UK companies could see cost reductions and productivity gains of up to £8bn by optimising their approach to flexible working, according to research from the think tank RSA and Vodafone UK.
The Flex Factor survey, based on a national survey of nearly 3000 employees and employers, shows that employees estimate they could gain on average five productive hours per week through better ways of working, which equates to around £4,200 per employee per year.
While the majority (77%), of UK employees work in organisations that offer some kind of flexible working, more than one in ten (13%) who want to work flexibly are either not being offered this option or are unaware they can ask for it.
The Flex Factor programme calculates that if the 13% of employees who want to work flexibly were given the opportunity to do so, then businesses would see a 6.9bn net potential gain per year, along with £1.2bn per year workstation and printing savings based on an 11% reduction in office time.
Investment in computing hardware and software is driving flexible working, the research found, with 46% of employers providing their employees with access to a work laptop, one in four employers providing a smartphone and one in ten now providing tablet computers.
The report reveals that 64% of those with experience of flexible working say it has enhanced their job satisfaction and claims this approach is a key driver of productivity, performance and organisational innovation as well as employee satisfaction and wellbeing.
Jeroen Hoencamp, enterprise director at Vodafone UK said: 'The traditional workplace is dead and British business needs to adopt a new mind-set. Flexible working isn't just working from home and these findings reveal that, with an optimised approach, businesses can overcome any downsides and greatly increase efficiency and productivity, as well as boost their bottom line.'
The report states that to realise the full benefits, there needs to be a culture of mutual trust and commitment between employers and employees. Flexible working involves a psychological contract and success is achieved when both personal and organisational benefits are recognised.
