A National Survey of Lithuanian Workers and Separate Sectors, conducted by WitMind®, involved over 3,300 employees from various fields. The results show that a flexible work schedule and remote work have become universal expectations among employees, with the exception of specialists over 60 years old, for whom it is not particularly important. For all other employees, flexible work is among the top three priorities, right after salary and financial incentives.
Moreover, a shorter workday or workweek is not yet a prominent need but is also among the top ten benefits important to employees.
The IT and finance sectors best meet employee expectations for a flexible work schedule in Lithuania. Companies in these sectors can be considered leaders in flexible work arrangements.
These findings from the WitMind® survey indicate that the ability of a company to allow employees to organize their own work time and decide where to work from is a significant factor in organizational competitiveness. However, not all companies are inclined to provide the desired flexibility. Some cannot do so due to the nature of their work, but many are held back by a more conservative approach to work organization or simple inertia and reluctance to change established practices. These companies may find it increasingly difficult to attract and retain market talent.
It is important to emphasize that employee productivity depends more on the company’s organizational culture and management principles than on the number of hours employees work from the office versus from home.
Trust and leadership are among the most important factors in this regard, and more organizations are choosing to engage and motivate employees by investing in management quality and leadership development.
Everyday leadership practices are crucial for organizational productivity and the development of trust-based relationships. Under flexible working conditions, clear agreements with employees are also very important. These agreements form the basis for evaluating results and help avoid misunderstandings and conflicts. When there is an agreement on what is expected of the employee at the company, function, and team levels, it creates conditions for working flexibly and productively.
WitMind® notes that working with a flexible schedule and remotely also requires addressing certain daily practical issues, such as defining remote meeting planning procedures, establishing effective feedback mechanisms, and avoiding proximity bias, where employees who spend more time in the office are automatically rated higher than those working remotely, regardless of their results. This is a kind of organizational hygiene that is important to meet employees’ flexibility expectations without harming productivity.
