Flexible Work Study| IWG

Flexible work arrangements (FWA), such as telecommuting, have become an increasingly popular practice over the past few years in organizations that want to attract, engage, and retain the best talent. And with the coronavirus pandemic causing what has been dubbed the “largest work from home experiment,” this workforce practice has been catapulted into the spotlight. Practically overnight, organizations, workers, and managers have had to adjust to new ways of working on a global scale. Coming out of the pandemic, employers who may not have been a proponent of FWA before the crisis are more likely to support some form of FWA after realizing the benefits first hand. For many workers who have experienced the upside of working remotely (e.g., avoiding lengthy commutes, spending more time with family, etc.), they are likely going to expect their employers to make FWA commonplace post-pandemic. As a result, organizations are already beginning to think through how they will handle this workplace practice, and many of them will end up formalizing FWA policies. Although conducted before the coronavirus pandemic, this International Workplace Group (IWG) report provides useful insights on the key drivers for flexible working, how it is practiced, and the obstacles to introducing FWA. One fundamental challenge that organizations face in this area is merely defining FWA. For some organizations it means the ability to 1) choose which location (city, type of office, etc.) one works from at least some of the time, 2) make some decisions regarding one’s work hours, 3) choose where one works from at least some of the time, 4) manage one’s workload independently–or all of the above. Organizations can leverage this report as they define and reimagine their FWA practices.