Flexibility in the workplace: how to implement it?

The flexibility at work cannot be summed up in a single definition. It would be more appropriate to talk about the different types of flexibility that exist and can be implemented by companies.

A distinction can be made between linked to the system in question (the company, the employee, the market in general) from those liated to the means considered: working hours, training, job insecurity, etc.

So there's no standard model for flexibility. Everything is modular depending on your company, your activityyour strategy and your needs.

A choice of ways of working choices. The advantages are numerous, but the risks without careful thought beforehand.

Are you hesitating to move towards management more innovative by offering more flexibility to your employees? Here are the essential benefits benefits, as well as the challenges challenges challenges for a flexible flexibility policy policy.

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What types of flexibility are there in the workplace?

There are 3 main forms of flexibility:

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1 Flexible hours

 The aim of flexible working hours is to : 

• to keep systems running as long as possible;
• to adapt working hours to the volume of demand at any given moment.

The employer optimizes the flexibility of the workforce and defines the number of working hours.

The employee's working hours can be adjusted according to his or her abilities and the agreement reached with the company. 

Whether it's part-time, split hours or a 4-day week, this system is still advantageous, although the employee does not benefit from complete time management. The employer retains control over working hours. 

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2 Workplace flexibility

Telecommuting, or hybrid working, often removes all time constraints: you set a target, with a certain quality of tasks to be respected and achieved over a defined period of time.

What's more, this atypical work system brings greater flexibility to companies , who can now search for candidates throughout France.

Opening up to new profiles, far removed from the geographic proximity pool, enables recruitment to be qualified by selecting the most interesting profiles . In this way, companies that implement this flexibility can diversify their skills by having access to a much wider offer.

3 Task flexibility

To meet the demands of the workforce, some companies choose tooptimize the versatility of their employees. They move from one task to another, according to need. 

Companies train these employees in several positions and develop their skills, at no extra cost. This enables them to reduce hiring costs.

This is known as internal qualitative flexibility. In this case, the company retains its own staff, whom it continues to train on an ongoing basis to avoid the need for further recruitment. 

Conversely, others resort to external qualitative flexibility. These companies prefer to use a variety of temporary contracts, to outsource part of their activity, for example, or to respond to greater demand by adapting their production levels.  

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Flexibility at work: what are the benefits?

There is still some reluctance to adopt these new working methods , due to the constraints of implementation and follow-up management, and fears of loss of productivity. 

Yet these methods have undeniable advantages:

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1 Retaining talent

Generation Z, which makes up almost a third of today's working population, includes tomorrow's leaders. That's why it's so important toattract and retain the best right now. 

Well-being and quality of life at work take precedence in their choice of company. Team spirit, friendliness and caring relationships determine the choice of workplaces and positions, well ahead of remuneration. 

As "digital natives", their link with technology is strong. They are hyper-connected and not afraid of commitment, in exchange for autonomy. They are looking for varied assignments that give meaning to their work.

Companies need to adapt to these new aspirations to remain competitive, modernize their image and maintain their attractiveness. Implementing a policy of flexibility in the workplace is the response expected by all these young candidates. 

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2 Improving productivity

Flexibility can become a lever for growth, a means of boosting performance and maintaining a competitive edge over the competition. 

Workers who feel better about themselves are more involved in their daily tasks and in their company in general. 

They are more focused, freed from the worries of managing personal obligations, more stimulated and more confident in their employer.

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3 Reduce stress and absenteeism 

Unhappiness at work leads to anxiety and depression, sometimes even to resignation (burn-out and bore-out). 

Whether the professional activity is too heavy or too light, the consequences remain the same: 

• long periods of sick leave ;
• a difficult reorganization for the company; 
• management costs to replace absentees;
• This has repercussions on the motivation of other employees, and hence on the company's performance .

Flexibility in the workplace helps to anticipate these problems. Maintaining well-being prevents absenteeism and its consequences.

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4 Less presenteeism, more results 

With telecommuting or hybrid working, efficiency increases. 

Employees boost their achievements by finding a better balance between professional missions and personal constraints. Less stressed, more rested, their concentration improves.  

Results now take precedence over contemplative or strategic presenteeism: performance takes precedence over the number of hours worked .

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5 Reducing fixed costs

By adapting its staffing needs to its activity, the company can overcome peaks and troughs more easily. The proportion of variable costs increases, while that of fixed costs decreases.

Another advantage is that you can limit the size of your premises and the expenses associated with running them.

Innovative concepts such as free-seating are appearing: space is no longer allocated, and employees choose their office on arrival and vacate it when they leave in the evening. 

We share coworking, meeting and relaxation spaces . In return, skills exchange, team cohesion and creativity are stimulated. 

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The challenges of implementing flexibility in the workplace

1 Costs

They differ according to the type of flexibility policy you opt for.

Qualitative flexibility (work organization based on the development of employee autonomy and skills) can help boost productivity.

However, successful implementation requires a number of costs to be taken into account:

• the availability of all the necessary hardware (computers and software) and a reliable Internet connection ;
• training employees in the new collaborative tools they need to use;
• the actual implementation of this policy (management of new working hours, days off, new task allocation, etc.). All this also generates a need for additional supervision to ensure productivity and on-time maintenance.
  

