Why you should consider a flexible management style

 If you and your company haven’t adopted a flexible workplace, you might want to ask yourself why not. Previously a flexible workplace has been viewed as a perk to reward star performers or a way to help working parents manages the varied demands on their lives. But a new study “Business Impacts of Flexibility,” released by the Washington-based nonprofit Corporate Voices for Working Families, challenges that view of flexibility. In the study, 28 large American businesses report that flexibility is not just an accommodation, but also an important management tool that helps companies improve the bottom line.

As a matter of fact, the study reports that flexible workplaces can impact business outcomes in several ways. Here are four areas of business management that flexibility can impact positively:

• Talent management. Research shows that flexibility can help companies hold on to key talent. Flexibility saves millions of dollars for companies each year in preventing turnover of talent.

• Human capital output. Research shows that even small measures of flexibility in how and when work gets done creates greater job satisfaction, higher commitment and engagement—and lower levels of stress. These outcomes often translate into quality, innovation, customer-retention and shareholder value.

• Financial performance. Flexibility has been shown to increase financial performance and productivity.

• Lower rates of burnout. Employees who have access to flexibility tend to avoid burnout as opposed to those who do not have access to flexibility.

The bottom line is that flexibility is a powerful management tool, and it helps companies reach their goals.