(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
Doha: Flexible working is becoming more acceptable to companies worldwide as the world still copes with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Even before COVID-19, flexible working was becoming increasingly acceptable to many organisations,” said Director of Lulu Group International Dr. Mohamed Althaf.
He was speaking in a session titled 'The Shape of the 21st Century Workplace: New Challenges, New Opportunities' held yesterday under Commonwealth trade & investment Summit 2021 (CTIS).
CTIS is a virtual Business-to-Government Commonwealth Summit hosted from London with participation from across the 54 member nations. The session was chaired by Chief Executive and Secretary-General of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, Dr. Joanna Newman.
Executive Chairman of London + Regional Properties, Ian Livingstone, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Enterprise and Innovation of Coventry University, Dr. Paul Noon participated in the session.
“Flexible working is a way of working that suits an employees' needs, for example having flexible start and finish times, or working from home. This was driven by workforce globalisation and technologies that allow us to do our jobs anytime, anywhere,” said Dr. Althaf.
He said the need to attract and retain top talent had been another factor that has pushed many organizations into offering more flexible working options.
“COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this transition. Lockdown restrictions around the world meant that those who could had to work from home this has created challenges, opportunities, and problems.”
Dr. Althaf said that the shift to a fully flexible working model forced by COVID-19 was so sudden that many organisations and employees were unprepared for it. As a result, he said, there are now several challenges to overcome to ensure this model works for all.
“Flexible work has been called 'the way of the future', but in retail, where face-to-face customer interactions are a big component of the job, a flexible work environment with the option to work remotely is often not an option,” he added.
He said that work-life balance may seem like one of the most significant benefits of flexible working, it can also be one of the greatest challenges. Dr. Althaf noted that the struggle to separate personal lives from work commitments and switch off at the end of the day leads to more stress and anxiety among some employees.
“I believe some part of the retail jobs will become flexible to perform remotely. Boom in online retail has made location less important than talent,” Dr. Althaf said.
He said instead of being on the shop floor as a sales representative, one can be an online personal shopper or an online customer service representative. If a company has adopted a modern IT infrastructure, employees can also work from home and analyze buying patterns or keep track of sales trends using real-time data.
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