According to a new study conducted by Quartz Insight in partnership with Citrix Systems found that flexible working ranked as the third most important factor in enabling workers to do their best work, just after salary and leadership.
The survey of over 1,000 workers also revealed that two-thirds felt that the “always on” work culture has negatively impacted their health.
With today’s workforce having the ability to complete work from anywhere at any time, it is harder to identify employees who are at risk of burnout. Managers could once take a look at the time stamp of an email or messaging app and see when they are actively working, but that only does so much. The report suggests that companies need to find solutions that make it easier for workers to schedule their work.
Still, 77% said that flexibility helped them be more innovative and creative. Additionally, a little over three-fourths of respondents said that technology should have the ability to automate menial tasks so they can focus on hands-on work.
Over 90% of those who rated their technology as being good also rated their productivity as being good. On the other hand, only 12% of those who said their technology was poor had good productivity.
“People don’t want to spend their time submitting purchase orders, filing expenses or searching for information,” said Donna Kimmel, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at Citrix said. “They want to be creative and innovative and use their special skills to deliver value.”
