Flexibility at work: how to put it in place?

Flexibility at work cannot be summed up in a unique definition. It would be more appropriate to talk about the different types of flexibility that exist and that companies can set up.

Indeed, we can distinguish flexibilities linked to the system in question (the company, the employee, the market in general) from those with the means considered: schedules, training, precariousness of posts, etc.

There is therefore no model type of flexibility to be implemented. Everything is modular according to your company, your activity , your strategy and your needs .

Several choices of working modes exist. The advantages are numerous, but the risks are real without a meticulous reflection upstream.

Do you hesitate to go to more innovative management by offering more flexibility to your employees? Here are the essentials you can withdraw from it, as well as the challenges to be met for a policy of flexibility at successful work.

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What are the types of flexibility at work?

We can distinguish main forms of flexibility

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1 Time flexibility

The flexibility of working time aims:

• to operate the installations as long as possible;
• to adapt the working time to the volume of the request at the moment T.

The employer optimizes the flexibility of use of the workforce and defines a number of working hours.

The employee benefits from a development of his working hours according to his possibilities and the agreement agreed with his company.

Part -time, cut hours or weekly work concentrated over 4 days, this system remains advantageous , although the employee does not benefit from the complete management of his time. It is indeed the employer who retains control of working time.

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2 The flexibility of the workplace

Teleworking , or hybrid work often removes all time constraints: we set a goal, with a certain quality of tasks to be respected and achieved over a defined duration .

atypical work system brings greater flexibility to companies that can now search for their candidates throughout France.

The opening to new profiles, far from the geographic pool, makes it possible to qualify recruitments by selecting the most interesting profiles . Thus, companies that set up this flexibility can diversify their skills by having access to a much wider offer.

3 Flexibility of tasks

To meet the requirements of the workforce, some companies choose to optimize the versatility of their employees . They thus go from one task to another, according to needs.

Businesses train these employees in several positions and develop their skills, without additional costs. This allows them to reduce job costs.

We then speak of internal qualitative flexibility . In this case, the company retains its own staff, which it continues to train permanently to avoid other recruitments.

Conversely, others use external qualitative flexibility . These favor the use of different temporary contracts, to outsource a share of activity for example, or react to a greater demand by adapting their level of production.

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Flexibility at work: what advantages?

Reluctance to these new working methods persist: constraints of implementation, monitoring of monitoring, fear of loss of productivity, etc.

However, these methods have undeniable interests:

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1 retain talent

Generation Z , which constitutes almost a third of the current working population, includes the leaders of tomorrow. Hence the importance of attracting the best and retaining them now.

Well-being and quality of life at work take place in their business choices. Team spirit, conviviality, benevolence of relationships determine the choice of workplaces and posts, long before the criterion of remuneration.

"Digital natives", their link with technology is strong. They are hyperconnected and are not afraid to commit, in exchange for autonomy . They are looking for various missions, which give meaning to their work.

The challenge for companies is to adapt to these new aspirations to stay competitive, modernize their image and maintain their attractiveness. Setting up a flexibility policy at work is the answer expected by all these young candidates.

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2 Improve productivity

Flexibility can become a lever for growth , a means of increasing its performance and maintaining a competitive advantage with regard to competition.

Workers better in their skin are more involved in their daily tasks and in their business in general.

They are more concentrated, because they are released from the concerns of management of personal obligations, more stimulated and more confident towards their employer.

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3 Reduce stress and absenteeism 

Malanité at work generates anxiety and depression , sometimes until resignation (burn-out and bore-out) .

Whether professional activity is too heavy or too low, the consequences remain identical:

• Sometimes very long sickness stops ;
• a difficult reorganization for the company;
• management costs to replace absent;
• Repercussions on the motivation of other employees and, in fact, on the performance of the company.

Flexibility at work makes it possible to anticipate these problems. By maintaining well-being, we prevent absenteeism and its consequences .

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4 less presenteeism, more results 

With teleworking or hybrid work, efficiency increases. 

Employees boost their achievements by finding a better balance between professional missions and personal constraints. Less stressed, more rested, their concentration improves.

The result now takes precedence over contemplative or strategic presenteeism: the performance comes before the number of hours performed.

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5 Reduce fixed costs

By adapting its personnel needs to its activity, the company can overcome peaks or hollows more easily. The share of the variable cost increases, that of its fixed costs decreases.

Another advantage: the possibility of limiting the size of the premises and expenses related to their operation.

Innovative concepts such as free seating appear: space is no longer awarded, employees choose their office when they arrive and release it in the evening.

We coworking, meeting, relaxation areas In return, skills exchange, team cohesion and creativity are stimulated.

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The challenges of setting up flexibility at work

1 costs

They differ according to the type of flexibility policy for which you will opt.

Qualitative flexibility ( organization of work based on the development of autonomy and skills of employees) can help increase productivity.

However, the success of its implementation requires taking into account a certain number of costs :

• that of the provision of all the hardware (computers and software) and a reliable internet connection
• that of training of employees with new collaborative tools they must use;
• That of the implementation of this policy (management of new schedules, absence days, the new distribution of tasks, etc.) all this also generates additional supervision needs to ensure productivity and maintenance of compliance with deadlines.
  

