A King’s College survey shows that employers who do not embrace flexibility alongside remote working arrangements could hurt their company’s culture.
Even more, research by the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at KCL and employee advisory firm Karian and Box revealed that companies should avoid presenting themselves as flexible, while expecting workers to put in long hours.
While a big portion of responding organizations said they plan to incorporate hybrid work in the future, only 36% said they are redesigning job roles to emphasize flexibility.
Flexibility is the essence of hybrid working, and the reason why it is becoming such a widely adopted trend. Without it, employees do not receive the targeted support they need to perform their best.
The King’s College survey of 254 organizations found that 90% of respondents said they supported working from home, and three-quarters stated they would be doing more to help enhance workplace flexibility.
“This is the moment to redesign work to tackle a range of problems holding back progress — from inflexible shift patterns for key workers, through to toxic, ‘always-on’ office cultures,” said Rosie Campbell, director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership. “Employers should focus on outputs, rather than physical presence, in performance evaluations, and embrace the opportunity to consider how and where work is done to produce the best outcomes.”
