Granting Autonomy and Flexibility to Attract and Retain Talents

ManagementSeptember 23, 2021 12:43

Written by Clare Chong

The onset of the pandemic, coupled with work from home measures being implemented, has brought great changes to the working landscape and opened up new possibilities for the Future of Work.

In an article published by Today, employees may have this “sense of uselessness” towards their jobs even though such feelings may not be a “direct indication of the social value of that work”. In other words, employees may feel that their work is useless when they come across “a manager who is micromanaging...incompetently”.

The potential solution to this? Granting flexibility and autonomy to your workers.

 

High Demand for Work Autonomy

According to a study conducted in 2020 that polled 1500 employees across Asia, 70 per cent reported that they prefer more autonomy and flexibility over their schedules. More than 30 per cent also stated that they would like to work from home for 50 per cent of their working hours.

Most significantly, 74 per cent of surveyed workers also agreed that enhanced flexibility in working patterns will increase accessibility to more people in comparison with pre-pandemic times. 81% of respondents also felt that both businesses and individuals will gain from having enhanced flexibility around working arrangements.

Similarly, in a separate survey conducted across South East Asia (SEA) with more than 16,000 workers, only 15 per cent of respondents indicated that they would like to return to the office full time.


Effects of Flexibility and Autonomy
The SEA survey also noted several implications from granting greater work flexibility for employees:

  • Enhancing creativity and productivity

Approximately half of the respondents agreed that the organisational culture has improved and hybrid work arrangements helped enhance productivity and creativity as a whole too. It was observed by the employees that there were positive changes to work practices to increase productivity by the companies who offered such hybrid work arrangements. Examples include blocking out time slots for meetings/no-email periods, individual work and reducing meetings time to allow for breaks. 

  • Increasing the agility of talents

The survey also found that 85% of employees expect flexible working arrangements to continue in the future in both working hours as well as location and 54% of respondents are even willing to quit their jobs if they are not given such flexibility.
The trust accorded by companies would enable employees to be more innovative, resilient and independent in their work.

  • Increasing technology investments

To better support employee productivity and remote working, businesses should invest more in technology and upskilling their employees’ digital abilities. HR policies should also be reviewed with the incorporation of new technology to adapt to the new mode of working. As high as 73% of the respondents also requested better technology in the office (e.g.faster internet)  while approximately 50% asked for company support with home office technology (e.g. headsets, high-speed internet, phone expenses).
 

Evolution of the Future Workplace to cater to Workers’ Needs
With the increased job mobility and opportunities as a result of remote working, the war for talent is becoming even more competitive. Workers nowadays would look for choice employers that excel in skills investment, flexibility, trust and leadership.


Employers that continuously review strategies for engaging their workers, understand the impact of workers’ sentiments on productivity and culture and invest in technology to enhance work experience would be able to secure and retain their talents better.


How can you review your current organisational practices to cater to the evolving needs of your employees?