Flexible Working for All

The pandemic amplified existing labour market inequalities in access to flexible working and we’re still reeling from the effects of this, especially in the context of health. While half of working adults were able to work from home at times during the pandemic, others weren’t given this option due to the location-based nature of their work.

The reality of a two-tier workforce – the ‘flexible haves and have nots’ – became starkly apparent along with the implications for worker health and wellbeing.

Emerging from the pandemic, workers given home-based options have expressed a strong interest in maintaining them. Many employers have responded to this demand by developing hybrid policies and practice, recognising its value for attraction and retention. Yet there’s been limited coordinated action to redress workplace inequalities by investing in innovation and design to organise work differently for frontline and site-based employees.  

So, supported by Impact on Urban Health, Timewise joined with the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) and three trailblazing employers – Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, Sir Robert McAlpine and Wickes – in a two-year long action research programme to introduce flexibility into frontline roles and evaluate its impact, on both the individual and the organisation. Our report outlines the findings from our journey together and shares learnings to make access to flexible working more equitable.

What did we do?

We tested the idea that good quality flexible work improves employee health and wellbeing, leading to benefits for employers, such as improved retention. Timewise co-designed activity with each of the three participating employers to give site-based workers greater input and control over their working patterns. Then in collaboration with IES, we considered the impact of increased flexibility on individuals from the point of view of their experience of health and wellbeing, work-life balance and job satisfaction, and on organisations from the perspective of levels of engagement, attendance and retention.

What was our impact?

Our programme shows that flexibility is both central to how people want to work in the future and is practically possible even in ‘hard to flex’ roles. Where flexibility is introduced with the support of senior leaders, and is driven by teams at a local level, it results in positive impacts for both individuals and organisations. Workers report improvements to health and wellbeing, work-life balance, and a desire to stay longer with their employer. For employers, this means higher levels of employee engagement, lower levels of sickness absence and increased staff retention.

For the organisations involved in this programme, there’s no going back to former ways of working. They’ve embraced the changes and are moving forward with plans to scale up to ensure all are able to benefit through increased input and control over their working pattern. 

Key findings

• Benefits for frontline and site-based workers
  Increasing flexibility in frontline and site-based roles improved health and wellbeing, work-life balance, and raised levels of job satisfaction.

• Benefits for organisations
  Offering opportunities for increased flexibility resulted in organisational level benefits. We found evidence of reduced sickness absence, increased organisational loyalty and improved performance.

• Cultural change
  All participating organisations experienced a change process that prompted a cultural shift in the way work is done. Good practice change management processes emerged as highly relevant to implementing these flexible working policies successfully (such as piloting, monitoring change and internal advocacy).

• Autonomy
  Individual autonomy was central to accruing benefit from the flexibilities on offer. Where employees were empowered to choose approaches that worked for them and their team, they were better able to balance their work commitments with their personal priorities.

• Latent demand
  Our research found a strong demand for flexible options among employees. Managers need to be encouraged to take a proactive approach to ensuring that employees in all roles are afforded flexibility.

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Published July 2024