Employee benefits have increasingly become a tightly contested battleground for companies competing in a hot labor market for top talent over the last couple of years, but many traditional perks have fallen out of favor at the same time.
In companies all over the word, employee perks are on the chopping block - even many of the perks with which companies have sometimes themselves become associated and to which some employees have become accustomed to if not attached.
And yet, despite the reduction and in many cases elimination of these company-provided offerings, employees seem largely unaffected by the loss. This phenomenon appears to be a reflection of shifting priorities among the employee population, driven by an increase in prioritization of job flexibility, which 87% of workers choose when given a more flexible option.
Work flexibility, of course, is not simply one thing and may very well mean something somewhat different to different people. In fact, by most anyone’s definition there are likely to be a number of varied aspects that collectively encompass the general concept of work flexibility, including factors such as work location, work time, work type, and even career trajectory.
In terms of work location, many employees are looking for options beyond working out of the company office or being classified as purely remote. For example, many employees would select a hybrid schedule given the choice so as to increase workplace flexibility without missing out on the benefits of face-to-face relationship building, networking opportunities, or collaborative convenience. Further, for employees who are remote or hybrid, many still appreciate access to co-working spaces if they are seeking an office-like environment -including technology and amenities -but want one that’s closer to home and/or available while they are traveling, for example.
Beyond the question of ‘where’ the work is being conducted, the questions of ‘when’ and ‘how’ are equally relevant to work flexibility considerations, and with employee exhaustion and burnout on the rise as well, many employees are putting their health and wellbeing first. In the quest for a better work-life balance that has become a primary motivator for a growing number of people, alternative arrangements including four-day workweeks, shift-splitting, and part-time job sharing are getting more attention and/or seeing increasing implementation rates, with an aim to improving work efficiency so less work time is required to get the job done.
The concept of flexibility can also be applied to the type of work a given employee may be doing or the potential career paths that may exist that enable growth within the organization. Employees who prioritize flexibility are likely to be interested in obtaining skillsets beyond those needed for their current job, whether through additional training, education, and/or mentoring. These employees are often particularly mission-focused, and tend to be drawn toward environmental, social, and corporate governance opportunities given flexibility in terms of how to put their skills and experience to use on the company’s behalf in ways that go beyond their specific job function.
Of course, in order to understand the degree of interest in work flexibility among your company’s employees, as well as the types of flexibility that are most applicable in light of the various conditions specific to different industries and job types, it’s important to obtain feedback from the employees themselves through surveys, polls, roundtables, or other methods. It’s also important to remember that the levels and type of flexibility can vary significantly by generation, skillset, personality, life circumstances, and a number of other factors, so asking and responding will usually yield better results than assuming or guessing.
Once dominant perks on the whole may be in decline when it comes to catered meals, office snacks, and dry cleaning services, but flexible work arrangements have emerged as another way for employers to reward and incentivize workers for their contributions in a way that is cost-effective for your business and that employees value even more than the lost perks.
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