes.
In this blog, we’ll explore the main drivers behind flexible work, and why technology is so important to supporting its successful implementation.
Why employees want flexible work
Firstly, it’s important to understand just how big a trend flexible work has become. No longer is it the domain of forward-thinking niche businesses – it is a universal fact of life across almost every industry and region. Indeed, according to research from EY featured in our flexible work eBook, as many as half of employees say that if their current employer won’t offer them flexible work, then they’ll look for a new employer that will.
But why has flexible work gained so much traction among the global workforce?
There’s no doubt that the pandemic had at least some part to play: faced with extended lockdowns, many employees had a chance to re-assess their lives and what was important to them, and felt long commutes and full-time office working wasn’t for them. At the same time, some of those forced into remote working found they enjoyed it and wanted to keep doing so in the longer-term, at least on a partial basis.
Ultimately, employees now feel that they can choose where and when they work, and that they have the right to do so. This allows them to fit their work around their personal lives better, especially as work becomes measured on output more than presence at a specific location at specific times. As well as supporting their well-being, being trusted to choose their working model gives employees more autonomy and makes them feel more valued by their employer.
How technology can help
Preparing your business for flexible work can be complex. With every employee able to devise their own schedule and whereabouts, keeping track of who is working where and when can easily become an administrative nightmare. This is where technology like a workspace booking solution is so important, to join all the dots of flexible working, and to ensure that it makes sense for employers just as much for the workforce.
With the right solution in place, employees should be able to:
- Book anywhere, any time: search for and book the workspaces they need for the times they need them, across a wide range of devices and touchpoints, including mobile apps, on the web or through a plug-in for Microsoft Outlook.
- Select preferred workspaces and resources: employees can book whichever workspaces they need, including workstations, meeting rooms, private work pods, and even associated resources like parking spots and storage lockers.
- Change plans easily: use the platform to quickly amend any bookings when new demands arise, or when existing plans are no longer suitable, with automatic updating of details for anyone else affected.
- Enable collaboration: employees can search for the schedules and booking locations of their co-workers, so they can book spaces nearby and work together easily on days when all parties are working from the office.
- Manage days in the office: entire office days can be organized by employees before they even leave home. Desks, meetings, video calls, informal collaboration and more can all be set-up and overseen in one place in a matter of moments
