CBI and CIPD Views on Flexible Working too Black and White

The CBI reports a rise in firms reporting a negative impact on their business because of flexible working requests, and the CIPD refutes this with research stating that flexible working improves employee motivation and retention levels.

Yet, HR and employment expert Croner says that its experience with clients shows the issue is not as black and white as this. Flexible working should always be considered in relation to the strategic goals of the business.

Smith says: As a company Croner represents the interests of business and we actively advise clients of the importance of a best practice approach to help employees manage their work/life balance.

Our clients understand flexible working presents an opportunity for a win-win situation but there is no doubt that, in practice, this balance can be extremely difficult to achieve, especially for the many medium-sized businesses we deal with. For example, a typical client company employing between 300 - 500 employees and three full time HR professionals is fully aware of the benefits and need for flexibility, yet struggles to comply with ever increasing employment legislation.

Many companies recognise flexible working is a route to strategic advantage and there is much evidence to demonstrate that employers are reaping the rewards. Wherever possible, Croner advocates the benefits of flexible working. Our experience has found that those companies facing increased costs and lost management time in dealing with flexible working requests as cited in the CBI report, should view these occurrences as a trigger for the company to review its policies and consider a more strategic approach, which in the long term, should save money and lead to better customer service.

In our view the CBI and CIPD are sending out rather confusing messages that the pros and cons of flexible working are black and white, when in fact they should be considered in relation to the strategic goals of the individual business. A few isolated cases of flexible working could indeed be disruptive, which is likely to be the case in the CBIís findings, but a root and branch examination of what working hours are required and how they can most effectively be supplied could actually result in commercial benefits.

Take the example of Addenbrookeís NHS Trust which reports investment in flexible working has helped to reduce sickness absence from 5.3% to 4.1% and lower staff turnover from 20% to 14.9% between 1997 and 2004. The trust even includes references to its flexible working policy in its recruitment literature, and believes that flexible working has made a real difference to its ability to continue to recruit and retain staff.

Croner has just published a managerís guide to flexible working. Journalists interested in a complimentary PDF copy of the report should contact Nicola Green, nicolag@robson-brown.co.uk, (0191 244 6637).