Increased focus on remote and hybrid working risks overshadowing the flexibility that many people need: part-time.
By Melissa Jamieson, CEO, Timewise
The pandemic-driven focus on flexible and hybrid working is undoubtedly a good thing. Perceived barriers to the concept of flexibility have come crashing down in many organisations; evidence from the CIPD suggests that productivity and wellbeing have improved in many cases. And while we mustn’t ignore the huge challenges created by lockdown, particularly for those juggling family life and work, the overall sense is that many workplaces are undergoing serious transformation.
Indeed, there is no shortage of examples of organisations announcing big changes, from law firm A&O’s news that 40% of their work will be done remotely post-pandemic, to PwC’s ‘Deal’, which includes the freedom for employees to adapt their start and finish times or other parts of their working pattern. Nationwide, BP, Aviva, Vodafone… the list goes on.
But so far, within all the news about post-pandemic changes, there has been little, if anything, about part-time. So while organisations are widening their employees’ ability to work where and when they choose, they are not offering the same opportunities regarding the third pillar of flexible working: how much people work.
The immediate question, of course, is does this matter? If hybrid working is popular with employees, and employers are gearing up to deliver it, do we need to worry about part-time?
In fact, it’s a real issue, with a range of consequences:
Left unchecked, then, this lack of focus on part-time roles will have an impact on workplace issues such as diversity and the gender pay gap, as well as societal ones including in-work poverty and social inequality.
But we’re not suggesting that hybrid working should be put on the back burner; we’re all for it, and are helping many organisations get it right. We’re simply saying that part-time is an equally valid arrangement, which should be included in any re-evaluation of the workplace. In the wake of the pandemic, in which the groups that traditionally need part-time the most have been the hardest hit, considering the future of work at a strategic level within your business is more important than ever.
So, for companies who recognise the importance of including or increasing part-time opportunities alongside full-time flex, what are the next steps? Here are some starting points for leaders and HR teams:
We’re facing a fantastic opportunity here to rework the way we recruit and employ people, for the better. But let’s make sure that this transformation is future-proof and inclusive, by putting part-time front and centre.
Published April 2021
By Emma Stewart, Co-Founder, Timewise
It’s simple maths, really. If you’re an office-based organisation, and the majority of your employees are going to be spending two or three days working remotely, you probably won’t need the same amount of space going forwards as you did before the pandemic.
Certainly, an Institute of Directors survey suggests that this is likely to be the direction of travel, with more than half considering cutting back on their office space as staff move more permanently to new ways of working. However, if leaders are assuming that they’ll just stagger people’s in-office days to reduce their square footage and operational costs, and otherwise carry on as before, that’s a real wasted opportunity.
Instead, companies need to use this shift in working practices to consider three questions. Firstly, what could we gain as an organisation from radically rethinking how we use our office space? Secondly, what would be the right changes to make, for our people and our organisation? And thirdly, how should we approach the process?
At a macro level, there are a number of opportunities created by this shift in workplace use, outside of simple cost savings. One idea that’s being frequently mentioned is to move from one centralised office to more, smaller regional ones; for example, as the CEO of Coinbase puts it, “One floor of office space in 10 cities, rather than 10 floors of office space in one city.”
Decentralising in some way would allow employers to gain access to a wider talent pool, and a greater diversity of background, experience and opinion, than if they remained based in one of the big cities. And it would potentially allow people who can’t afford the high cost of living centrally to have access to more, better jobs.
From a societal perspective, given the concerns about the effect of the pandemic on high street retailers, and fears of ‘ghost towns’ developing, an increase in the number of localised offices or hubs could also help with town centre regeneration. And of course, there are both environmental and individual gains from minimising commuting, from a decrease in pollution to the impact on people’s mental and physical health.
So, what would these new-style offices be for – and what should be done elsewhere? The pandemic has highlighted the suitability of home working for certain tasks; writing a report, finessing a presentation, or tackling a complex spreadsheet can be tricky to complete in a chat-filled open plan office. And some meetings are highly effective by Zoom or Teams; chaired properly, with a carefully curated invite list, they can be more efficient than a face-to-face equivalent.
Equally, there remain some circumstances in which face-to-face is best, with the most obvious being tasks that require creativity and collaboration. However, although these require people to be in the same place, they’re not best suited to a traditional, cubicle-based layout.
So ideally, instead of simply tweaking their existing real estate for their new ways of working, leaders should start with a blank sheet, thinking about what the new office should be for, before creating spaces to match. And that means thinking about job design.
