Work flexibility: what it is, how it works, and why it has become an HR priority

Work flexibility has become one of the main areas of conflict between companies and individuals. 

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Especially after the pandemic, many workers have made flexibility a priority, including when choosing a job. Today, rigid schedules, mandatory attendance, and standardized organizational models struggle to meet the needs of a workforce that demands greater autonomy, responsibility, and adaptability. 

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From a company's point of view, talking about flexibility means asking questions about how work is done, when and with what degree of autonomy, rather than where a time card is punched.

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At the same time, it also means recognizing the ability to self-manage, organize one's own time, and maintain high performance without constant supervision. 

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What is flexible working?

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From the perspective of companies and HR departments, we understand work flexibility to mean the ability to plan work in an adaptive manner, allowing for variations in the timing, methods, and organization of activities without compromising performance, coordination, and accountability. 

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Contrary to what one might think, this is not a single measure (such as smart working or flexible hours), but a set of organizational choices that redefine the relationship between individual autonomy and corporate objectives.

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Remaining on the subject of flexibility and meaning, it is useful to distinguish between organizational flexibility and individual flexibility:

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• The first concerns the company's structural decisions: hybrid working models, target systems, evaluation processes, policies on working hours and locations;
• The second concerns people's ability to manage autonomy, priorities, and responsibilities, adapting to less prescriptive and more results-oriented contexts. 

The two dimensions are interdependent: without a flexible organization, individual autonomy remains limited; without people capable of self-management, flexibility risks turning into disorder.

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This is precisely why flexibility must now be considered a genuine strategic lever that directly affects competitiveness. Consider that joint research by the Boston Consulting Group has highlighted the fact that fully flexible companies have recorded 1.7 times higher revenue growth than those based on rigid models in the period 2019–2024; even when comparing companies of the same size and in the same sector, the advantage remains, with growth rates 34% higher than competitors. 

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From this, we can deduce that flexibility, if designed and managed correctly, is now a business choice rather than a response to people's expectations.

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Flexible working hours

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Flexible working hours refer to the possibility of adjusting working hours according to operational and personal needs, without compromising the achievement of objectives.

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To give some concrete examples, we often find flexible working hours in companies, with flexible start and finish times, time bank systems, and shared attendance slots, within which the team's availability is required. 

With the help of these tools, you can move beyond the rigid eight-hour standard model and introduce greater flexibility into time management.

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An equally important aspect is the distinction between autonomy and availability. 

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Being flexible does not mean always being connected or available, but having the opportunity to organize your work responsibly. When this distinction is not clear, there is a risk that flexibility will turn into an informal extension of working hours, with negative effects on well-being and performance. On the contrary, when times, boundaries, and expectations are defined, flexible hours become a tool for empowerment rather than overload.

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Work flexibility: concrete examples

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Flexibility models take different forms depending on the sector and type of role. 

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In retail contexts, for example, flexibility often translates into dynamic shift planning, agreed schedule changes, and greater attention to balancing workloads and peak traffic times. In corporate offices, on the other hand, flexible hours, hybrid working, and goal-oriented organization are more common, with less control over physical presence.

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In knowledge worker roles , flexibility mainly concerns autonomy in managing activities, the possibility of concentrating work in highly productive time slots, and greater freedom in choosing the workplace. 

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These examples of flexible working show us that there is no single model that works for all organizations, but that flexibility must be tailored to the characteristics of the job, the skills of the people, and the business objectives.

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Work flexibility in Italy: what the law says

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In Italy, flexible working is not regulated by a single law, but has been developed over time through a series of legislative measures that have expanded the possibilities for adapting work to the needs of businesses and individuals. 

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Talking about flexible working and the law therefore means referring to a complex framework that combines contractual rules and areas of organizational autonomy.

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First of all, we can distinguish between two different levels, which are often confused with each other:

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• contractual flexibility, which concerns the forms of employment relationship provided for by law (type of contract, duration, working hours);
• Organizational flexibility, which concerns the way work is carried out within the company (working hours, operating methods, autonomy, objectives), often defined by internal agreements rather than legal obligations.
  
  

Over time, Italian lawmakers have introduced various measures to make the labor market more adaptable. Among the steps worth mentioning are:

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• In 1997, the first forms of temporary work and more flexible regulated collaborations were introduced, with the aim of combating unemployment and increasing employability.
• In 2003, the range of flexible contracts was expanded and the use of part-time work was facilitated, making it more compatible with organizational needs.
• In 2017, agile working was defined as a method based on objectives, autonomy, and equal rights compared to on-site working, marking a change in perspective on the relationship between time, place, and work performance.
  
  

Despite this regulatory framework, flexibility is still only partially applied in practice. 

According to data from Randstad Workmonitor, just over half of Italian workers can choose when or where to work. Furthermore, flexibility in working hours is more important than flexibility in the workplace: a significant proportion of workers say they would consider or reject an offer (or even leave a company) precisely because of a lack of flexibility in working hours and methods.

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This gap between regulations, company policies, and people's expectations shows that flexibility, although now recognized at the regulatory level, still requires concrete evolution in terms of organization and management.

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How to improve flexibility in your company

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If you work in HR and want to improve flexibility in your company, the first step is to design a sustainable system that brings together organizational and regulatory requirements with people's needs. 

