An estimated 14.1 million people in Britain want flexibility in their working hours or location, equivalent to almost half the working population.
Yet only 5.4 million UK employees have flexible working arrangements. In order to unlock the full potential of the workforce, employers need to recognise that a ‘one size fits all’ mentality is not effective. Different personality types work in different ways and require both different management and different working styles to be most productive.
Employers should consider how to make the most of both introverts and extroverts and be aware of different working preferences between older and younger members of the workforce.
A flexible infrastructure helps: your employees can have very differing demands. Some need more direction, coaching and mentoring whereas others are more independent self starters who can work effectively by delegation.
Putting a flexible infrastructure in place helps address this and allows you to tailor to each group’s working model.
Further reading:
10 statistics that prove how transformative flexible working can be
A look into why flexible working practices have developed
A speech from the Minister for Employment Relations on the benefits of flexible working
The benefits of flexible working for Employers