Before getting excited by floor plans and paint colours, leaders need to invest time and thought into how their employees’ roles break down, work out what can and should be done where and when, and then base any new plans on these redesigned specs. That means considering issues relating to both tasks and people, such as:
Our suggestion would be to start by focusing on tasks, and then take people’s needs into account. It’s also important to consider the wider challenges around hybrid working, to ensure that any new model is both fair and inclusive. And as a side note, it’s worth remembering that there are tax implications for hybrid workplaces in certain circumstances.
A number of companies have already spoken openly about their plans to significantly change the purpose of their workplaces. Aviva is planning to close three offices (but not withdraw from any locations, or lose headcount) and “invest in our sites to provide a more vibrant, inspiring and flexible workspace for our people”.
And Vodafone has gone on the record to say that, while they will retain a presence in London, they can also “see the power of a distributed model, with hub offices elsewhere in the country, to help drive diversity and inclusion, reaching out to undiscovered talents nationally.”
They’re right to have got started; well-executed change of this scale won’t evolve or ‘just happen’; it takes time and investment to get right. We can help; if your organisation doesn’t have the right skills and experience in job design, or you’re not sure where to start, do get in touch.
Published April 2021
If there’s one phrase I’m hearing more than any other right now (apart from “You’re on mute”), it’s ‘hybrid working’. In meetings, in articles, in podcasts, everyone is talking about it; it seems it’s one of the main strategic priorities of 2021.
But despite all the discussion, not everyone seems to agree on exactly what it means – or understand how to do it well. So, here’s the Timewise lowdown on what it is, why it matters and how to make it work.
Hybrid working has always existed, but its prevalence has been turbocharged by the pandemic and subsequent remote working experiment. There isn’t yet a definitive definition, but at its core, it’s an arrangement in which an individual, team or organisation work part of their time at the workplace and part remotely.
In the brief periods in 2020 when office workers were allowed back into the workplace, the need for social distancing meant that most only went in for part of their working week. As a result, many employees experienced a hybrid pattern for the first time – and the evidence suggests they’re keen to stick with it.
At its best, hybrid working is about matching the task to the location, and doing the right work in the right place; there are numerous examples of people saying they work more productively on certain tasks from home. And from an employer’s perspective, there are many positives too.
Hybrid working, like flexible working in general, offers huge benefits for employers who take it seriously and deliver it well. These benefits are well-established by now, but here’s a recap of the main ones:
Thanks to the leaps that have been made in technology, it’s possible to be present in, and contribute to, most meetings, even when you’re elsewhere. And for those of us who have long been interested in flexible working, it’s worth noting that the focus on hybrid working, and the changes as a result, are hugely beneficial for part-time employees, as well as full-time hybrid ones.
However, while the benefits are clear, hybrid working isn’t risk-free. Here are some of the issues you need to consider:
What these issues clearly show is that this isn’t something you can leave to chance. Just telling your people they can split their week between home and the office and then crossing your fingers and hoping it will work itself out won’t wash.
Instead, you need to work to develop a hybrid culture, in which:
Already, different organisations are finding new ways to tackle this; for example, in some workplaces all meetings take place digitally, so that those at home have equal representation to those in the office. And some leaders are taking this as an opportunity to completely rethink what their HQ is used for, such as remodelling the office as a place for relationship building and collaboration rather than producing work.
There’s a lot to think about, certainly – but if, as seems likely, hybrid working is the future, it’s worth investing the time and training to get it right. We can help; as well as running a series of workshops on all elements of flexible and hybrid working, we have also created a new Flex Positive Programme, to help employers design and develop future-fit workplaces. If you’d like to know more, please get in touch.
Published June 2021
When Sam White took parental leave from Aviva in 2017, and his colleague Will McDonald acted up to cover the role, they assumed it was just temporary. Now, almost four years later, they’re a job share success story, and proof that this kind of arrangement can have a positive impact far beyond the everyday.
It was while Sam was away that Will started to consider job sharing. He was keen to support his wife’s career, and to be around for his children for more than just evenings and weekends. So he floated the idea with Sam, who was keen to explore a part-time arrangement for the same reasons, and they decided to pursue it.
SAM: “Will had proved that he was ready for the Group Director role while I was away, and I knew we could make it work from a chemistry point of view; we’d been colleagues for a number of years, before and during our time at Aviva. So we put our heads together to sort out the practicalities, and pitched it to Kirsty Cooper, our boss, who has been incredibly supportive throughout.”
