Employees can be even more productive working from home.

In 2012, Regus, the international flexible workplace provider, interviewed over 16,000 senior managers and business owners in 14 countries across six continents. The aim? To find out whether there was a link between productivity and flexibility at work.

The study, Flexibility Drives Productivity, found that flexibility makes staff feel happier, more energised and more motivated. As a result, staff are more productive and generate more revenue for the company.

At first glance, this might seem contradictory. Won’t staff who are allowed flexibility work less, not more?

In my view, this depends very much on the culture of the organisation. Particularly on whether the organisation values nine-to-fiving more than it does productivity.

Traditionally, companies have measured performance by the number of hours spent at the office. As a result, people who work late into the night are admired and promoted, even if the only reason they work 12-hour days is that they are incredibly inefficient.

On the other hand, flexible working is seen as a concession for those who really need it, thus implying that people who work reduced hours, or work from home, aren’t really committed to their work. Just because they have children or elderly parents to take care of, or are studying, they are considered less valuable to the company. Even the process of applying for flexible working can be laborious – there are forms to fill in, approvals to be sought, reasons to be given, and no guarantee of acceptance.

The beauty of flexibility is that it’s a two-way commitment – an organisation which encourages flexibility will have employees who are flexible to the company’s needs

Sadly, this happens even now in some organisations that believe they are employers of choice. Some years ago a friend had two children. She submitted the required forms and eventually the company allowed her to work on reduced hours, but gave her no option to work from home. Soon after she was demoted. She only got her former job title back when she returned to the office full-time some years later. In the meantime, the company gave her job to a person with little experience in the subject, but who was in the office 40 hours a week.

In my view, many organisations need to stop measuring an employee’s performance by the number of hours spent at the office. Instead, they should measure an employee’s productivity – the quality and quantity of an employee’s output – irrespective of the time an employee spends at the office or whether they work from home half the time. Fundamentally, it is the culture of the organisation which must enable this shift in focus. Organisations need to recognise that healthy, well-rounded employees have interests and commitments other than work, be they sports, family or travelling. Many of my colleagues, for instance, are following postgraduate courses, some dance professionally, one person is in a band, another does youth work, and several have children. Companies that value diversity believe that employees with interests outside of work bring more value and that people with various commitments become better at managing their time and focusing on the essentials. They are better with people and therefore better with each other and with clients.

Working from home can also enable employees to be even more productive than usual. In my former job I shared an open plan office with 12 colleagues. The phones rang all the time, people called one another from across the room and made distractingly aromatic toast. There was great team spirit but it certainly wasn’t the place for me to review a 600-page technical document. My kitchen, on the other hand, was perfect. I could get more done in less time and all I needed was an internet connection.

The beauty of technology is that it enables employees to work from almost anywhere. Little investment is needed – webmail and remote access to the company network are relatively inexpensive but the returns can be phenomenal.

And if colleagues need to speak, mobile phones and video conferencing make this easy. I’ve had quite a few conversations with clients and co-workers who had babies or children with them. It has never interfered with our work. And when it is essential for staff to come into the office, creative solutions can be found. For instance, setting up a children’s play area can be cost-effective if enough staff make use of the service. Childcare vouchers are another option to support young parents.

Flexibility also enables employers to keep their best workers. Employees keep their skills up-to-date and the company saves on replacement costs like recruitment and training, which can be substantial. Not forgetting that some employees are irreplaceable.

Employees can also manage to balance their work and life responsibilities. They’re happier, less stressed and so can work better. Their motivation increases and they become even more committed to the company. And when there’s an important project which requires working at night or through the weekend, a motivated employee will make the effort.

The beauty of flexibility is that it’s a two-way commitment – an organisation which encourages flexibility will have employees who are flexible to the company’s needs.

Additionally, a larger and far more diverse range of potential staff is available to flexible companies. A 2012 study by Deloitte entitled Waiter, Is That Inclusion in My Soup? found that employees working in high-inclusion and high-diversity environments are 80 per cent more productive than those working in low-diversity and low-inclusion environments. Diversity means that the potential for new ideas is immense. And it’s new ideas which change the market and generate most revenue.

Clearly many companies aren’t there yet. Consider that in the largest publicly listed companies in Malta, women make up only five per cent of CEOs and 3.5 per cent of board members (European Commission, Gender Balance in Boards, 2013). Most companies are unfortunately failing to create the right conditions for women to reach leadership positions, and flexibility is an important aspect of this, though not the only one.

For companies wishing to change, the first thing to remember is that the company will ultimately benefit from flexible work practices. Secondly, it’s not just mothers who need flexibility. Most employees need flexibility at some stage. And fathers are parents too – a growing number of fathers want to be involved in their children’s upbringing: pick their kids up from school, go to parents’ day, and care for their children when they’re ill.

Thirdly, flexibility requires responsible and trustworthy staff who do not need constant monitoring. Managers who feel their employees cannot be trusted need to ask themselves why. Are they employing the right people?

And if yes, then are their staff not giving their best to the company because they feel they are not valued or trusted? Or are managers simply reluctant to let go of old work practices because they’re used to them?

Finally, and most importantly, the company’s culture is fundamental to embracing flexibility. Employees need to be valued for their diversity, the work they produce and the ideas they bring, more than for the time spent at the office. Companies that welcome this change stand to benefit from increased productivity and profits.