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43% of workers prefer flexible hours over a pay rise

Four in every 10 employees would rather be allowed flexible work options instead of getting a salary hike - perhaps a reason why a number of countries are making it a legal right for employees to request for flexible work.

These findings have emerged in Unify's fourth volume of New Ways to Work (NW2W) index, which has views of more than 800 global participants across functions such as marketing, R&D, and operations.

"Nearly one-third (of employees) said they would change employers if offered flexible work elsewhere," said Bill Hurley, Unify's chief marketing officer.

ALSO READ: 71% of Singapore firms want to implement flexible benefits

The NW2W index also suggested that flexible work options can actually help organisations save money, when implemented properly, especially when an across-the-board pay raise is difficult to meet.

The study found that implementing flexible work does not have to result in an "all-or-nothing" situation. In fact, many employees would be satisfied with a few days per week working from home, or the ability to work in the office for part of the day, and then finish at home.

ALSO READ: Female staff seeking flexible hours viewed negatively by colleagues

A best practice in this area includes management setting the example by working remotely a few hours per week, leveraging technology to have as successful an interaction as if they were in the office.

Putting this in practice implied that using the right communication and collaboration tools made teams two to four times more successful than the teams not using them.

Image: Shutterstock

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