How to maintain your flexible working
Co-founder of The Lowdown Megan discusses how to approach a conversation with your employer about maintaining your flexible working arrangements, after the pandemic.
The pandemic was challenging for a lot of us in many ways, and hugely affected our working lives. But one of benefits of it has been the rise in flexible working arrangements for some.
A report by McKinsey found that about 20-25% of the workforce could work from home between three and five days a week. This represents four to five times more remote work than before the pandemic.
You may have reached an agreement with your employer during the pandemic. But you may have started to notice their expectations changing.
Here are some tips to help you maintain some level of flexibility:
Productivity and outputs: Hopefully these concerns have already been put to rest but ensure you have clear objectives set out to track your performance. Maintain an open and ongoing dialogue with your manager about these.
Be contactable: But keep some boundaries. Just because you want to continue working flexibly it doesn't mean you need to be responsive 24/7. Don't feel pressured into this because you want to work flexibly.
Understand policies and guidelines: Contact your HR team to ensure what your company’s current expectations and guidelines are, these may be helpful in supporting any conversation with your manager.
Be clear on what you're asking for: When discussing your role and expectations with your employer, be sure that you're clear about what you are asking for.
Remind them of the benefits: Working flexibly can benefit an employer too. It could mean that they have staff available across a longer working day for example. It could be useful to have some examples of this for any conversations you may need to have.
Be flexible: Meet in the middle, you may wish to work from home for 4 days, your employer may offer 3 days. You may need to initially compromise, but as per the next point, keep things under review.
Keep it under review. Agree with your manager on some regular review points so that the arrangement is still working for both parties. This will also give the opportunity to address any concerns, and continue to share successes.
Consider what to do if they say no: Your employer may require you to return to the office. You need to consider what you will do in this situation. For some, this is a deal-breaker and they may look for a new role.
Remember flexibility can take many forms and is not always working from home. Your employer may allow flexibility in regards to your start and/or finish times. Other employers also allow for working hours to be condensed, for example working 10 days in 9 giving one day off every two weeks.
Hopefully, these tips will support you in maintaining some flexibility within your working week, there are huge benefits to both individuals and employers and many companies are actively promoting their modern approach to ways of working.
Note: This article refers to more informal flexible working arrangements and should not be confused with an employer's legal responsibility. More details can be found in this article: https://www.gov.uk/flexible-working
Reference: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/the-future-of-work-after-covid-19