Why Flexible Work Arrangements Aren't Always Inclusive

"Flexible work promises higher employee productivity, wellbeing, and inclusion. But does flexibility really deliver on all those promises? Our new research, published in the British Journal of Industrial Relations, shows that the story is more complicated, particularly for employees with disabilities. In our research, we aimed to answer concrete dilemmas managers have regarding what types of flexibility have the highest positive impact and how each type affects employees with and without disabilities."

"The findings: not all discretionary work arrangements are created equal, and some may unintentionally undermine inclusion. The Good News: Autonomy and Scheduling Flexibility There is good news for certain types of flexibility arrangements. Our findings show that work and scheduling discretion were powerful tools for inclusion. Employees with disabilities reported significantly higher levels of job satisfaction, motivation, and engagement when they had control over how and when they worked."

Four types of discretionary work arrangements are defined: work discretion (autonomy over how tasks are performed), scheduling discretion (flexibility in work hours), part-time work (reduced hours or job-sharing), and homeworking (frequency of remote work from home). The analysis compares impacts on employees with and without disabilities across outcomes including job satisfaction, motivation, stress, work-life balance, and perceived fairness. Not all discretionary arrangements produce the same effects and some can unintentionally undermine inclusion. Work and scheduling discretion are associated with significantly higher job satisfaction, motivation, engagement, reduced stress, and improved work-life balance for employees with disabilities.

Read at Forbes