Gap between employer and employee flexibility expectations is widening, survey finds
There is a widening chasm between employer and employee expectations on workplace flexibility, with implications for talent retention and productivity, a survey has found.
Business leaders are pushing for greater in-office presence from their employees, a survey by workforce management software firm Rippling has found. However, when done right, flexible work practices could boost employee retention and productivity.
“Flexibility can be a powerful productivity engine because it helps attract and retain talent. Our survey shows that roughly a third of Aussies would hesitate to join a company without hybrid options, and other studies show that flexible work is valued on par with an 8% pay rise,” Matt Loop, VP and head of Asia at Rippling told Accounting Times.
“On the whole, happier employees stay longer and focus better, so businesses spend less on recruitment while preserving institutional knowledge and people.”
Australia is currently grappling with persistently low productivity growth, which is linked to wage growth in the long run. Without meaningful productivity boosts, Australian living standards are poised to go backwards, the Productivity Commission has warned.
Loop said that businesses could reap productivity benefits from flexible work arrangements, as long as they effectively communicated expectations to employees. To strike a balance between flexibility and productivity, he suggested that employers focus on tracking performance rather than hours.
“Managers can give their employees the autonomy to choose how they work best - then hold them accountable to goals, not time online,” Loop said.
“Here, technology can do a lot of the heavy lifting. When all employee data lives in a single system, managers can measure progress, not just presence.”
Flexible work arrangements could also be a key sweetener in attracting and retaining talent, Rippling’s survey indicated.
Over a third (34 per cent) of Australian workers would reconsider joining a company lacking hybrid options, while 53 per cent placed family-oriented benefits including flexible hours and parental leave above all else.
In contrast, businesses had high expectations for worker attendance. Over half of employers expected their employees to be willing to work onsite five days a week, while 60 per cent were less likely to consider hiring candidates who would not work beyond their contracted hours.
“Our survey of Aussie business leaders found that 57% are now reluctant to hire anyone who won’t work five days a week in the office, yet we know employees prize work life balance above all else. When expectations don’t align, trust erodes, burnout creeps in, and productivity suffers,” Loop warned.
Research by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) found that Australian workers valued working from home so much that they would take a pay cut for the privilege of flexibility.
CEDA warned that companies considering a return-to-office mandate could expect to pay higher premiums to retain staff. It could also cut them off from talent pools of suitable candidates that couldn’t commute five days a week, such as professional women with young children.
This was especially pertinent to sectors facing talent shortages, such as the accounting industry.
While employers increasingly expected their workers to return to the office, Rippling found that the pandemic had led to a lasting shift in employee expectations that was unlikely to be completely erased.
“The pandemic set a new precedent: employees now expect to control at least part of where and when they work,” Loop said.
“The challenge for businesses isn’t to reverse this shift, but to embrace it - and build the systems, policies, and tools that support productivity no matter where work happens.”
