If your company hasn't yet embraced at least some form of workplace flexibility, you may be losing out in the retention/recruiting arena.
A massive study from the Society for Human Resource Management and Families and Work Institute released this spring offered hard data to support the corporate shift toward greater flexibility for employees, particularly when it came to when they worked and where they did their work.
Now, a global study by Unify, a communications software and services firm, finds that "more than one third of employees surveyed — including 34 percent of directors and 38 percent of managers — said they would change companies for an employer that embraces flexible work."
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Unify's New Way to Work study, which surveyed 900 employees worldwide, also indicated that millennials are the most likely to accept or reject a position based upon the degree of flexibility offered, with 43 percent of these young workers reporting they'd switch jobs for greater flexibility.
"This type of 'flight risk' can be devastating for organizations," said Bill Hurley, chief marketing officer at Unify. "If companies want to attract and retain the best talent, they must implement flexible work options. The best enabler of this is collaboration technology that allows employees to work where and how they want, and easily collaborate to solve problems, and achieve results."
Other high-level findings from the survey:
- More than half of all senior managers (director-level and higher) surveyed said their organizations are moving in the direction of more flexible work and expect to be there in the next two years.
- More than one third of respondents said they would drive initiatives to make flexible working terms a reality in their organization.
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
