Three-quarters (75%) of employer respondents offer a flexible working policy to their employees, according to research by Vodafone.
Its The Flexible: friend or foe? report, which surveyed 4,000 staff and 4,000 employers across Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the US, also found that 83% of respondents that offer flexible working have seen an improvement in employee productivity.
The research also found:
- 61% of respondents that offer their employees flexible working say that their organisation’s profits have increased, and 58% say that the policy has a positive impact on their organisation’s reputation.
- A third (33%) of respondents that do not currently offer flexible working say that they believe it would not suit the culture of their business, and 22% believe that staff would not work as hard if they did offer a flexible working policy.
- Over half (55%) of those respondents that do not currently offer flexible working to their staff believe that employee morale would improve if this were to be introduced, and 44% believe productivity would improve.
- Just 8% of UK respondents are concerned that employees would not work as hard as a consequence of flexible working policies, compared with a third (33%) in Hong Kong.
- Almost three-quarters (72%) of employee respondents aged 18-24 years olds believe that flexible working would improve the quality of their work, compared to 38% of respondents aged over 55.
Nick Jeffery (pictured), chief executive of the Vodafone Group Enterprise, said: “Vodafone’s research reveals a profound and rapid shift in the modern workplace. Employers are telling us that flexible working boosts profits while their employees tell us they’re more productive.
“Central to all of this are the new technologies that are reshaping every sector. We truly are in an era when work is what you do, not where you go.”