In this highly competitive, fast moving, global world, organisations are finding it increasingly
difficult to attract and retain good staff. The stars of the working world are able to pick and
choose amongst employers and are certainly attracted by high salaries and other financial
benefits. But not all organisations are able to offer competitive salaries. Do these poor relations
have to make do with lower level performers or risk losing their own high achievers to wealthier
employers?
Luckily the answer to these questions is ‘NO’. Or at least, the answer is ‘it depends on what else
they have to offer’.
People choose and leave jobs for many different reasons - love, interest, passion, opportunities,
career development and increasingly for flexibility. Organisations that recognise the need for
individuals to balance their job or career with their desired lifestyle are becoming increasingly
attractive to potential employees.
Organisations are also recognising that people leave jobs for many reasons. Pay, passion and
promotion may stop some people from leaving, but evidence shows that this is not enough for
others and what they truly desire is the chance to work in a way that compliments the demands
of their life outside of work.
In other words, it’s not only the big corporate organisations who can offer the highest salaries that
can attract and retain stars. Minimising the work-family conflict experienced by employees can go
a long way to making your organisation appealing to the best of the best.
Perceptions of flexible working policies
Introducing a flexible working policy into the organisation is a good start, but is having a written
agreement to say that individuals can work part time, remotely etc., enough to reduce the conflict
between work and family life? As business psychologists, we would argue that it is not and would
even suggest that in some ways flexible working policies aren’t worth the paper they are written
on.
Research has found that people’s perceptions of the usefulness of a flexible working policy
depend very much on the support they believe they get from their employer for working flexibly.
Indeed, the individual’s perception of how the employer responds to flexible working can actually
be more important than the policy itself.
Employers often find that despite investing in the development and design of a flexible working
policy, the take-up of flexible working practices by individuals is low. There are a number of
reasons for this including unspoken rules, peer pressure and perceived negative consequences
within the organisation. In some organisations, the perception of how committed employees are
to their work can be based on how long they spend in the office, and showing that they prioritise
their work over other commitments. The positive consequences of this demonstration of
commitment range from eligibility for promotion, to pay rises and being chosen for challenging
and interesting projects.
In some cases, even taking leave (regardless of the reason) can be linked to reduced career
prospects. In these cases, employees could be forgiven for thinking that signing up for schemes
to improve their work-life balance could lead to a negative impact on their perceived commitment
to their work. They could also be forgiven for thinking that flexible working policies really aren’t
worth the paper they are written on.
Management support
One of the strongest influences on the success of flexible working schemes is the support
provided by managers. There are many ways management can influence the culture in the
workplace, however, the most important thing a manager can do is to lead by example. By living
the value of flexible working themselves, they can have an enormous influence on the rest of the
organisation.
People who see their employers actively supporting efforts to reduce the conflict between work
and family life tend to report higher job-satisfaction, along with greater commitment and loyalty to
the organisation.
Those who receive support from their managers also show a drop in work-family conflict.
Supportive supervisors are invaluable in paying attention to potential conflicts within their team,
and can work closely to overcome issues. Simple things like being flexible when it comes to
scheduling work and rearranging priorities to accommodate a family crisis can make all the
difference. So what can you do?
- Pay attention to how employees feel about their work-life balance rather than how
many hours they are working
- Schedule meetings earlier in the day so they don't run over the official office hours
- Set appropriate deadlines with enough time to get work done inside normal working
hours
- Schedule training within agreed work hours so that part time members of staff can
attend
- Permit flexibility in the scheduling of work
- Rearrange priorities to accommodate an unexpected family crisis
As competition for the stars of this world heightens, there is an increasing need for organisations
to support their employees in achieving balance between their work and non work commitments.
However, the introduction of flexible working policies is not enough. It’s true that the modern
working culture, where nothing seems to stand still, will be hard to interrupt. But if a readjustment
of perceptions and culture can be embraced at all levels of an organisation, then
there’s no reason why even the poorest of relations can compete for the stars of the working
world.
