2015 Strategic Benefits―Flexible Work Arragements

October 15, 2015

SHRM Survey Findings: 2015 Strategic Benefits—Flexible Work Arrangements

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Introduction

The 2015 Strategic Benefits Survey is part of a survey series administered annually since 2012 by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). This research is used to determine whether various employee benefits are leveraged to recruit and retain top talent. The six-part series features the following topics:

Part 1: Wellness Initiatives Part 2: Flexible Work Arrangements Part 3: Health Care Part 4: Leveraging Benefits to Retain Employees Part 5: Leveraging Benefits to Recruit Employees Part 6: Assessment and Communication of Benefits

2015 Strategic Benefits Survey—Flexible Work Arrangements ©SHRM 2015

• Availability and access to flexible work arrangements (FWAs): About one-half (48%) of HR professionals indicated their organizations provided employees with the option to use FWAs.

» Of organizations that provided employees with the option to use FWAs, about one-half (48%) indicated the majority (more than one-half) of their employees had access to FWAs.

• Employee use of FWAs: More than one-quarter (29%) of HR professionals from organizations that provided employees with the option to use FWAs indicated employee participation increased last year compared with the year before; just 3% indicated employee participation had decreased.

» More than one-quarter (29%) indicated overall employee productivity had increased since the implementation of FWAs; very few (2%) indicated productivity had decreased.


Key Findings


• Improvements in technology have made FWAs possible for a broader segment of the labor force in recent years, but some of these arrangements have yet to achieve widespread acceptance in many workplace cultures. Only one-half of respondents at organizations that offer FWAs indicated the majority (more than one-half) of employees at their organization have access to them. However, other SHRM research has shown that FWAs have yielded positive results for companies’ staffing management efforts, as well as for their employees’ development and productivity.

• Separate studies have shown that a desire to balance work/life issues is an important factor in determining job satisfaction, so HR professionals should consider FWAs as an important recruitment and retention tool. FWAs are also valued highly among HR professionals in particular, according to recent SHRM research. Nearly two out of five HR professionals said they continue to work at their current organization because of “flexibility to balance work and life issues.”1

What Do These Findings Mean for the HR Profession?

1 Spring 2015 HR Jobs Pulse Survey Report by SHRM.


Key Findings

Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs)

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What do these findings mean for the HR profession?Availability and Access to FWAs

Note: Response options provided were “yes/no/not sure.” Respondents who indicated they were “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Only “yes” responses are shown.

Yes

48%52%

57%53%

2012 (n = 414)2013 (n = 382)2014 (n = 328)2015 (n = 368)


Yes 48%

2015 (n = 1...

Do the majority (more than one-half) of employees at your organization have access

to FWAs?

Does your organization provide employees with the option to use FWAs?

Note: Response options provided were “yes/no/not sure.” Only respondents whose organizations provided employees with the option to use FWAs were asked this question. Respondents who indicated they were “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Only “yes” responses are shown. Data from 2012-2014 are not shown due to a modification to the wording of the question.

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What do these findings mean for the HR profession?Employee Participation in and Productivity Change Due to FWAs

Note: Only respondents whose organizations provided employees with the option to use FWAs were asked this question. Respondents who indicated they were “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

Note: Only respondents whose organizations provided employees with the option to use FWAs were asked this question. Respondents who indicated they were “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.


Increased

Remained the same

Decreased

29%

70%

2% 2015 (n = 122)

Increased

Decreased

29%

68%

3%

31%

68%

1%

33%

61%

6%

36%

58%

6%

2012 (n = 192)2013 (n = 179)2014 (n = 144)2015 (n = 146)

Has overall employee productivity increased, remained the same, or decreased

since the implementation of FWAs?

How did employee participation in your organization’s FWAs change last year

compared with the year before?

Remainedthe same

2015 Strategic Benefits Survey—Flexible Work Arrangements ©SHRM 2015 8

Key Findings

Demographics

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Note: n = 361. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

Percentage

Manufacturing 23%Health care and social assistance 16%Professional, scientific and technical services 12%Finance and insurance 10%Government agencies 8%Educational services 7%Transportation and warehousing 6%Retail trade 6%Construction 5%Utilities 4%Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction 4%

Demographics: Organization Industry


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Key FinDemographics: Organization Industry (continued)

Note: n = 361. Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options.

Percentage

Wholesale trade 4%Administrative and support, and waste management and remediation services 4%Real estate and rental and leasing 3%Accommodation and food services 3%Religious, grant-making, civic, professional and similar organizations 3%Arts, entertainment and recreation 2%Repair and maintenance 2%Information 2%Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 1%Personal and laundry services 0%Other industry 11%


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Key FinDemographics: Organization Sector

Privately owned for-profit

Nonprofit

Publicly owned for-profit

Government

Other

57%

18%

13%

9%

3%

n = 355


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Key FinDemographics: Organization Staff Size

n = 343


1 to 99 employees

100 to 499 employees

500 to 2,499 employees

2,500 to 24,999 employees

25,000 or more employees

30%

35%

21%

10%

4%

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Key FinDemographics: Other


n = 359

U.S.-based operations only 77%

Multinational operations 23%

Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only, or does it operate multinationally?

n = 360

n = 226

n = 226

Single-unit organization: An organization in which the location and the organization are one and the same.

38%

Multi-unit organization: An organization that has more than one location. 62%

Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multi-unit organization?

For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work location or by both?

Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices. 56%

Each work location determines HR policies and practices. 3%

A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices.

41%

Corporate (companywide) 75%

Business unit/division 11%

Facility/location 14%

What is the HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey?

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SHRM Survey Findings:

Survey Methodology

SHRM Survey Findings: Strategic Benefits—Flexible Work Arrangements


Survey Methodology:• Response rate = 12%• 461 HR professionals from a randomly selected sample of SHRM’s membership

participated in this survey• Margin of error +/- 5%• Survey fielded May-June 2015

Project Lead:Karen Wessels, researcher, workforce planning, SHRM Research

Project Contributors:Evren Esen, director, SHRM-SCP, Survey Programs, SHRM ResearchBruce Elliott, manager, SHRM-SCP, Compensation and BenefitsJennifer Schramm, manager, SHRM-SCP, Workforce Trends and Forecasting, SHRM Research


Additional SHRM Resources

Health Care Reform Resource Page: shrm.org/healthcare

For more survey/poll findings, visit shrm.org/surveys

For more information about SHRM’s Research Services:» Customized Research Service, visit shrm.org/customizedresearch» Engagement Survey Service, visit shrm.org/peopleinsight» Customized Benchmarking Service, visit shrm.org/benchmarks

Follow us on Twitter @SHRM_Research

http://www.shrm.org/surveys

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About SHRM

Founded in 1948, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world’s largest HR membership organization devoted to human resource management. Representing more than 275,000 members in over 160 countries, the Society is the leading provider of resources to serve the needs of HR professionals and advance the professional practice of human resource management. SHRM has more than 575 affiliated chapters within the United States and subsidiary offices in China, India and United Arab Emirates. Visit us at shrm.org.

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2015 Strategic Benefits―Flexible Work Arragements

Recruiting & HR

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