Flexible working ‘no longer stigmatised and helps productivity’ study says

Nearly 600 managers took part in the survey

Hybrid working has increased in popularity since the pandemic (AFP via Getty Images)

Flexible working is no longer being thought of as bad by managers who believe it leads to improved productivity, research suggests.

Three-quarters of managers think that it improves productivity, while just over 60 per cent believe it boosts motivation, a UK survey conducted by the Equal Parenting Project at the University of Birmingham reports.

A total of 597 managers were surveyed, with the results showing that they were more positive about certain types of flexible working than others.

Home working and flexitime - which have both become more common since the pandemic - went down well.

However, other types of flexible working were not looked on so favourably, including types that benefit parents, such as job shares, part-time work or compressed hours.

The authors suggested that employers could address this disparity by promoting all types of flexible working and changing performance evaluations to “break down the flexible working stigma” that was widespread before the pandemic.

They are urging policymakers to make it a requirement that employers report on flexible working practices as part of their gender pay gap obligations.

They also suggest that flexible working is made the default for employers and that they should be made to make a case for why jobs cannot be performed flexibly.

The research showed that while there has been much less emphasis on presenteeism since the pandemic, the same can’t be said for progress made on the culture of working long hours working culture.

In 2021, the number of managers who said employees needed to work long hours to progress fell from 43.3 per cent in 2019 to 35.2 per cent in 2021. However, this has since been reversed, with the figure rising back up to 41.9 per cent.

As well as this, the study also showed just how popular hybrid working has become. In 2022, almost 70 per cent of managers reported that their organisation did not expect employees to be in the office more than four days a week.

However, the percentage of managers who expect employees to be in the office just one day a week has nearly doubled, increasing from 10.5 per cent in 2021 to 20.4 per cent in 2022.