Flexwork – New Year, New way of Working!

A lot can happen in 12 months. A global pandemic, multiple lockdowns, and the way we work changing forever, to name a few. With a New Year, comes a new way of working. This new approach is called, ‘Flexwork’.  

What is Flexwork?  

Flexwork is the new way of working. The days of working in the office Monday to Friday are over. Flexwork encourages employees to work both from home and in the office. Finding a balance between the two. Employees are being encouraged to become more flexible with their working arrangements. Flexwork, a term coined by Harvard University, is also known as ‘hybrid’ or ‘blended’ working. This new way of working has been adapted by many companies over the past year. Originally introduced to protect staff throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Now companies are starting to see the benefits of flexwork. 

The Benefits of Flexwork 

This time last year, flexwork was unheard of. The idea of working from home seemed an abstract one. Fast forward to 2021, and now companies are encouraging their staff to work from home. Take Google for example. They were the first tech company to make a public announcement on their work from home policy. Staff at the tech giant will be allowed to work from home until July of this year. Now, this year, as staff return to the office, flexwork is becoming an option for them. Which has benefits for both the staff and the company.  

Let’s look at some of the benefits for the company: 

• Real-Estate Commitments: With staff splitting their time between the office and home, real-estate demand will change. On any given day, with flexwork in place, the building capacity will not be filled. Staff will come to work when necessary, like for meetings or training activities. Typically for work that cannot be done as easily over a video call. This means companies will have then chance to review their real-estate commitments. Ultimately, giving the company the opportunity to reduce their real-estate commitments and costs. 
• A new way of working: Now that employees can work from home, this changes the landscape for companies. Remote working means employees can work from any country in the world without having to be in the office. This makes the talent pool for companies to choose from, much bigger. Now a European based company can hire an employee from New York City without any difficulty. 
• A Happy Workforce: Flexwork is empowering. By giving employees the choice of how they wish to work, employees will be happier. Some employees will opt to work from home because their morning commute is an hour long. For some employees, this will be an hour better spent in bed, getting a good rest for the day. Some employees will prefer to work onsite because they are more productive in the office. Either way, when employees are trusted to make their own work day decisions, they will be happier.  

Don’t forget the benefits for employees: 

• Empowered Employees: As mentioned previously, empowered employees will be happier. Giving the employees a flexwork option will benefit their mood. Empowering employees can result in increased employee motivation. All of which contributes to a company’s development.
• Cost Savings: For some employees, flexwork will mean a reduction in weekly spending. Whether it’s money spent on the commute to work, or for a coffee at
  lunch time, flexwork gives employees an opportunity to minimize their spend.
• Time Savings: Many employees will spend up to 4 or 5 hours a week commuting to and from work. Flexwork reduces the time employees spend commuting by giving  them the option to work from home. So employees have more time to catch up on sleep, spend on their hobbies, and spend with family and friends.

How to start Flexwork-ing!

Now you know what flexwork is and how it can benefit you, how do you implement this new way of working?  

There are several ways to implement flexwork. Ronspot Flexwork provides a simple flexwork booking system for both employers and employees to use. Ronspot manages employee parking, hot desk management and employee locker management. The solution provides reports for the company to help them manage demand. These reports can also help in reviewing real-estate commitments. This means, for employees, booking a parking space, desk or locker is now easier than ever. Employees make bookings through the mobile or a web app. So, employees will have peace of mind that a desk or parking space will be available for them onsite. Employees will be able to book in advance of the day, or on the day, given there is availability.