Australian SMBs: Writing the playbook for flexibility

To flex or not to flex: It’s the decision that Australian organisations continue to ponder as the discourse around return-to-office (RTO) mandates continues to formulate. When it comes to that decision, however, small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) across the country believe it’s a no-brainer.

According to a recent report by Remote, Australian SMBs are twice as likely to offer flexible working arrangements to their staff. The results highlight the key understanding that Aussie SMBs have of the employee market, as 69 per cent of Australian businesses are experiencing increased demand for flexible work options.

It’s a very real decision for organisations and can have some swift consequences. The Remote Global Workforce report showed that more than half (60 per cent) of hiring leaders say their employers have lost employees to organisations who are less bound to traditional office hours and locations over the past six months.

Across the country, flexible working hours and remote work are offered by 39 per cent and 32 per cent of businesses, respectively. At the same time, small businesses and enterprises were significantly more inclined to offer these perks.

As the report highlighted, most businesses with 1-9 employees (83 per cent) and 10-49 employees (72 per cent) offer flexible working hours, in comparison to only 41 per cent of businesses with 250-499 employees and 53 per cent of businesses with 50-100 employees. These numbers highlight the large contrast between the two, with SMBs also offering remote work (69 per cent) at a far higher rate.

With SMBs investing in remote work and flexible working routines, they will no doubt see positive results pertaining to their productivity. The report reinforced this, showing that in Australia, an increase in productivity (40 per cent) and improved business performance (29 per cent) were two primary benefits that were attributed to operating remotely.

As previously reported on HR Leader, this sentiment is in direct contrast to the decisions made by big-time organisations to implement RTO mandates, with the goal being to boost workplace productivity.

“We have only just begun writing the playbook on remote work and will need to work together to identify and tackle these challenges,” said Job van der Voort, chief executive and co-founder at Remote.

“This data echoes what we hear from many of our customers – the benefits of flexible and remote work far exceed the challenges. We believe that distributed work is paving the way to a more successful, balanced and fair business world and are committed to helping other companies in adopting flexible work and attract great talent from everywhere.”