Employee motivation: Flexible working is a top incentive

Date: 15/02/2012

As employers find it difficult to attract top talent, flexible working is seen as a highly desirable incentive in terms of employee motivation, it has emerged.

Staff would put the opportunity to work from home or a third place higher than many conventional benefits such as bonuses, according to new research.

Job satisfaction is improved for 75 per cent of people through offering flexible working practices, a study by Vodafone UK found.

Peter Kelly, enterprise director for Vodafone UK, said: "Flexible working has gone from being a nice-to-have perk to now being at the heart of employees’ expectations. British business clearly understands that motivation and job satisfaction are more than about money."

The survey also found that only one in five members of staff are considering moving to a different company in the coming year, meaning finding the best people to fill roles can be incredibly hard.

Flexible working could be the necessary incentive and recognition tool in order to attract a highly capable candidate to one job over another.

Mr Kelly said: "Companies with the most satisfied workforces have been successful in embracing flexible working and creating an environment where their employees have a better work-life balance."

The research showed that bigger organisations may be in a better situation in order to allow employees to work flexibly as 63 per cent do.

46 per cent of smaller companies have the infrastructure put in place to engage staff in the practice, which relies on technology in order to keep remote workers and the office in constant contact.

Employees who have a better work-life balance tend to be more productive and generally happier, which is good for both them and the business.

Keeping hold of good staff is also a consideration and those who work flexibly are more likely to stay with a company than move on. ADNFCR-2060-ID-801293661-ADNFCR