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The challenge you will face is twofold: on the one hand, ensuring fairness, consistency, and compliance; on the other, making flexibility a concrete lever for engagement, well-being, and performance. In some cases, moreover, flexibility is not only an organizational choice but a responsibility required by law, which requires attention and structuring.

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Define clear rules, not exceptions

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Flexibility works when it is explicit and shared. 

If you establish poorly defined policies or leave them to the discretion of individual managers, you risk creating misalignment and perceptions of unfairness among team members.

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WHAT TO DO?

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• Define a common framework: clarify what forms of flexibility are available, for which roles, and under what conditions. Not everything has to be the same for everyone, but differences must be explicit and justified.
• Establish shared time boundaries: identify coordination slots, times when you are both available, and expected response times, to prevent flexibility from turning into constant availability.
• Reduce managers' individual discretion: establish clear guidelines and consistent application criteria so that flexibility does not depend on the personal style of the individual manager.
• Communicate rules and expectations transparently: make policies easily accessible and understandable, clarifying what is permitted and what is expected in terms of responsibilities and results.

Separate autonomy from availability

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One of the most common mistakes is confusing flexibility with constant availability. Improving flexibility means helping managers and teams distinguish between operational autonomy and availability, defining coordination periods and realistic expectations. 

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WHAT TO DO?

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• Define what it means to be autonomous: clarify which decisions people can make independently and which require alignment or approval, avoiding operational ambiguity.
• Establish shared availability rules: explicitly indicate when availability is required and when it is not, distinguishing between real emergencies and normal work coordination.
• Protect your offline time: introduce clear principles on respecting personal time to prevent flexibility from becoming a source of constant pressure.
• aligns managers on consistent behavior: supports managers in setting an example, avoiding requests outside working hours or implicit expectations of immediate responses.

Investing in managerial skills

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Flexibility cannot thrive without managers capable of guiding it. HR and Learning & Development certainly have a key role to play in training managers on objectives, feedback, trust, and results-based management. Without these skills, even the best policies risk remaining on paper.

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WHAT TO DO?

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• Shift the focus from control to results: help managers define clear, measurable, and shared objectives, reducing dependence on continuous monitoring of activities.
• Strengthen communication and feedback skills: Feedback is important for maintaining alignment, motivation, and a sense of direction.
• organizes training courses on managing hybrid and distributed teams: from practical tools for coordinating people who work at different times and in different ways, preventing isolation.
  
  

Integrating flexibility into HR processes

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To be sustainable, flexibility must be reflected in selection, evaluation, and development processes. Evaluating people solely on the basis of attendance or working hours is inconsistent with flexible models. 

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As an HR professional, you can boost this change by introducing metrics focused on results, contribution, and growth potential.

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WHAT TO DO?

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• Rethink selection in terms of autonomy and responsibility: from the outset, assess the ability to self-manage, organize work, and work toward objectives, in addition to technical skills.
• align evaluation systems with results: reduce the implicit weight of presence and hours worked in favor of indicators linked to contribution, quality of work, and impact on results;
• Integrate flexibility into development paths: design growth plans that take into account different ways of working, to encourage continuous learning and adaptability.
• Ensure consistency between policy and people experience: verify that what is communicated in terms of flexibility is actually experienced by people in HR processes, avoiding disconnects that undermine trust and engagement.

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Consider cases of regulatory compliance

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In some situations, flexibility is not optional. Italian legislation provides for forms of adaptation of working hours or working arrangements in specific cases (e.g., related to health protection, parenthood, or special conditions such as flexible working during maternity leave). 

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Your task, in this case, is to anticipate and manage these obligations in order to handle them in the best possible way within your organization.

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WHAT TO DO?

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• Know and anticipate regulatory obligations: ensure that everyone is up to date on the protections provided and the cases in which work adaptation is required, avoiding late or improvised interventions.
• Translate the obligation into a clear policy: integrate these cases into flexibility policies so that they are not handled as isolated exceptions but as part of a coherent system.
• Transform compliance into a lever for inclusion: managing cases of mandatory flexibility correctly strengthens trust, improves people's experience, and helps build a more equitable and sustainable organizational culture.

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Frequently asked questions about flexible working

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How does flexible working hours work?

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Flexible working hours allow you to adjust your working hours compared to the traditional fixed schedule. This can include flexible start and finish times, time banking, personalized schedules, or working to targets. To work properly, it requires clear boundaries: shared coordination times, defined expectations on results, and a clear distinction between autonomy and availability.

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What does operational flexibility mean?

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Operational flexibility refers to an organization's ability to adapt how work is done based on production needs and people. Operational flexibility includes the ability to reorganize activities, roles, priorities, and ways of collaborating without compromising continuity and performance. 

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What is meant by flexibility option?

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A flexibility option is a specific arrangement made available by the company to adapt work to individual or operational needs. It may relate to working hours, place of work, workloads, shifts, or the organization of activities. 

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What is meant by operational flexibility?

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Operational flexibility refers to the ability to quickly modify organizational structures, processes, and working methods in response to internal or market changes. It is an organizational skill that requires decision-making autonomy, effective coordination, and people who are able to work according to priorities and results rather than rigid instructions.

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Work flexibility: what are the advantages and disadvantages?

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Among the main advantages of flexible working are greater engagement, a better work-life balance, reduced stress, and a greater ability to attract and retain talent. Among the disadvantages, if poorly managed, are misalignment, overload, coordination difficulties, and perceptions of unfairness.

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