SHRM Study Finds Flex Work is Becoming Mainstream

That's not a valid work email account. Please enter your work email (e.g. you@yourcompany.com)
Please enter your work email
(e.g. you@yourcompany.com)

flex work becoming mainstream The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has released a survey that shows that flexible work arrangements have become mainstream and appear to be both successful and growing.

Key findings uncovered in the report include:

  • Most flexible work arrangements are successful with 73 to 92 percent of HR professionals reporting that they were somewhat or very successful.
  • HR professionals believe that the number of organizations that offer flex work or telecommuting will increase dramatically over the next five years. The vast majority feel that telecommuting (83 percent) and flexible work arrangements (89 percent) would likely/very likely be more prevalent in five years than they are today.
  • Organizations that offer telecommuting say that it has had a positive impact on productivity and absenteeism.

“Flexible work arrangements are an important part of an effective workplace and contribute to employee job satisfaction, retention and health. But workforce culture could be a barrier preventing employees from taking advantage of these arrangements,” said Evren Esen, director of SHRM’s survey programs, in a press release about the survey.

He added:  “The role of managers is central to the success of flexible work arrangements. Managers need to work with HR to communicate to employees what options are available and how they benefit the goals of both employees and the organization.”

SHRM’s survey,the 2014 Workplace Flexibility Overview,derives from information taken from 525 HR professionals surveyed from April through June 2014. Two sets of findings were released at SHRM’s annual Diversity & Inclusion Conference & Exposition with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.

By Joshua Bjerke