Recent reports have suggested that the amount of employees requesting flexible working hours has been on the rise recently.

Flexible working, the process of working in a way of better suiting the employee’s needs, isn’t just for parents and carers anymore – all are entitled to it, something that many employees don’t realise.

So then, if you’re an employee or an employer, why should you consider flexible working? We’ll tell you why.

Darren Roscoe, Operations Director, Cordant People

“In a working world with availability to work 24/7 with cloud-based systems and mobile phones etc it is important to ensure that workers strike the right balance between working and re-energizing for work.

Employee’s run the risk of allowing work to dictate their lives with contact visibility to work emails and so making the working environment be it in the office or hours worked more flexibly takes on even more importance. Flexibility allows an employee a degree more autonomy in managing workload and this, in turn, keeps motivation and productivity higher.”

Says Darren our Operations Director, who further added:

“The daily commute for many people is a time-consuming part of the day and reducing this will reduce stress levels associated with traffic and those extra hours saved will also keep productivity levels high. In general, an employee generally works longer hours with reduced travelling during the day.”

Natasha Douglas, Senior HR Business Partner, Cordant People.

“Employee retention is 36% greater in areas where the business has embraced flexible working.”

Greer Gouldsbrough, Operations Director, Cordant People.

“A flexible working approach to business has been shown to increase productivity and staff retention in a world where your access to work around the clock is becoming ever easier. It’s vital for companies to examine how they can proactively encourage their workforce to take time out and understand that working more hours doesn’t necessarily make someone more productive or any more engaged”.

Alisa Townsend, Operations Director, Cordant People.

“Flexible working allows businesses to benefit from a wider range of candidates with a diverse skill set who may not wish to commit to full-time work. Flexible working allows workers of all levels to enjoy a happy healthy work-life balance”.

Sounds good, right? We think so too!