The heightened levels of dialogue around corporate social responsibility are encouraging more and more business leaders to rethink their initiatives on sustainability and the environment. However, while generally well-intentioned, many businesses are failing to ‘walk the walk’ and follow through on these initiatives. As a result, they are being called out for greenwashing.
When we think about flexible work, greenwashing may not be the first thing that comes to mind, yet many businesses are falling into a similar pattern by not fulfilling flexible work promises. In fact, while it might seem simple to mention ‘flexible work’ in a job description to attract new talent or increase retention, if it’s not developed holistically, these policies will soon be exposed for merely ‘flex-washing’.
Given its popularity, it’s no wonder flexible work is front and centre of company recruitment and retention strategies. But allowing employees to work within flexible guidelines and enabling employees to do so are vastly different things.
Work location is enforced by the company, so displaying your business as a remote work enabler but confining employees to the office four days a week won’t lead to an increased sense of belonging, motivation, trust, and overall work-life balance. Instead, it’s an illusion of flexibility.
What does work flexibility look like?
Trust is central to a business if it wants to offer truly flexible work policies. It allows employees to choose when and where they work best, and key to this is establishing autonomy.
Additionally, customising schedules and locations for the most convenient and productive options helps individualise an employee’s preferences. When done well, flexible work policies will ultimately benefit the company as it empowers employees to succeed and be productive while also fostering loyalty and commitment.
Appealing to hybrid natives in the time of flexible work
With so much of today’s work conducted on digital platforms, the work experience is now largely defined by the quality of our virtual experience. In the era of remote and hybrid work, we’re also seeing the emergence of a new group, one whose experience with work is fundamentally different from those that entered the workforce before them. These employees are ‘hybrid natives’, and should be a part of every business recruitment and retention strategy in the face of the ongoing shift to flexible work.
As work continues to trend toward virtual spaces, flexible work arrangements will attract new talent. However, organisations need to enable employees to work effectively from anywhere while also feeling connected with their colleagues. Productivity and well-being now hinge on a business's ability to deliver a flawless virtual onboarding and cultural experience.
In fact, Jabra’s Hybrid Ways of Working 2022 Global Report found that one-third of hybrid workers felt left out of the conversation when joining a virtual meeting. Whether it’s a cultural or technical issue, organisations must ensure all employees can be seen and heard during calls. Giving new team members a voice is crucial to enabling a strong cultural experience, especially in flexible working environments.
The Jabra research also found a clear link between the kind of audio technology used and employee meeting experiences. The built-in microphone in laptops, tablets, and mobile devices are designed to serve basic audio needs and are not fit-for-purpose for extensive virtual meetings. Enterprise-grade audio devices, on the other hand, are designed specifically to be used in professional virtual environments such as on UC platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom, and should be the standard for all hybrid work setups.
Additionally, those using enterprise-grade devices reported the least issues in virtual meetings and were 10 per cent less likely than consumer device users to report feeling left out of the conversation.
Virtual meeting equity is difficult to achieve and devices do truly make or break the meeting experience. As such, enterprise-grade audio should be seen as a major enabler of inclusive virtual meeting experiences, which are key to a successful flexible work environment.
As the way we work continues to trend away from the office towards virtual environments, all employees need to be equipped with standardised professional audio technology, regardless of location. Without the right tools, businesses risk the chance of flex-washing, which will damage their ability to attract and retain the best talent.