At that time, there was no one else at director level working in a job share. The role involves a great deal of internal and external stakeholder management, so they knew they would have to get their Executives comfortable with the concept. They suggested a six-month trial, and took on the responsibility of making it work.
WILL: “We explained to Kirsty that we would use the six months to prove that we could deliver as a job share – and that if she and the team didn’t feel we were working to a high enough standard, we’d accept their decision. In the event, even before the end of the trial, our Exec team agreed that it was a success, with one member telling us they had switched from being a sceptic to a convert.”
The pair took advice on how to succeed as a job share, and developed a set of principles which they would adhere to. They agreed three areas in which they would come together for decision making – changes in strategy, hiring, and spending over a certain amount – and that for everything else, they would take individual decisions, but have collective responsibility. They also instigated a framework for a written handover, as well as having a verbal handover on their crossover day.
The response from their colleagues has been overwhelmingly positive, and Aviva colleagues who are exploring a similar arrangement come to them for advice. They were also successfully nominated for the 2018 Power 50. But it was in 2019 that they discovered an additional benefit of their arrangement – the ability to navigate an emergency.
WILL: “Out of the blue, I experienced what I later discovered was a mental health breakdown, and was signed off work. Sam immediately stepped up, working a four or four-and-a half-day week for six months, until I was sufficiently recovered, to start the transition back in. And I took that process pretty slowly; it was another couple of months until I was fully back in the role.”
Clearly, Will’s wellbeing was his team’s first concern; but from a purely business perspective, having the job share in place made everything much easier. Instead of having to draft someone in to take over his role, they had Sam in place to run things, with a bit of extra support. And although it meant Sam had to increase his days, it was something he was happy to do.
SAM: “One of the great things about a job share is that everything works both ways – there have been times when I’ve needed to step back a little and have been able to rely on Will to pick up the slack. I was also able to take on a secondment opportunity which I was offered this year, and once again, the business wasn’t negatively affected, because Will simply took over.”
So from a business perspective, job sharing works on a number of levels. It gives you two brains for the price of one, a double hit of fresh energy in the week, and double the amount of thinking time, or ‘toothbrush time’ as Sam describes it. It is also a powerful attraction and retention tool.
SAM: “We all know the issues about the lack of women on boards and the gender pay gap. And yet the default is still that women work part-time and men go back to their old arrangement when they become parents. Job sharing allows people who want to work less than a full week to stay at a high level, and progress further, in a way that part-time doesn’t; it’s important that more people, men as well as women, are allowed and encouraged to do it.”
And as a built in emergency and succession plan, it’s second to none.
WILL: Neither Sam or I are intending to leave Aviva, but if one of us did, the succession plan is in place; the other one could take over, or recruit another partner. That seamlessness is such a bonus for an organisation, and it really came into play when I was struggling. Being able to switch off totally, knowing Sam was in control, made my recovery much easier, and I’ll always appreciate that.”
By Kevin Green, Interim Chair, Timewise Executive Board
It’s becoming increasingly clear that many of us will be working from home for a significant period of time. It’s also likely that many managers will be leading a completely remote team for the first time.
This situation was no doubt thrust on both parties with little time to think, talk or prepare for this new way of working. And it will call for managers to operate very differently.
We know that the way we engage and communicate with each other when people physically work together is often informal. Great managers understand their people, and can pick up on changes by observing both individual and team behaviour. However, both of these become much more challenging as people work from home or remotely.
But there is a massive, positive opportunity here. 80% of people who work remotely say that if it’s done well, their engagement and morale improves; and 62% say they feel more trusted. This is therefore an opportunity to be grasped.
Here are my six top tips to help you support and inspire your remote team.
In times of crisis and change, people look to their managers and leaders to provide clarity, support, guidance and direction. True leaders will step forward, recognising the importance of their role. And they will start by reinforcing why the work the team does is important.
The more this work is aligned to a compelling purpose, the better, as this creates meaning. Leaders who are good at this get their people excited about what they are doing and why it’s important. They need to walk the talk and be visible and available to their teams, but they also need to demonstrate energy and the ability to make tough or difficult calls.
A leader’s true values will be thoroughly tested under pressure. After all, it’s relatively easy to live your values when times are good. But when success and results hang in the balance, an authentic leader will demonstrate what they are prepared to sacrifice and the trade-offs they are willing to make. Leadership is about putting your team first and yourself second.
