Leadership key to enabling workers’ wellbeing through flexible work

When implemented effectively, hybrid and flexible work has been found to improve both employee performance and wellbeing, but leaders play a key role in realising this, a new report from Swinburn Edge and Deloitte has revealed.

Once enacted, flexible work policies and practices require appropriate planning and investment to enable their benefits to be realised. However, organisations still struggle with this, with 70% of people who worked for companies that had a formal remote work policy reported that they faced challenges working from home.

Poor implementation of flexible working arrangements can lead to negative consequences like blurred work-life boundaries and increased workload hours, which are detrimental to employee wellbeing.

The report found that 23% of employees report working from home without a remote working policy. Without a policy and clear guidelines to manage their time away from the office, employees are exposed to psychosocial risks like low role clarity and job control.

Justin Guiliano, Partner at Risk Advisory Deloitte Australia, said, “An important factor which warrants further attention is the impact leaders can have on employees and their wellbeing through trust and expectation setting when it comes to flexible work.”

READ: Younger employees struggling to adjust to flexible work

Dr Sean Gallagher, Director of Swinburne’s Centre for the New Workforce, added, “Flexible work policies need to be equitable rather than equal, while also meeting the needs of the workforce and the organisation. Consulting with their workers about how to balance the equation between employee expectations and organisation needs is leadership in action.”