Companies Can Boost Employee Engagement by Offering Flexible Working Environments

Do you hate work? If you’re an American, you’re in good company with most of your fellow compatriots.

In a recent New York Times article, writers Tony Schwartz and Christine Porath of the Energy Project explored how Americans are being increasingly squeezed by their jobs to the point where employee engagement has all but disappeared. While there are of course exceptions, Americans hate their jobs more than workers in nearly all other countries.

While squeezing workers until they bleed may lead to some small short-term gains in productivity and revenue, in the long run, it’s a very poor operations mindset. The kind of long-term benefits high employee engagement can offer companies cannot take place in this constant “hair on fire” working environment. In the U.S., only 30 percent of employees feel engaged at work, according to a 2013 Gallup report.

While companies looking for short-term gain will likely continue to burn out employees, more forward-thinking companies are taking a different tack, attracting the best and brightest talent through promises of workplace flexibility, according to a recent Inc article by Laura Montini.

“Small and medium-sized businesses report that, when it comes to the workforce management process, their biggest pain point by far is attracting and hiring quality talent,” she writes. “One solution to this tough problem is to offer job candidates something they value immensely -- flexible work options. A Cornell University study found that organizations that gave employees a choice of when and where to work had one third the turnover rate compared with less flexible firms.”

Reducing turnover, of course, yields enormous cost benefits to companies large and small that today spend too much time and money trying to recruit and train new workers to replace the ones who have left. So how to stem the tide?

The Inc article highlighted the above infographic from Column Five and headset company Plantronics (News - Alert), and the two organizations offered some tips for building a flexible and productive work environment for employees.  The infographic, which is based on a recent survey conducted by the two organization, reveals that 64 percent of small business owners report that offering flexible, mobile and remote work options has assisted them in hiring or retaining key employees. Workers given a choice report being 12 percent more satisfied with their jobs (which leads to lower turnover) and turn in better job performance.

Still, many companies are worried that by allowing employees more flexibility, or the ability to work remotely, they will be slacking on the company dime. One of the many ways forward-thinking companies have gotten around this worry is by implementing cloud-based workforce management solutions that allow even remote employees to be logged in and their performance tracked to ensure they are where they are supposed to be. It’s a “best of both worlds” scenario that allows companies of all sizes to boost employee engagement while at the same time ensuring that the work is getting done. 

Edited by Stefania Viscusi