Survey says small businesses back flexible working

Six out of ten smaller firms offer flexible working to their staff and over half of them believe it has a positive effect on employee relations, according to the biggest quarterly survey of UK small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

The report, by the independent Small Business Research Trust (SBRT), defines flexible working as part-time working, forms of job sharing, flexitime, working from home and the provision of career breaks or sabbaticals. A random sample of 7,000 small firms across the UK, carried out by The University of Liverpool Management School, showed that 58% offer some form of flexible working to their employees. Fifty per cent of these firms felt that flexible working had a positive effect on employee relations, with only 8% saying it had a negative impact. However 42% cent considered it had no impact one way or the other on the business.

Flexible working is seen as most effective by employers in helping to motivate and retain staff, with over 50% supporting this view. It is regarded as least effective in controlling absenteeism, with 35% saying it helps and 7% saying the effect is negative. Forty seven per cent thought that flexible working increased productivity. However many employers felt that flexible working had little impact on staff recruitment, retention, motivation, absenteeism or productivity. But only a few firms (less than 10% in each category) thought the effects were negative.

While flexible working is on offer to many employees, the majority of firms do not have formal processes to allow this. The report concludes that this lack of formal procedures may suit smaller businesses, as it allows managers to be flexible, but may also restrict opportunities for some employees.