The Future of Workplace Flexibility

And welcome back to the Morning Blend. Many companies are now planning to bring back employees into the office. But consider this. Studies now show that 7 out of 10 employees would like to continue working from home at least some of the time. So what does the future look like when it comes to workplace flexibility? Beth Ridley was a long term corporate executive. She is now the CEO of her own consulting company. She is also a leadership expert and workplace culture expert. Hey, Bethlehem. Hi.

Good morning.

Molly, good morning to you. It's wonderful to see you. And I think one of the things we should say just right to begin with is that there's no one size fits all. So not every option and every solution is going to work for every company and every employee.

Yeah, that's exactly right. I think there's a lot of stress and anxiety both on the side of the employer and the employee with what the new policies are going to be in terms of coming back to work. And you're right, like a lot of employees really got used to working at home and they like it. I will say a lot of this stems from just change. And as humans, change is stress inducing for us. So I think we're putting a lot of pressure on coming up with the right answer and policies that are going to stay in place forever. And I think we just have to take a step back and realize we're all going through transition. We'll get through this just like we adapted to working at home. But there's a big range in terms of what the opportunities are around flexibility. It's not just come back permanently or stay home permanently.

So how do you define workplace flexibility?

So to me, flexibility again is on both sides. The employer and the employee both being willing to adapt based on current needs or as circumstances change.

So in terms of workplace flexibility, then what types of examples are you seeing of that that you feel companies are actually embracing?

Yeah, to me, the flexibility all comes down to people want a little bit more control over how to balance work and life and they're also looking for more productivity. One of the things that people really appreciated being at home, for example, is that they could work without distraction. So here are three ideas that I would encourage companies and employees to consider. So one of them is just adjustable work schedules. And I did this. So this means that depending on your daily circumstances, your you may need to arrive to work a little bit later or stay later, or arrive earlier or leave earlier or something like that. So again, it's not you're all in or you're all at home. There's some Flexibility when you can arrive and when you can leave. So that's one option. I think another option worth considering is condensed schedules. So that means somebody puts in a full work week, but instead of spread over five days, maybe it's condensed to four days or three days. So you're getting the same amount of work done done, but just condensed in a shorter time schedule. I did this also when my kids were young. I worked four days a week, longer hours during those days, but enabled me to have Friday off to spend more time with my child. And that worked for me at that time in my life. And then a third option to think about, and this one I think is easy to do, that a lot of employees really appreciate, is meeting free zones. So again, one of the benefits of working at home is we had a little bit more control over head down work, being able to get work done without interruption. So if work teams or even the entire company maybe designate times during the day or week when there won't be meetings. So employees can feel like they can all work without interruption, feel like they get a little bit more of that productivity that they had at home, that can often be a really easy to implement solution.

I like that idea. I think it's a great thought to have a certain block of time where you're not scheduling meetings because those do interrupt the flow of your work. And it seems like with many of those examples that you just gave, there are a lot of obvious benefits to employees. They want to feel like they can balance their life but also contribute in meaningful ways to their company. How do you see it in terms of the employer side and the benefits to them with offering and accepting workplace flexibility?

The benefit to employers is that employees are going to be more engaged, more satisfied, and more likely to be more productive because they're not so stressed out trying to figure out how to adjust their, again, their home life and their work schedule. They have a little bit more control to do what works for them. And in this day and age, so many companies are really struggling to attract and retain the talent that they need. So I think thinking about their culture as a differentiator and if you can do small things that offer some degree of flexibility for employees, but that also, you know, support the business. I think it's a balance between supporting employee individual needs, supporting the collective of the business. But if you can think about options, there are a lot of different options and that helps to create a culture that could be a differentiator for attracting and keeping top talent.

We ran out of time, Beth, but really quick. I wanted to give you an opportunity to address. You know, we talk about workplace flexibility and we appreciate it as employees. But as employees, how can we also be flexible with our employers in a way that benefits them?

For employees, flexibility means sometimes we just got to step up and do what we need to get the job done. And we did that during the pandemic. So a lot of times we took on extra responsibilities, we took on new tasks and that demonstrates that we are valuable to companies. And I think when we demonstrate that companies are more likely to want to return that flexibility so it does become a win win.

So many great points there. Beth, thank you so much for joining us. It's always great to see you. We appreciate it.

Thanks Molly. Appreciate it. Have a great day.

You too. Really good information as we all return to work. And to help fill your workday with more belonging, joy and meaning, which is what Beth helps people do, you can visit bethridley.com.