A policy of quantitative flexibility (use of precarious jobs, fixed -term contracts, internships, temporary workers, etc.) can help you save time and overcome your most urgent needs in difficult periods.
However, poorly managed, this strategy can be counterproductive and extremely expensive :

• lower involvement of employees who cannot project themselves into the company;
• difficult instructions ;​
• adaptation time required for each arrival of an temporary worker;
• Loss of team cohesion .

The disadvantage of a turnover , in addition to its high cost, is the risk of not finding employees really corresponding to the profiles sought.

Whatever your choice, the whole challenge is not to neglect these few costs before launching your project. You must properly assess the financial investment and the time spent, and know how to anticipate your needs and adjust the workforce to your activity to optimize and make the costs of your flexibility policy.

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2 Communication

Supporting employees is essential, whatever the issue:

• Train employees internally to avoid using an external workforce;
• Lide employees and attract new talents by focusing on working conditions possible thanks to flexibility.

In both cases, the role of the manager will be to transmit all the information , clearly and precisely. It is essential to guarantee the exchange of data concerning the missions to be accomplished and the strategy of the company.

The company must also ensure that it will maintain the link with remote partners.

Indeed, the major fear of employees is to lose relationships with colleagues, to no longer be able to evolve, to lack human contact to the detriment of an overuse of digital and technological supports.

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3 supervision

Companies that promote versatility by functional flexibility support their employees in their skills rise.

Managers must offer training adapted to the needs of the company, to follow the evolution of their employees while thus contributing to the mastery of the know-how of their teams.

For flexibility policies of schedules and place , the objective of the manager is to identify any problems before productivity undergoes the consequences, to implement the necessary actions at most:

• Encourage employees to express themselves regularly.
• Do not abandon them to themselves: to take stock periodically with them to verify the pace adopted and to prevent some be overwhelmed.

Giving flexibility and autonomy requires refocusing management to the essentials: the accomplishment of a task and the control of the results , regardless of the number of breaks.

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Flexibility at work: how to organize it?

1 Establish clear flexibility policies

The success of the project depends on a preparation upstream:

• Evaluate the expected needs and results.
• Carefully plan your strategy before launching any new rule.
• Observe the means exploited by competition and analyze the benefits obtained.

Once the program and the conditions of implementation have been established, fix flexibility policies on which company and employees will rely:

• Define charters for the use of equipment .
• Encourage the use of certain project management tools (Trello, Microsoft Project, Asana, etc.)
• Determine the response times to be given to the emails received.
• Impose punctuality for dating or work of planned groups.

A key word: common sense !

Also plan a trial time to refine the organization until everything works perfectly.

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2 Choose appropriate technological tools

Provide software solutions appears as an essential step in the implementation of a flexibility policy.

To guarantee productivity, opt for simple and secure , which allow you to quickly access the company's data.

For productive communication between team members or with providers, the use of virtual collaborative tools contributes to avoiding isolation and promotes dynamic exchanges.

Completely accomplishing remote tasks to be able to share documents, participate in visios-conferences or webinaries chat applications , etc. Multiple secure software exists: zoom, slack, trello, concept, etc.

The decision of the solution best suited to its needs belongs to each company, which can call on specialized service providers .

Companies must also adapt for their recruitments. With remote work, all of France now represents the pool of potential applicants. If this stimulates diversity in business , centralize data appears essential.

To optimize the search for candidates , using an ATS (applicant tracking system) as Marvin Recruite is judicious. It allows a relevant and consistent selection compared to the flexibility policies proposed.

Accessible at any time, it offers:

• Build your base by automatically important LinkedIn profiles.
• Optimizing sourcing by quickly identifying profiles corresponding to the offers thanks to the AI .
• Create dashboards to analyze your results, manage your activity and set up the appropriate procedures.
• Personalize your user space by connecting your ATS to all applications daily used (Slack, Whatsapp, Outlook, Google Teams, etc.)
• Benefit from support , for a successful handling.

ATS and CRM Marvin solution thus allows you to follow the entire job process, from prospecting to the signing of the contract.

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3 Implicate employees 

As much as possible, avoid imposing, allow employees to choose the most suitable solution .

Detail the new rules, reassure them and raise any ambiguity on the equipment made available, or on the communication provided to avoid isolation, etc.

In parallel, consider training for managers : motivating and supervising workers remotely is unprecedented for some. They must, in a respectful and non -intrusive way:

• Learn to communicate , manage emotions.
• Federate employees around these new developments .
• Program interviews to analyze performance .
• Ensure the efficiency of employees in their organization and in the accomplishment of tasks .
• Stay benevolent to optimize well-being .

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Conclusion

A policy of flexibility at well -conducted work, thought up upstream and instituted with the approval of employees, limits the risks and breathes a wind of modernity into your business.

Whatever the model adopted, it has many advantages : Economy of job costs, rise in skills of employees, team spirit, initiative, development of creativity, loyalty and attraction of more diverse profiles.

Motivating their employees and increasing its productivity are the challenges of any leader. There is no universal model, everyone can find what is the best compromise for their activity.

One certainty, however: opening up to new trends is looking at tomorrow and staying competitive ! Who doesn't try anything ...

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