One year on from O2's Olympics flexible working pilot, its study of more than 400 employers and 2,000 employees reveals that while staff are ready to embrace new ways of working and understand the benefits, it is employers who are holding them back.
The research found three-quarters of employees (75%) admit they are most productive when they can change when and where they work. One in 10 (11%) even rate flexi-working as a more important benefit than their holiday allowance and salary.
More than three-quarters (77%) of employers say that flexible working is actively encouraged across their organisation. However, less than a fifth (19%) of staff say their company encourages them to work flexibly.
The research highlights a clear disconnect in what business say and do, and employee perceptions of the policies and support that are in place to help them:
- Employers are failing to effectively communicate their flexible working policies to staff: 56% of employers state they have a clear flexible working policy, while just 30% of employees agree.
- Employees are not aware of the tools and technology available to them to work remotely: 54% of employers say they give their staff the tools and technology to work remotely, while just one-third of employees agree.
- Managers are not leading by example: 70% of managers say they try to set an example by frequently working from home or changing their working hours, but only 18% of employees agree that this is the case.
The research also found that men are more likely to change the way they work than women, with 30% more men than women working outside of the usual nine-to-five.
O2 business director Ben Dowd said: "Just six months since Britain's biggest flexible working opportunity, the Olympics, it's shocking that less than one fifth of people feel they are encouraged to work flexibly.
"Businesses must sit up and take notice of this critical evolution in employee behaviour and create a business culture equipped to support it. Talking about it simply isn't enough. To create a truly flexible working culture, actions speak louder than words."
Dowd continued: "The changes we've seen in our own workforce since our pilot speak for themselves. With the right mix of technology, policy and education, Britain's workforce can embrace the opportunities that flexible working can bring in, helping them shape their own definition of the nine-to-five."
