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Workplace Flexibility

What is "best practice" workplace flexibility?

Do you want to become an Employer of Choice in relation to flexibility? By looking at market leaders we can see what makes a best practice organisation. It's all about ensuring that workplace flexibility really is a viable way of working, and not just hot air. This article looks at how access to flexibility can be enhanced, and best practice examples.

Workplace flexibility is no longer an optional extra that employers may offer, but a "must have" that many job seekers and current employees look for. Simply having a flexibility policy however isn't enough to satisfy this need or for an organisation to be considered best practice.

To be best practice, workplace flexibility must not only be:

communicated in a policy which is broad in nature and appeal, offering a variety of flexible work options to a wide range of people; but also
implemented by a business that is really committed to making flexibility work effectively.

How can you achieve best practice?

Many businesses have the best intentions and develop a good policy, but it goes nowhere in practice. The gap between policy and practice can be bridged by providing managers with the support they need to implement flexibility (ie knowledge, confidence and implementation skills) and building skills amongst employees and teams.

How can flexibility be accessed?

A few simple measures can help ensure flexibility is easily accessed within a business, for example:

offering a wide range of options for flexibility across all areas of the business and for all staffing levels;
providing real examples to all staff of successful flexible working arrangements within the business;
openly supporting staff in their need for flexibility, showing a high level of commitment;
encouraging staff to voice their opinions about the availability and accessibility of flexibility;
offering a way for employees to access flexible hours and offering vacancies on a part-time basis to people who can't work full-time; and
developing a set of fair decision making criteria for managers to use when assessing requests for flexible working practises.

How can flexibility be implemented effectively?

To effectively implement a workplace flexibility policy, managers must:

become role models for flexibility, accessing flexible work arrangements themselves;
be knowledgeable about the range of flexibility options available and how to manage them;
have practical skills and confidence to lead a team with different working arrangements and be able to cope if implementation is difficult;
track the career progression of staff who are working flexibly and ensure they have access to all training and other benefits; and
always evaluate the outcomes of the arrangement and look for improvements.

What are some examples of workplace flexibility?

The winners of the (Australian) National Work and Family Awards, provide great examples of best practice workplace flexibility - and demonstrable outcomes.

Some of the practices used by past winners include offering:

a work/life choices programme involving a compressed work week, a preferred meeting time policy (between 9am and 4pm) and one day paid employee volunteering;
on-site child care, flexible work arrangements (flexible shifts and job-share) and concierge facilities (employee car servicing and internet banking access);
22 weeks paid maternity leave, 10 days partner leave at the time of birth and 52 weeks leave without pay to raise children up to six years of age; and
paid time off during school holidays for employees with children and family friendly employee rewards.

Go to http://www.workplace.gov.au/workplace/Programmes/WorkFamily for more details of the awards.