Workers want flexibility but most worry it will hinder their career

Thursday, 15 June 2017

Working women who are also caring for family members need flexible working arrangements.

Most workers yearn for flexibility in their working hours and where they work, but worry employers will disapprove, a poll suggests.

A Hays Recruitment online poll found that 93 per cent of 660 New Zealanders wanted to be able to work away from the office and regular hours, but only if it did not hinder their career development.

Business NZ chief executive Kirk Hope Hope says employers see flexible working arrangements as an important way to retain staff and lift productivity.

The remaining 7 per cent of said they did not want work flexibility because it would cause too many financial problems, or was not a priority.

Hays New Zealand managing director Jason Walker said workers' worry stemmed from employers questioning the motivation of people who asked to work from home.

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'From slower promotional pathways, to less access to learning and development, a low profile within the organisation and even a loss of status, there is a feeling that the career of employees who work flexibly can suffer,' Walker said.

'Often these are the result of an employer or line manager making assumptions about the career motivations of the employee concerned.'

Business New Zealand chief executive Kirk Hope said most corporate head office workers were embracing flexible working hours.

Hope said bosses in large organisations probably would not notice if their staff were out of the office these days.

They would be judging an employee by their contribution to the businesses success in performance reviews, not by their physical presence.

Hope said employers saw flexible working arrangements as an important way to retain staff and lift productivity.

'It is a really good mechanism for employers to retain staff … It is a reflection of a lot of skills shortages in New Zealand that employers are embracing it.'

Such working arrangements worked best in technology and sales companies, as well as any business that relied on networking and relationship building.

Businesses in those sectors would save money if they gave their staff the technology to work away from an office, he said.

But it would not work in industries such as manufacturing and retail where staff had to show face to carry out their work.

Hope said the change in a nine-to-five office-based working routine was not suitable for everyone.