The way that businesses operate has changed a lot in the last few years. Companies are offering more flexible working hours and more employees are working from home. Recent developments as a result of COVID-19 mean that more companies than ever are allowing their employees to work from home.

If you are going to keep up with the ever changing business world, it is important that you introduce flexible working practices to your business.

When employees are given more freedom to choose their own hours and work in an environment that suits them, they tend to be more productive. It also benefits your business because you can save money on office space and utility costs. However, you will only benefit from flexible working if you implement it in the right way and give your employees all of the tools that they need to thrive. These are some of the best ways to introduce flexible working practices to your business.

Invest in Cloud Computing

Access to information and tools is vital if you want your employees to be able to work flexibly. That is why cloud computing is so important in any modern business that wants to adopt flexible practices. With the right cloud systems in place, you and your employees have remote access to any documents and information that you need, and you can run important software from the cloud as well. This means that, as long as you are connected to the internet, you can work from anywhere.

Be Flexible With Hours

The standard 9 to 5 day doesn’t work for everybody, and enforcing it is not good for your business. Some people work more effectively in the evenings, while some people work well early in the morning. If you let people choose their own hours, they will be a lot more productive. It is also a good way to improve work-life balance because it means that people can fit their work around other life responsibilities, like their family. There will be certain times of the day when people are required to be in the office, but you should allow people to be flexible outside of that.

Set Clear Expectations

The only issue with remote working is that some people may try to take advantage of the situation. When you allow them to work from home and set their own hours, they may be less productive because they simply are not working that many hours. This is not always the case, and you can get around this by setting clear expectations. Make sure that your employees understand that your expectations in terms of their output have not changed, so people still need to complete the same amount of work, even if they decide to cut their hours a little or work from home. You can make your expectations clear by setting lots of targets for your employees, especially those that are working from home. That way, they will have a clear idea of what you expect of them.

By introducing flexible working practices in your business, you can inspire an increase in productivity and improve your employees well being while also saving some money.