It’s important to set clear expectations about this new way of working. This includes your expectations of people’s availability and accountability as well as how often team and one-to-one conversations will take place.
My advice is to do generic scene-setting with the whole team so they all hear it together at the same time. Make sure there is plenty of time for questions, and remember to ask for ideas. How can we make this work together?
Then, have a one-to-one conversation with each member of the team about their specific deliverables, what you expect of them and by when. Clarity is important, but so is giving people the space and opportunity to share ideas, ask questions and explore the issues; it avoids misunderstanding and difficulty later. So don’t rush the process.
Team communication is an important part of a leader’s role in any circumstances; but when everyone is working remotely, it becomes critical. So you need to recognise that you should spend more time talking, listening and engaging with your people –it’s important people feel connected.
First, if at all possible, use video rather than conference calls. If you can’t, use conference calls rather than the dreaded email, which has so much potential there is for misunderstanding. The opportunity to use video is a godsend in the current situation, and is so much easier today thanks to tools such as Zoom, Skype and Google Hangouts.
Over 60% of communication is non-verbal, so seeing people as they talk enables you to pick up on these signs. Keep the team communicating as a whole. Continue with regular team meetings; indeed, to support this new way of working, you may want to increase their frequency –perhaps starting with twice or three times per week. This will help people get comfortable and allow them to test how it works for them.
Make sure you allow time for small talk, too; people may be feeling isolated or even lonely after several days with little social contact. A good way of doing this is to get everyone to check in (say how they feel at the moment) at the start of the meeting.
It’s also a good idea to carry on doing creative and brainstorming sessions with the team, asking for ideas or solving problems together, This will enable your team to feel connected and that they are making a collective contribution.
One-to-ones must continue and, as with general team meetings, you may want to do them a little more regularly to start with. Ask lots of questions to find out what’s going on for each individual. Share agendas in advance, and make sure you know what you’re going to be covering.
Preparation is even more important for conversations over the phone or video, as they tend to be shorter and more business-focused. Listen actively to what’s being said and try to avoid assumptions and talking over other people. Ask questions to clarify what’s meant, so you’re not talking at crossed purposes.
It’s important to foster friendships among the people that work for you. Apart from formal calls and meetings, encourage your people to have informal calls with each other to help them stay connected. We know that people feel more engaged and passionate about their work if they have workplace confidants and supporters. This may disappear during remote working if it’s not encouraged.
People go to their work friends when they need help or want to celebrate or commiserate about workplace things. In the absence of that support, work can feel lonely and isolating, and lacking attachment. However much we like what we do, we won’t be fully energised or motivated if we don’t have close and supportive relationships at work.
A study by Harvard Business Review showed that remote workers are far more likely than on-site employees to worry that co-workers say bad things behind their backs, make changes to projects without telling them in advance, lobby against them and don’t fight for their priorities. Be a leader who encourages a culture of open positive friendships among co-workers — this will avoid these concerns becoming a reality.
Be responsive and available to your team. Set aside time in your calendar when you’re happy to be contacted, so your team know they can catch up with you on anything.
One thing that really makes people feel distant is the communication time-lag. If they have to wait hours for a response to something they are working on, or an idea they have, whether it’s right or wrong, people feel it’s not important to their manager.
By setting time aside where you’re available online or over the phone to provide feedback or insight instantly helps people feel recognised and listened to.
Many of the things I’ve proposed here will feel unnatural to start with. But if you persist, then there is no reason why your team shouldn’t be as productive, creative and energised as if they were on-site together. In fact, you may even find that they perform better and deliver better results working this way. From adversity comes opportunities; let’s grasp them.
Published April 2020
One of the most visible examples of the impact of coronavirus on the workplace is the growth of remote working. And as we’re flexible working specialists, you’d imagine we’d be delighted. But while it’s great to see companies adapting to the need to work together while apart, it’s time to take stock of where we are – and where we might end up. Are all the changes we’re seeing for the better – and will they last?
It’s certainly true that there are a number of positives coming out of the crisis. On a societal level, as an organisation who has been working to support work-life balance for nursing staff, we feel the outpouring of appreciation for NHS employees is long overdue. And we sincerely hope that their value, and that of other frontline workers such as teachers, retail staff, government employees and carers, who are putting themselves at risk for all our sakes, continues to be respected and rewarded once the crisis is over.
Additionally, on a practical level, this enforced experiment in remote working has overturned some long-held objections to remote working, creating real opportunities to change the narrative:
It’s our hope that, as a result, the reasons traditionally given for not allowing remote working just won’t wash. And so the debate can move on from whether it should be used to how to make it work – and the focus onto practical solutions such as job design and culture change.
