Manifesto To Flexibility In The Workplace

While interviewing a manager one day, I asked “What’s one value that you can bring to this organisation” and he replied “I am flexible”. Wondering what that means, I inquired, “What does flexibility in the workplace mean to you?”. He said “I can work long hours and get the work done whenever required. I know in startups, we have to be flexible to spend the extra time as there’s a need to deliver fast”. I wanted to say “That’s not flexibility, my dear friend”, but we ended up having a different conversation. 

That discussion made me think about flexibility in the workplace from both sides – employer and the employee. Organisations all over the world are now offering flexibility to its employees to look cool and attract top talent. But employees soon discover that flexibility in the workplace is only on paper and is not congruent with the reality at work. There are unwritten rules, an unspoken culture that gives way to inflexible workplace practices.

Managers and leaders promote unconscious bias towards people physically present in office, those who stay late, take less leaves and are always available. There’s a tendency to tag people “away from office” as “uncommitted, unproductive”. Employees fear that they will be penalised and will not be rewarded/promoted if they do not accept this way of working. 

Offering flexibility in an inflexible environment causes more harm than good. It confuses people, makes them stressed and eventually leave the organisation. Goal of healthier workforce and low turnover turns upside down. 

How do we encourage adoption of flexibility in the workplace and not only offer it

Flexibility in the workplace has hit a brick wall. It requires a cultural change, a shift in mindset, trust in people, empowerment to take decisions and do the right thing. Flexibility requires organisations to focus on outcome and not the number of hours spent in the office.

It starts from the top – Leaders need to play a critical role in creating a culture that demonstrates what flexibility means for its people. They need to talk about it openly and make sure their managers embrace it – not in theory but in practice by putting their words to actions. 

Moral independence that comes with flexibility in the workplace can be a powerful tool to enable ownership and drive better decision making within organisations. Building a flexible environment where trust is the basis of all work enable employees to be equally flexible to the needs of their organisation, adapt to its changes and contribute to its growth. 

As David Coplin said in Business Reimaged: Why work isn’t working and what you can do about it

Flexible working should be seen by organizations as a strategic operational objective. It is not so much about accommodating employees (though that’s great). It’s actually about unlocking their full potential. And it’s one of the most significant things any business can do to improve its long-term success

What’s the impact of flexibility on people

Flexibility in the workplace does not necessarily mean giving complete freedom and control to people over how they work. For employees, discretion without direction and guidance has taken a different meaning and transpired into bad habits at work that impacts them as well as the employer. Being FLEXIBLE at work DOES NOT MEAN 

1. Spending more time in the office or working late 
2. Taking more work than you can accomplish. Saying Yes when you should be saying No
3. Feeling guilty to have a life outside the office. Sharing too much personal details when we have to leave early or skip a meeting as it’s taking longer outside work. The feeling of guilt makes us share more information than necessary to make the other person believe that we really need this time off
4. Giving up on personal commitments to meet work demands even when it’s not really required
5. Being the Yes boss. Pleasing others by doing their work or taking actions that makes others happy and not doing what’s right e.g. tolerating bad behaviour
6. Trying to fit in. Giving in to peer pressure and adapting habits that are not inline with your personal values e.g. smoking, drinking
7. Attending office parties as an obligation when you prefer being back home
8. Taking team out to socialise out of your own pocket
9. Not setting goals for your team and letting them determine what they want to do. Setting goals is important while being flexible on how to achieve those goals
10. Taking decision without consulting or reviewing with others at work and expecting them to follow your marching orders 
11. No structure at the workplace or within teams. If there are meetings on specific days at specific times, team members must be aware of them and must attend to them
12. Most important of all, belief that flexibility is only for parents (especially working moms)

It’s important to break these stereotypes and bring in the cultural change that understands and attends to the needs of all human beings, making them more effective and engaged. Making flexibility in the workplace available to everyone in a way that gives them high levels of satisfaction and success combined can generate true value to organisations. It’s time to explore and understand what flexibility in the workplace should mean to employees and find ways to implement them in our organisations.   

What’s flexibility in your organisation like? Do share your experiences and views in the comments below or write to me.