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Employers urged to embrace flexible working
HR News |
27/07/2010
Employers should be doing more to enable their staff to work flexibly, it has been claimed.
Stephen Overell, associate director for The Work Foundation, the leading independent authority on work and its future, claimed there is "very strong demand" for non-standard working practices among employees.
He noted that many businesses and organisations have acted quickly to allow flexible working, and engrained the practice into the culture of their operations.
However, Mr Overell claimed there is "an awfully long way to go" to see the option become available to UK workers on a more general basis.
"It is something that both sides - workers and employers can gain from," he stated.
"For example, flexible working is often quite a good way to meet customer demands if they are beyond standard working hours."
In addition, Mr Overell added that providing employees with greater freedom of choice over their working arrangement can help individuals balance their career and family life.
"It also serves the needs of workers who maybe have children, or demands on their time, and need a way to fit work around it," he said.
Research conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers earlier this year indicated that flexible working is the most valued benefit for employees, ahead of monetary incentives such as bonuses.
Flexible working was given fairly equal priority by men and women in the study, with 41 per cent and 54 per cent respectively ranking this benefit the most valuable.
And a better work-life balance was seen as more achievable in the long-term (by 42 per cent respondents) than vastly increased responsibility and salary (39 per cent).
Posted by John Lynes
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