With the unemployment rate hovering around a low of 3.7 percent, the United States’ job market has proven fantastic for current employees and new candidates.
Of course, with so many top workers taken, the pool of eligible, strong candidates is small and fiercely contested.
The truth of the matter is that in today’s workforce, fewer employees care about salary alone. Instead, almost 86 percent of workers state that a strong work-life balance is the most important part of their career. What’s more, almost half of millennials prefer work flexibility over higher pay. And by 2020, millennials will make up half of the U.S. workforce.
No matter how your business has historically scheduled its employees, flexibility is important. You’ll want more ways to provide workplace flexibility if you want to attract the best talent and keep them for the long haul.
A New Definition of Flexibility
Many businesses still think of workplace flexibility as allowing employees to work from home on occasion. In fact, maybe you tried it yourself – and promptly eliminated the option after a poor trial run.
Don’t worry: while working from home is one option for flexibility, it’s not the only option. Workplace flexibility refers to the option (or options) for an employee to choose to work from another location for a given day. Many new and varied workplace flexibility solutions are available and there’s likely one option that will easily fit into your work culture and leave employees happier.
Here are just a few ways you can improve your workplace flexibility options:
Flex Fridays
Much like how many businesses allow their employees to leave an hour early on Fridays, you might consider allowing certain employees to work elsewhere on one Friday a month. You might even offer Flex Fridays more often, such as every other Friday. This arrangement ensures that you can oversee a large amount of the work in-house, but also allows employees to plan out their flex days.
Partial remote positions
Some positions don’t necessarily require the full use of an office environment, freeing up a few days per week for remote options. You can schedule out these remote days to promote a reliable routine, while simultaneously freeing up those office desks for other employees
Remote teams
If you’ve had bad experiences with remote workers in the past, a remote team program is a great way of allowing work flexibility without ceding complete oversight. The idea is simple: an employee can work anywhere they wish provided they are also working in the same space as their coworkers. This is a great option for employees that primarily work within certain teams, allowing you to designate flexibility to certain teams while ensuring accountability.
Designated remote work spaces
Some organizations find success in designating pre-approved work spaces as remote work options. Many of these arrangements work as partnerships: you can sign up with one or several coworking spaces. that coworking space can provide tailored support to your team.
Upflex
If you want to offer your employees the benefit of additional flexibility and want the benefit of a premade, fully functional support system, Upflex’s app offers a host of benefits.
Through the Upflex app, employees aren’t limited to just one remote workspace. All they need to do is find a workplace and book it through the app. Payment is automatic and employers receive a full report on when, where, and how long employees are remotely working.
Don’t fall behind in the talent war. No matter if you’re a midsized company with thousands of employees or a growing startup with a handful of workers, there are plenty of ways to start implementing workplace flexibility into your business.
