Nikki Slowey from Flexibility Works led a breakout session at the SPDS Conference where she shared some insights on what flexible working looks like in Scotland now, and what changes are on the horizon, and how local government employers can get on the front foot.

Fast facts about flex now

Despite what you might read about the likes of Amazon and other big multinational firms demanding their people ‘return to the office’, flexible working continues to rise steadily in Scotland. Currently 67% of Scottish workers (or 1.7 million people) already work flexibly. Another 18% of the workforce (or another 500,000 people) don’t work flexibly but would like to. The demand for flex is huge.

Flexible working is so much more than hybrid or home working, which aren’t possible in many jobs. There are many types of flex on time, from part-time or compressed hours, to small changes to start and finish times, and having more input to shift rotas that can still work well. Just because you can’t work from home doesn’t mean you can’t work flexibly at all.

More than 7 in 10 Scottish employers say flexible working is good for their business, with benefits across productivity, recruitment, retention and wellbeing to mention just a few.

What’s next: Changing law on flex

When it comes to the future of flexible working there are some legal and guidance changes afoot. The biggest change is in the Government’s proposed Employment Rights Bill, which includes an extra clause for employers that wish to refuse a flexible working request.

It’s a small but significant change that will put more onus on employers to justify decisions to deny a flexible working request. That in turn puts more of a requirement on managers to be more open minded, creative and confident in their conversations about flexible working.

What’s next: Hybrid is here to stay

All the data shows hybrid is valuable, and not going anywhere. It’s true some high-profile organisations are ending their hybrid arrangements. But these are the outliers, not the norm.

And now’s the time to make hybrid more intentional with clear guidelines for workers and for managers.

These points were echoed by some of the audience at the conference, who said they felt organisations should be reviewing their current approaches to hybrid working, including talking to employees, and updating hybrid working policies or guidelines to ensure hybrid continues to work well.

Nikki also spoke about the importance of line managers being confident and competent to manage hybrid and flexible teams, and why it’s important managers don’t make their own preferred way of working ‘the’ way of working for the whole team.

What’s next: Frontline flex IS possible

We’ve seen an increase in both supply and demand for flex in frontline roles. We’ve noticed an increase in queries from employers about how to provide flex for frontline workers. While our data shows more than half (56%) of frontline workers think they could do their job more flexibly without it impacting performance.

We know there are still many recruitment and retention challenges for frontline roles, so offering more flexibility can be a key tool.

We heard some great examples from our audience about flexible working in frontline roles that worked well both for workers and for the organisation. These included using compressed working weeks and longer working hours in the summer and shorter hours in the winter.

Free resources to help you now

• If you need practical help to create a successful flexible working culture, check out our free 7 Steps to Flex guide our practical guide on how to create a successful flexible working culture.

• If you need to put together a business case for greater flex in your organisation, we’ve got a great free resource full of robust (and referenced) facts and stats to help.

Training and support options

We work with employers day in, day out, including many that are local councils, housing associations and other public sector bodies. We’re always happy to have an informal chat about any aspect of flex. But to give you a flavour of what we can provide, here are some of our popular options.

1. Flex Essentials: Our light-touch consultancy service including pulse staff survey, flex audit and practical recommendations.

2. Flex Essentials Workshop for Managers: One-off, half-day workshop to empower managers to lead flexible teams successfully, including managing flex requests.

3. Working Well for Hybrid Teams: One-off, half day workshop to help hybrid workers overcome new challenges around connection, communication and wellbeing.

4. Flex Boost: Our mid-level consultancy support service to help evolve and enhance your flexible working approach.

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Blog by Flexibility Works, a social business that supports employers (including many in the public sector) to create more flexible working that benefits workers and organisations alike.