Flexible working has a positive impact on employee performance and helps to reduce stress, new research has found.
The study of seven major blue-chip companies, including Microsoft, KPMG and Centrica, found that flexible working had a positive impact on both the quantity and quality of work produced by employees.
Flexible working also contributed to reducing and managing stress levels, according to the report, Measuring Up – the Impact of Flexible Working Practices on Performance, by Cranfield School of Management and Working Families. For some workers, however, flexible working in itself could become a source of stress.
Clare Kelliher, co-author of the report and senior lecturer in strategic HR management at Cranfield, said the findings were important in highlighting both performance and longer-term benefits of flexible working.
But she warned: "Flexible working should not be seen as an add-on activity. Other HR policies may need to be adjusted in order to ensure they support flexible working."
The two-year research project involved questionnaires, interviews and focus groups. The respondents included employees that worked flexibly, those that did not and managers of flexible workers.
Sarah Jackson, chief executive of Working Families, added that the research "strengthened the business case for flexible working". "It is also clear that flexible working works best where it is available to all employees," she added.
The research found that flexible workers were found to have higher levels of commitment and job satisfaction than other employees.
The Government's review into extending the right to request flexible working, led by Sainsbury's HR Director Imelda Walsh, is set to be published in the next two weeks.