Employee Workplace Autonomy

 

Employee Workplace Autonomy

(Culturemonkey,2023)

 

Freedom in a workplace is a good sign for a great work place. Employees can do their works easily & leisurely in a time period. It doesn’t mean that they are getting to do personal works or the tasks which offered to them to do in own wish, rather than getting some extra spaces to do the works.

What is autonomy at work?

Autonomy at work is about giving employees more freedom, accountability, control, and choice in their working lives so that they - and you - can unlock their full productivity and potential. 

Despite the recent focus on flexible working, it’s about much more than that. It relates to how much authority employees have to make decisions and act without direct supervision. And it spans everything from where and how people choose to work, to what they work on, when they do it, and how they deliver.

It is characterized by trust in individuals’ abilities to do a great job without needing direct supervision at all times. Within agreed boundaries, people have the authority to make decisions, solve problems, and deliver their duties based on their own initiative and expertise. And often at their own preferred pace and place of work.

(Marks,2024)

(Zoho,2021)

Benefits of autonomy in the workplace

There are various compelling reasons why organizations should be fostering workplace autonomy. In this section, we’ve listed a few them. 

Advantages of workplace autonomy for employees:

• Increased happiness. Employees are 12% more likely to report being happy with their job when they have freedom and autonomy in their work environment.  
• Better work-life balance. People who have greater control over what they work on during a day (within parameters) are able to balance their work life with their personal life responsibilities.
• Increased well-being. Feeling trusted and supported by your manager and the organization coupled with the ability to operate autonomously decreases stress and increases people’s overall well-being.
• More time for creativity. In an environment that fosters job autonomy employees have more opportunities for creativity. Managers care more about the results than about monitoring their team every single minute of the day which gives employees space for creativity and intrapreneurship.  
• Increased job satisfaction. Autonomy in the workplace makes people feel more responsible, taken seriously, and valued. This, in turn, leads to higher levels of job satisfaction. 

Advantages of workplace autonomy for the organization:

• Employees are more engaged. Autonomy empowers people and empowered employees are more engaged.   
• Increased creativity and innovation. Employee autonomy enhances creativity and, by extension, leads to more innovation.  
• Better decision-making and improved customer service. Fostering autonomy in the workplace improves peoples’ decision-making skills. This, in turn, can positively impact the quality of the customer service your organization offers. 
• Better productivity and less turnover. Unsurprisingly, the benefits mentioned above lead to an increase in employee productivity, better overall morale and less turnover.

(Verlinden,2024)

Flexibility vs. Autonomy in the Modern Workforce

We are now fully entrenched in the age of workplace flexibility. The term “hybrid work schedule” dominates conversations (and hiring outcomes) between prospects and employers like it never has before. And for organizations looking to remain competitive, enabling and empowering employee autonomy will be the single most important catalyst of workplace flexibility and employee contentment.

New flexibility for a New Kind of Workplace

Workplace flexibility means ensuring workers can connect to the company network and get work done remotely via a mutually agreed upon schedule.

Flexibility is often not the goal for many employers who tend to want to control the workplace narrative. Furthermore, while flexibility is great, what employees appear to really want is autonomy. In this context, autonomy is when workers have the ability to decide how, where, and when they do their work with little to-no company oversight. This is a hot button debate in the tech recruiting industry.

The Relationship Between Autonomy and Flexibility

Working from both home and office, with a mandated number of days per week in the office, is fast becoming the most common work schedule model. It’s reinforced with a high level of advocacy by many large organizations like Adobe, Citigroup, American Airlines, and Google.

The easiest way to distinguish hybrid work models from one another is not just mandating where or when employees work, but by the amount of autonomy they’re given to decide this on their own.

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Autonomy Hierarchy Scenarios:

• Low autonomy, low flexibility:
  full time in-office mandate (increasingly less popular with employees)
  
  
• Low autonomy, medium flexibility:
  a mix of work from both the home and office, but the organization tells workers when to be where
  
  
• Medium autonomy, medium flexibility:
  workers can work from multiple locations, but with a minimum number of days required in the office
  
  
• Medium autonomy, high flexibility:
  employees can work remotely full time
  
  
• High autonomy, high flexibility:
  employees can work wherever, whenever, with full access to the organization’s office space

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Employees are generally more content when granted greater access to workplace flexibility. The same cannot be said for employees granted a low degree of autonomy by their organization.

Data shows employees want flexibility by way of autonomy and are likely to seek employment elsewhere to get it. Maximizing employee autonomy is becoming less of a workplace benefit and more of a necessity for employers to remain competitive and relevant.

(Dorazio,2022)

 

In the conclusion, Employee Freedom & Autonomy will bring a great work culture to every organization, rather than work flexibility or WFH. It will be highlighted to everyone to work more than expected. The productivity & profitability of an organization can go up, the growth of a company can enhancer through this way. Organization can be certified as “A Great Place To Work.”

 

Reference

Culturemonkey (2023) Employee Autonomy at work: The catalyst to effective employee engagement (Image). Available from https://www.culturemonkey.io/employee-engagement/employee-autonomy-at-work/ (Accessed on 11/04/2024)

Dorazio, V. (2022) Flexibility vs. Autonomy in the Modern Workforce, uprecruit.com (Online) Available at https://uprecruit.com/flexibility-vs-autonomy-in-the-modern-workforce/ (Accessed on 11/04/2024)

Marks, L. (2024), Autonomy at work: Why Freedom is More Valuable Than Flexibility, runn.io (Online) Available at https://www.runn.io/blog/autonomy-at-work#:~:text=Autonomy (Accessed on 11/04/2024)

Verlinden, N. (2024), 8 Practical Tips to Get Autonomy in the Workplace Right (+ How Buffer Succeed), aihr.com (Online) Available at https://www.aihr.com/blog/autonomy-in-the-workplace/ (Accessed on 11/04/2024)

Zoho (2021) Freedom and Autonomy at The Workplace (Video). Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=u1wsykh84qY (Accessed on 11/04/2024)