Tips for Effective Flexible Working

April 30, 2009 by admin
Filed under: Human Resource

Flexible working is generally considered great approach in human resource management to help reduce stress, cut sick leave and increase employee engagement. Are you looking to introduce flexible working for the first time? Here are some tips.

1. It is important to understand the basics aspects about HRM. Where do the staff work, what roles do they perform, how do individuals and teams interact, where do people live and how do they travel, when do they need to be in the office, what do they need to communicate and when.

2. Multi-site working and homeworking aren’t appropriate in every situation so it’s important to carefully determine the scope of the flexible working project. What are you setting out to achieve? Who is involved? How will things change? Will homeworking work for specific teams? How will health and safety matters be addressed? What technologies will be deployed, and how will homeworkers be supported? What HR policies will be in place to ensure communication?

3. It is important to find a way to quantify the benefits of flexible working projects, including cost reductions, productivity gains, service quality improvements, workforce scheduling advantages, employee and customer satisfaction improvements, travel cost reductions etc.

4. Ensure the homeworkers feel they are part of a functional team via keeping sufficient communication, as isolation can turn to be a problem

5. Strive for service consistency by giving remote workers access to the same systems, knowledge bases and other resources as in-house workers. Ensure that the service is not compromised when customers are routed to remote agents.

6. Consider different business continuity options.

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