However, there are also some ways in which the impact of coronavirus is more negative. For example:
And of course, we also need to beware the assumption that this is a temporary response to Covid-19, and that everything will go back to normal once the restrictions are lifted. Despite the pitfalls outlined above, I very much hope that isn’t the case.
Indeed, I’d argue that there is no normal to go back to. I believe that some of the more positive experiences caused by the impact of the coronavirus – avoiding the commute, spending more time with family and being able to work at times that suit us – will encourage employees to push for greater flexible working. And forward-looking employers will need to incorporate it as part of their offer.
If that’s the case, what should employers do to set the right tone, right now? Here are three good ways to start:
Here at Timewise, we’re already exploring the best way to turn the impact of coronavirus into a positive force for change. We’re creating a programme of webinars, training sessions, toolkits and advice for employers, with two core aims:
It’s a challenging time right now; no question. But it’s also an opportunity to change workplaces for the better, for good. If you’d like to know more about the programme we’re building, or need support with any of the issues I’ve noted here, do please get in touch.
Published April 2020
The word unprecedented is being overused right now, but it’s fair to say that things are changing at an unrecognisable pace.
In the two weeks since we posted our advice on setting up remote working, the workplace landscape has totally transformed. With schools and offices closed, and anyone who can do so working from home, organisations of all shapes and sizes are having to get used to remote working as a long-term reality.
For employers, many of whom may have had to hastily put some kind of remote working in place, the next step is to think strategically about how to make it work well in practice. From understanding what your employees’ current issues might be, to thinking through how to communicate with a remote team, here are our guidelines for making remote working a success during Covid-19.
Aside from making sure your IT systems are working seamlessly, the most critical success factor for remote working is communication. As you can’t physically read people’s moods, grab someone for an informal catch-up, or pull everyone together for a briefing, you need to create remote opportunities to do so.
How to address this:
It’s not business as usual right now, so it can’t be delivery as usual either. And while working from home can be highly productive in normal circumstances, that’s may not be the case for some of your employees right now.
The practical impact of school closures is that many remote employees have their children at home. They may not have a dedicated work desk, and may be juggling space and broadband capacity with their partner. So it’s important that leaders and managers understand the constraints their people are working under – and review priorities and objectives accordingly.
How to address this:
It goes without saying that stress is a real issue at the moment; it also takes more effort to keep an eye on staff wellbeing when everyone is working remotely. So it’s vital to put structures in place to make sure everyone is OK, and create guidelines to help them take care of themselves.
How to address this:
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be offering further advice and tools to help you manage the new workplace order. In the meantime, if you need any support from us, do get in touch.
Published March 2020
As the impact of the coronavirus continues to spread, companies are having to adapt to frequently changing guidelines. But one initial strategy is now pretty much standard practice among office-based businesses: moving to remote working.
As companies like Twitter realised early on, this allows you to protect your staff from potential infection, and minimise the spread of the virus, without affecting their ability to work. (It also offers a number of other business advantages, which we’ll explain at the end of this article.)
However, if you want to do it well, you need to have some core principles in place right from the start. Here are five things to think about when setting up remote working.
Remote working works best when managers value outputs more than inputs, and trust their employees to do their jobs when out of sight. So give your team the tools and priorities they need to do their job from home, then trust them to get on with it. If you don’t, that’s an HR issue, not a flexible working one.
A significant barrier to remote working is not having access to the right files and systems. You need to develop a solution that replicates their office desktop at home, whether on a company laptop or their home computer – and have the right IT support at the end of a phone.
Clearly, some tasks are more suited to remote working than others. So if you’re using it as a short-term solution to the coronavirus, it’s worth working out which of your priorities can be tackled most successfully at this time – and making sure your team are aware of what they are.
From Skype calls and Google hangouts to Slack and social media, there are a large number of tech solutions to enable you and your team to communicate with each other. In one company in Hong Kong which has moved to remote working due to coronavirus, teams have set up What’s App groups to mirror the informal office chat they’re missing out on.
When people are working from their kitchen tables, it’s all too easy for them to get caught up in a piece of work and let it spread into the evening. Support your employees’ work-life balance by encouraging them to formally switch off at the end of their working day.
The news that there are now over 1 million part-time employees at senior or management level is definitely worth celebrating. It’s not just a big number, it’s an indication of a real shift in attitudes and culture. Especially compared to the bad old days, when this kind of flexing only really went on under the radar.