A policy of quantitative flexibility (recourse to precarious employment, fixed-term contracts, internships, temporary work, etc.) can help you save time and meet your most urgent needs in difficult times.
However, if poorly managed, this strategy can prove counter-productive and extremely costly:

• less involvement from employees who can't project themselves into the company;
• difficult topass on instructions ;
• adaptation time required each time a temp arrives;
• loss of team cohesion.

The disadvantage of excessive staff turnover, in addition to its high cost, is the risk of not finding employees who really match the profiles we're looking for.

Whatever your choice, the challenge is not to overlook these few costs before launching your project. You need to evaluate the financial investment and the time spent, and know how to anticipate your needs and adjust the workforce to your activity to optimize and make the most of the costs of your flexibility policy.

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2 Communication

‍Supporting employees is essential, whatever the issue:

• train employees internally to avoid the need for external labour;
• retain employees and attract new talent by offering flexible and attractive working conditions. 

In both cases, the manager's role will be to pass on all information, clearly and precisely. It is essential to guarantee the exchange of data concerning the tasks to be carried out and the company's strategy.

The company must also ensure that it maintains links with remote partners. 

Indeed, the major fear of employees is that they will lose touch with colleagues, that they will no longer be able to evolve, that they will lack human contact to the detriment of over-use of digital and technological media.

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3 Supervision

Companies that promote versatility through functional flexibility support their employees as they develop their skills.

Managers need to offer training tailored to the company's needs , and keep track of their employees' development, while helping their teams to master their know-how. 

In the case of flexible working hours and location policies, the manager's aim is to identify any problems before they affect productivity, so that the necessary action can be taken as quickly as possible:

• Encourage employees to express themselves regularly. 
• Don't leave them to their own devices: check in with them periodically to see how they're getting on, and avoid some of them becoming overwhelmed.

Granting flexibility and autonomy means refocusing management on the essentials: getting the job done and monitoringresults, no matter how many breaks there are.

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Flexibility at work: how to organize it?

1 Establish clear flexibility policies

The success of your project depends on meticulous upstream preparation :

• Assess needs and expected results.
• Plan your strategy carefully before launching any new rule. 
• Observe the means used by competitors and analyze the benefits obtained.

Once the program and the conditions for its implementation have been established, set out clear flexibility policies on which both company and employees can rely:

• Define equipment use charters. 
• Encourage the use of certain project management tools (Trello, Microsoft Project, Asana, etc.).
• Determine the response time to be given to incoming emails.
• Impose punctuality for planned meetings or group work. 

The key word here is common sense!

Plan a trial period to fine-tune the organization until everything works perfectly.

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2 Choosing the right technological tools

Providing software solutions is an essential step in implementing a flexibility policy. 

To guarantee productivity, opt for simple , secure tools that provide rapid access to company data.

For productive communication between team members or with service providers, the use ofvirtual collaborative tools helps avoid isolation and encourages dynamic exchanges. 

Successfully completing tasks remotely requires the ability to share documents, take part in video-conferences or webinars, exchange information instantly via chat applications, and so on. A wide range of secure software is available, including Zoom, Slack, Trello and Notion. 

It's up to each company to decide which solution is best suited to their needs, and they can call on specialist service providers.

Companies are also having to adapt when it comes to recruiting. With the advent of remote working, the whole of France now represents the pool of potential applicants. If this stimulates diversity within companies, centralizing data is essential. 

To optimize the search for candidates, using an ATS (Applicant Tracking System) such as Marvin Recruiter is a wise choice. It enables a selection process that is both relevant and consistent with the flexibility policies on offer.

Accessible at any time, it offers :

• Build your database by automatically importing LinkedIn profiles. 
• Optimize your sourcing by quickly identifying profiles that match offers thanks to AI.
• Create dashboards to analyze your results, manage your business and implement appropriate measures.
• Personalize your user space by connecting your ATS to all the applications you use every day (Slack, WhatsApp, Outlook, Google Teams, etc.).
• Benefit from training support to help you get started. 

ATS and CRM, the Marvin solution tracks the entire hiring process, from prospecting to contract signature.

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3 Involving employees 

As far as possible, avoid imposing, leaving the choice to employees to opt for the most suitable solution.

Explain the new rules in detail, reassure them and clear up any ambiguity about the equipment provided, or the communication planned to avoid isolation, etc.

At the same time, consider training for managers : motivating and supervising remote workers is unheard of for some. They must, in a respectful and non-intrusive way:

• Learning to communicate and manage emotions.
• Unite employees around these new facilities.
• Schedule annual performance reviews .
• Ensure that employees are efficient in their organization andtask performance. 
• Remaining benevolent to optimize general well-being. 

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Conclusion

A policy of flexibility policy well thought-out upstream and instituted with the support of employees, limits risks and breathes a breath of modernity into your company.

Whichever model you choose, it has a number of advantages numerous advantages savings on hiring costs, increased employee skills, team spirit, initiative-taking, creativity, loyalty and the attraction of more diversified profiles.

Motivate employees and increase productivity are the challenges of every manager. There is no universal model, and it's up to each individual to find the best compromise for his or her business.

One thing is certain, however: being open to new trendsmeans looking ahead tomorrow and stay competitive! Nothing ventured, nothing gained...

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