New evidence to support flexibility in frontline and site-based roles

Blog posts

17 Jul 2024

Astrid Allen, Senior Research Fellow

Before the pandemic, flexible working was always a ‘nice to do’ rather than a ‘must do’, never quite making it to the top of HR’s priority list. Then we had Covid-19. After lockdowns subsided, hybrid working emerged as a cultural norm for many office workers. Remote working had become entrenched in employee expectations and ways of working. However, many site-based and frontline workers did not benefit from these changes, creating the flex ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ we see today. As flexible working has become the norm for the ‘haves’, it may be that it is no longer recognised as a priority issue. But what about the ‘have nots’?

New IES and Timewise Flexible working for all research, with workers undertaking flexible working trials in predominantly site-based and frontline roles at NHS Guy’s and St Thomas’, Wickes and Sir Robert McAlpine, reveals three key drivers for flexible working:

1 Flexible working improves the employee experience
For those who have flexible working we see better reported health and wellbeing, improved work life balance and higher levels of job satisfaction. While 52% of all survey respondents before the flexible working trials took place felt that their current working practices allowed them to maintain a good level of health and wellbeing, 82% of beneficiaries (who responded to our survey following the trials) reported the same.

Similarly, 52% of all respondents at baseline said they had a good work life balance. Following the trials, 78% of the beneficiaries reported the same. Of those that had a new flexible working arrangement, 83% felt that this had increased their level of job satisfaction.

2 Flexible working delivers a strong return on investment
There is no doubt that flexible working is an investment, particularly in the context of site-based roles. Increasing flexibility often means new systems and processes, and requires concerted action through pilots and evaluations. However, a previous IES report Reaching a positive financial return on investment for flexible working shows that the returns on those investments do not have to be major to quickly make it worthwhile. The Flexible working for all report found that employees were more engaged with their organisations and less likely to take sick leave or leave their jobs altogether.

As part of the study we were able to estimate that reported reductions in sickness absence at Wickes could lead to a saving of over £115,000 per annum. We also found that 76% of beneficiaries with a new flexible working arrangement said that it made them want to stay with their employer for longer. If that was borne out, it would represent significant savings on recruitment and training.

3 Without improved flexible working, key performance indicators will suffer
The real question for HR is what happens if they don’t offer flexible working? This is where it gets interesting. It will be different for different organisations, but a static gender pay gap, a lack of recruitment diversity, low levels of employee wellbeing, high rates of sickness absence and increasing rates of staff turnover are some of the pain points that are likely to be felt. Most workers have considerations outside of work, whether that is a need to care for dependents, maintain a healthy lifestyle or work a second job to make ends meet. If flexible working is not available to them in the job they are in (or want to do), they may well look somewhere else.

Our research showed that, before work started on the intervention, 18% of respondents said they had considered leaving their job in the last three months “because of a lack of flexible working”. Following the pilots, 84% of beneficiaries with a new flexible working arrangement agreed that it was central to how they want to work in the future.

So, what can be done? As with most things it starts at the top (or is that the bottom?) …well, both. Organisations need to develop a shared vision around flexible working for all roles. This will help managers to prioritise actions to deliver on that vision. Of course, this also needs to reflect what employees are saying and feeling. Employee voice and engagement are critical, particularly when designing what can work at a local level – no one knows that better than the teams that actually deliver the work.

Piloting flexible working trials is a useful way of cutting through some of the barriers and fears that can paralyse progress around flexible working, particularly in frontline and site-based occupations, and build engagement and support. 81% of all our endline survey respondents (whether they had directly benefited from the flexible working trials or not) supported an organisational-wide roll out. Ensuring that trials are evaluated against measures that are viewed as crucial to the organisation is essential.

Finally, storytelling is key. Role modelling how flexible working can work and what it means to individuals is important, from the top to the bottom of the organisation. Take a look at the compelling case studies in our latest research for insights from those with lived experience of flexible working.

If you want to discuss how IES can support you to offer flexible working for site-based roles, please contact Astrid Allen.

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Any views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Institute as a whole.