Flexible working in small businesses is on the increase as a number of senior business managers claim the practice has improved productivity, reports Fresh Business Thinking.
A survey of 2,500 managers by Regus claims that 76 per cent of those surveyed believe their firms works more flexibly than it used to, compared with 67 per cent of large businesses - giving small to medium enterprise (SME) CEOs food for thought.
Furthermore, over two thirds of small businesses report their productivity has increased while 63 per cent of SMEs also link increasing revenues directly to flexible working.
Outsourcery.co.uk cites figures which mirror Regus' findings, claiming that more than three-quarters (77 per cent) of managers recognised that flexible working increased productivity, while 82 per cent of European organisations allow flexible working in some form.
Celia Donne, regional director at Regus, highlights further attributes of flexible working: "In addition to these benefits, staff report feeling healthier, more energised and more motivated which in turn means that staff are happier in their jobs, more loyal and less likely to leave.
"As workforce expectations and demands change, part-time arrangements are therefore becoming more common not only for freelancers, working mums and the working elderly, but also generation Y employees going straight into multi-job employment," she added.
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