Flexible working can include (but is not limited to) job content, variety of work, location, start and finish times.
It is not just about part-time working and can provide some of the solutions needed to maintain a well-motivated workforce.
Managers can find it difficult to balance conflicting requests for flexible working and to meet the needs of the service, but by being open to discussion and negotiation with employees, solutions will often come from staff themselves.
This section includes key points to consider, actions to take forward and links to useful information and resources.
Key points
- Employing lots of part–time staff or job sharers can seem time-consuming for managers, but it can bring many benefits. Staff often feel more committed and energised when they have achieved the work/life balance they need, and this has been demonstrated to have links to greater productivity.
- Any additional workload for managers in terms of appraisals/time off for training can be balanced against a reduction in costs and management time spent on recruitment and managing sickness absence.
- If you are not sure whether a new working arrangement will be right for your service, you can have a trial period to see whether any problems arise and discuss with staff how to resolve them.
- There is clear evidence from the work undertaken by experts such as Professor Michael West that quality employment leads to quality outcomes for patients, including lower mortality and greater patient satisfaction.
Key actions
- Check your internal policies and processes to see what commitment your organisation is giving to providing flexible working opportunities for staff at all grades.
- If you are finding it difficult to meet a variety of flexible working requests from staff, find out whether there are other options, for example for shared posts, by linking with managers in other parts of your organisation.
- Make sure you monitor your decisions, taking account of the age profile of your team. For example, which staff have been given CPD opportunities; which staff have had flexible working requests agreed.
- Encourage your staff to come up with suitable solutions themselves while making clear that you are open to any suggestions they may come up with.
Useful information and resources
- NHS Scotland Partnership Information Network (PIN) Policies (www.staffgovernance.scot.nhs.uk/partnership/partnership-information-network/pin-policies/)