It was the secrecy attached to part-time leadership that led to the launch of the Timewise Power 50 in 2012. We knew people were doing it, but they were doing so very quietly, so we set out to create some noise. And now, eight years on, many senior part-timers are loud and proud.
So is our work done? Should we raise a glass to what we’ve achieved, and move on? You won’t be surprised to hear that my answer is no.
While it’s great that so many senior part-time requests have been accommodated, what happens when the individuals involved want to find their next promotion? The data suggests they are likely to struggle; as we revealed in this year’s Flexible Jobs Index, only 15% of jobs are currently advertised as having any flexibility at all.
What this means is that these senior flexers are in danger of having no flexible next step, or having to trade their hard-won flexibility away to keep climbing. It’s almost like a game of musical chairs; sure, you can grab your bit of flex, but you won’t necessarily get to keep it if you go for a promotion.
If we’re going to keep moving forwards, we can’t just settle for helping people find a way to make their current job flexible. We also want them to be able to take their arrangement to the next one, and the one after that, and the one after that. And that means we need to make flexible recruitment into the next big thing.
How? Well, experience has shown us that what gets measured gets changed. For example, a focus on the gender split at board level has resulted in women holding one third of board roles at FTSE 100 companies. And following the legislation requiring companies to track their gender pay gap, things are starting to move in this area too.
It’s reasonable to assume, then, that a similar requirement for companies to track flexible hires and promotions would help speed up the pace of change. And while this would need to be tackled at governmental level, we all have a part to play.
So if you’re hiring flexibly already, that’s brilliant. Keep doing it, and do it more. Shout about it on your website and highlight it when you’re briefing recruitment agencies. Be upfront on your ads that you’re happy to discuss flexible options (having first made sure the roles you’re offering can work on that basis).
If you’re not, it’s definitely time to get started – and we can help. Do get in touch with the team, so we can support you as you take your next step.
Published February 2020
By Emma Stewart, Co-Founder Timewise
Does flexible working improve productivity? That’s the question I was invited to consider by wellbeing specialists Carnegie Trust UK, for their collection of essays, Can Good Work Solve the Productivity Puzzle?
The short answer is yes, from what we know, but we need to know more. I’ll explain why below; if you’re interested in the longer answer, it’s chapter 15 in the collection.
So what do we know? Well, there is some (limited) data on the link between flex and productivity. A 2014 survey by BT found that the productivity of flexible workers increased by 30%. Similarly, a YouGov survey from 2015 suggested that 30% of office workers felt their productivity increased when they worked remotely. And in a study of flexible workers undertaken by Cranfield University[1], over 90% of managers said the quantity and quality of work improved or stayed the same.
Additionally, there is an argument for flexible working having an indirect impact on productivity, due to its direct effect on other workplaces issues. Flexible working has been shown to boost talent attraction, retention and progression, and drive inclusion and diversity. It also delivers better work life balance, with the knock on effect of supporting mental and physical health and wellbeing.
It’s therefore not a huge leap to assume that if you’re working fewer days a week, or in a job that fits with your life, you are likely to be more engaged. Or that working from home, with fewer interruptions, can increase your output. Or that hanging on to experienced, knowledgeable staff will help the whole team succeed.
Certainly, these assumptions have contributed to increased interest, and trials of, the four-day working week. A key early example of this, Perpetual Guardian in New Zealand, ran a pilot which they say revealed a 20% increase in productivity. And a number of companies in the UK have followed suit.
However, as I’ve explained in detail elsewhere, introducing a four-day working week isn’t just a schedule tweak. In frontline and shift-based sectors, such as teaching, retail or manufacturing, it is hugely complicated to introduce – or only possible to do so at a prohibitively high cost to the business.
So if the four-day working week isn’t the answer, what is? I believe there are two big steps we need to take if we’re to use flexible working to solve the productivity puzzle:
At Timewise, we’re already on this journey. We’ve led a number of research projects exploring innovative flexible options, in complex sectors such as nursing, teaching and retail. Right now, we’re piloting flexible working in the construction industry, and investigating the role that flexibility can play in supporting returners and older workers.
But to really embed this work, we need more social partnerships between business sector bodies and agents for change, backed by government and industry investments. That’s the way to take productivity to the next level, whilst delivering a happier, healthier workforce.
Published January 2020
[1] Cranfield University/Working Families 2008: “Flexible Working and Performance”
