ABSTRACT
Using new technologies has a key role to play in the strategic implementation of Smart Flexibility. The technologies and processes that people use currently play a key role in either tethering people to traditional working styles or liberating them to work smarter. Many evaluations of flexible working are done on the basis of asking employees and managers if productivity has increased. Using Smart Flexibility as a way to deal with recruitment, retention and absence problems is, to a large degree, about enabling employees to balance their lives better, reducing stress and work-life conflicts, and stimulating greater loyalty and motivation into the bargain. Auditing processes is not only a preparation for getting existing processes online to be available to people who may in future work remotely. One-third of non-manual employers report that stress is the most common cause of absence, and this can also be monitored to see if flexible working is having an impact in reducing it.
