Flexible working practices have become increasingly popular, not only with employees but also amongst businesses who recognise the benefits offered by a flexible workforce. However, not every workplace has been mindful to adopt such practices.
The digital staffing platform Coople has outlined the benefits available for businesses that utilise flexible working, including cost-effectiveness and higher staff morale. In recent years, many businesses have had to adapt in order to remain afloat. Much of this comes down to how they structure their workforce.
Yves Schneuwly, Group Chief Commercial Officer at Coople has told Digital Journal: “Businesses across the UK are currently operating in a unique landscape that requires them to be more adaptable and restructure according to demand. Higher operating costs have meant that companies now have to be more cost-effective in their hiring decisions, and economic uncertainty has meant that there is no guarantee of consistently high workloads throughout the year.”
In terms of the consequences of this, Schneuwly explains: “This has led to many businesses experiencing lulls and quieter periods at some point in the year, when they do not necessarily need a larger workforce. This can lead to a loss of money on overstaffing during these periods when fewer employees are required.”
Implementing a flexible workforce can have a significant impact on employee productivity. According to Schneuwly, this is because the hiring of temporary, flexible workers allows companies to hire talent based on how well they fit into the team and what they can bring to the workforce, rather than having to fill vacancies with the nearest person available who may not necessarily be a good fit.
Similarly, Schneuwly adds, hiring flexible workers at times when there may be an increased workload helps to prevent existing employees from becoming burnt out through overwork.
Businesses experiencing a sudden increase in demand may be tempted to upscale their workforce by hiring permanent staff.
This could, however, be detrimental to their finances in the long term when the workload reaches a quiet period and this larger workforce is no longer needed. Furthermore, this can result in the need for businesses to make redundancies to save money.
Schneuwly asserts this can be avoided with flexibility – as both the companies and employees are aware that their time together is only temporary, and this suits both parties to ensure there are no hurt feelings. Additionally, this also allows companies to re-hire temporary workers who have worked well for them in the past.
