Employers offering flexible working reap recruitment and retention benefits

Employers who have embraced flexible working policies have seen a 20 percent improvement in employee recruitment and retention compared to two years ago, according to new global research from Targus. According to the poll, seventy percent of senior business decision-makers say flexible working policies and working environments are positively impacting recruitment and a further 76 percent say it’s positively impacting employee retention. 

Over half of office working respondents (59 percent) are wanting to continue to ‘work from anywhere’. Employers say digital transformation policies and working environments are being driven by the need to support the growing demand for hybrid working and evolve policies to future proof against global pandemics and put health and safety first of their staff first.

Around 85 percent of businesses world-wide are now undergoing a digital transformation to meet the growing demand for flexible working and 80 percent of UK businesses are doing the same.  While many companies started to consider digital transformation before 2020, 40 percent globally have said they are now transforming in a direct response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

This means having the right technology to support working well is more important than ever for businesses. For workers, having the correct working set-up at home results in increased wellness and productivity. Even when businesses supply the basic accessories, such as power chargers, keyboards, and mice, employee satisfaction is greatly improved.

But it’s no longer a case of just recreating the office at home. As restrictions are relaxed and offices opened for business, employees need technology to support their mobility, enabling them to work from anywhere.

An increasingly flexible workforce does provide new IT challenges, however. Over 30 percent of organisations are experiencing issues when it comes to setting up IT solutions at home and 27 percent struggling when setting up shared desks when they do go into the office. Ensuring employees have stable connections and can protect their devices and equipment on the go is an essential consideration for productivity, the report suggests.