Flexible remote work policies are an advantage in recruitment – but what does that really mean for an employee?

Almost 2 out of 3 people would seek a new employer if remote work was not an option anymore. But what really is an attractive enough remote work policy to acquire the best talent?

It is rare to find a job ad for a knowledge worker these days without a mention of the “possibility for flexible remote work“. We’ve collectively taken a leap towards ways of working that are not dependent on the office anymore and we’ve tackled challenges concerning working tools and information security. But what does this “flexible remote work” really mean from the perspective of the employee?

In many cases, this means that you no longer need to come to the office to do your work. You are allowed to choose where you perform your daily tasks, as long as you get them done. This, too often, is where it ends, and the option is either to stay at home or travel to the HQ – possibly in another city pretty far away. The HQ still serves an important role, but what if the employee is living in another city? The employee is left with questions: how will the employer support my remote work? Do I need to buy a bigger apartment to get myself an office room at home? Do I need to carry the costs of those square meters? If I want to get a coworking membership, will my employer pay for that?

This is what the executives are planning:

• Implementing a remote working model. 48% of responding executives who currently have or plan to adopt a remote working model said talent priorities are driving their organizations to adopt a fully remote working model
• Attracting talent. 32% and 28% of the executives were respectively citing “accessing a more specialized talent pool” and “retaining talent” as top reasons
• Promoting employee well-being. 50% of respondents will rely on outsourced technology platforms of sorts for the execution and delivery of new working models. (Omnipresent, 2022)

But this is what the future talent really is worried about:

• Learning. 61% of people report that teams are siloed because they use different tools. 48 % report losing time searching for information and the quiet knowledge is not passed on to younger professionals over Teams meetings and collaboration platforms.
• Culture and belonging. Despite overwhelming positivity for more flexible work policies, 45% of respondents worry over not seeing colleagues in person, while 34% are concerned about their ability to collaborate effectively.
• Building networks and their professional career. Younger generations in the remote workforce feel the pain more than older generations. (Remote Work Report, Gitlab 2021)

How to accommodate these needs with a strategic remote work policy?

• Give your remote workforce a chance to network and meet colleagues in nearby workspaces – while keeping the HQ the heart of your operations. Your young talent is looking for connections and inspiration – give it to them. Otherwise, they’ll walk. Spacent users in bigger client organizations, while using Spacent team features, have started to form cross-team communities in cities outside the HQ or in suburbs that have proven to have a positive impact on the working community.

• Provide real added value in remote work. For many, the home office is not good enough. To really promote employee wellbeing, provide an option for working from home to draw a line between work and free time. And give your employees the freedom to choose, wherever they might be at a given time of work.

• Realize the potential of being a winner in this strategy. Visualize the scenario where you as an employer have successfully implemented a remote work strategy, a balanced combination of HQ and flexible space, which contribute to your employee’s productivity, and commitment and allow more fruitful collaboration between teams. And at the same time enables cost savings on fixed office spaces, scalable office model for growth, and bragging rights for having the greatest employee benefit of all time – the truly flexible work!

Now that’s something to write in your next job ad.