Many organizations have realized that providing flexible work arrangements for their employees is critical to their ability to maximize their talent pool and become employers of choice. Flexibility can increase retention, boost career aspirations and productivity, and decrease absenteeism. Although flexible work arrangements are not a new topic in the field of diversity and inclusion, some organizations and managers are shifting from accommodations for some employees to having flexibility as a cultural norm, and a vital part of building an inclusive organization.
Flexible work arrangements are part of “work-life effectiveness,” a talent-management strategy that promotes work environments capable of responding to changes in business needs quickly, creatively, and efficiently while providing employees the control they need to work smarter, address their non-work priorities, and be resilient and effective. A work-life effectiveness approach fosters strong performances by both individuals and organizations over the long term.
Catalyst Resources on Flexible Work Arrangements
Practices
- Catalyst—How Workplace Flexibility Can Promote Inclusion and Prioritize Talent Supporter Exclusive
“Visible senior role models helped create a mindset change, demonstrating that it really didn’t matter where people were located as long as they got the job done. Before long, fully virtual work became a business strategy because it allowed Catalyst to attract talent from all over the globe—an important consideration for a research-based organization with an increasingly global footprint.” - Telstra—All Roles Flex Supporter Exclusive
“Telstra implemented All Roles Flex, effectively making flexibility the starting point for all Telstra jobs, rather than a special accommodation or allowance. With All Roles Flex, Telstra is open to discussing flexibility in some form for all positions, including store-based, customer-facing roles. Telstra also educated managers, emphasized its focus on work outcomes over face-time, better leveraged technology and workplace design to enable alternative ways of working, and broadened its definition of ‘flexibility’ to encompass different things for different people and types of work.” - The adidas Group—Promoting Fair Play Through Work-Life Integration Supporter Exclusive
“FlexiTime, available to everyone at the company, gives employees the freedom to organize their working hours according to their individual needs. It allows overtime hours to be taken off as ‘flexidays’—if employees work more than their typical hours one week, they can take the days off at a later date. FlexiTime is based on mutual trust between employees and their managers, who are responsible for tracking FlexiTime use among their teams and also actively take advantage of this benefit.”
Knowledge Burst
- Managing Your Remote Team Inclusively
Catalyst is making this Supporter-only content available to all audiences as a public service. - Running More Inclusive Meetings Supporter Exclusive
Reports
- The Great Debate: Flexibility vs. Face Time – Busting the Myths Behind Flexible Work Arrangements
- Expanding Work-Life Perspectives: Talent Management in Asia
Companion reports:
Tools
- Managing Flex Toolkit
- Managing Flex 1: Creating an Organizational Culture Supportive of Flexible Work Arrangements: This tool helps companies assess whether their organizational culture is supportive of all employees working flexibly. It includes information to help managers:
- Understand the business case for flexible work arrangements.
- Analyze available policies.
- Evaluate the current use of flexible work arrangements and the extent of informal arrangements.
- Build an action plan to improve organizational culture related to flexibility. Supporter Exclusive
- Managing Flex 2: Successfully Managing Employees Working Flexibly: This tool provides managers with the resources they need to have conversations with their employees about their flexible work options and to successfully manage those who work flexibly. Supporter Exclusive
- Managing Flex 3: Requesting a Flexible Work Arrangement as an Individual: This tool is a step-by-step guide for individuals who want to begin to work flexibly. Supporter Exclusive
- Managing Flex 1: Creating an Organizational Culture Supportive of Flexible Work Arrangements: This tool helps companies assess whether their organizational culture is supportive of all employees working flexibly. It includes information to help managers:
- Flex Works: Stories from around the world provide insight into the new global workforce with recommendations and examples from leading organizations to help you implement flexibility within your own organization.
Webinars
- Flexible Work Arrangements Supporter Exclusive
- Maximizing Work-Life and Workplace Flexibility Supporter Exclusive
- Making Flexibility Work Supporter Exclusive
Other Resources on Flexible Work Arrangements
- Workplace Flexibility Can Impact How You Attract, Hire, and Retain Talent Entrepreneur
- Work-life Balance and Flexible Working Arrangements in the European Union Eurofound
- 5 Flexible Work Strategies and The Companies That Use Them Fast Company
- How A Flexible Work Culture Works for Everyone Forbes
- Thinking Flexibly About Flexible Work Arrangements Gallup
- 6 Guidelines to Implement a Successful Flexible Workplace Culture Rise Smart
- Managing Flexible Work Arrangements SHRM (SHRM log-in may be required)
- What is Workplace Flexibility? The Sloan Center on Aging and Work
Return to Ask Catalyst Express.