Flexible Working: How Smart Managers Are Changing the Rules

Gone are the days when clocking in at 9 am and out at 5 pm was the universal sign of productivity. In 2025, smart managers know that effective leadership isn’t about seeing bums on seats, it’s about enabling performance through trust, flexibility, and clarity.

With flexible working becoming a day-one right in the UK, managers are now at the forefront of redefining how, when, and where work gets done. But it’s not just about complying with the law, it’s about working smart.

Compressed Hours: This type of flexible working enables employees to work their core hours across fewer days. The most common example is working four 10-hour days, as opposed to five 8-hour days.

Flexitime: Employees choose their start and end times. Some businesses include “core hours” (e.g. 10 am to 4 pm), while others are fully flexible as long as deliverables are met.

Hybrid Working: Hybrid working refers to employees combining work from home and office settings. Some companies mandate a specific number of days or even a set schedule for employees to be in the office, while others allow employees to choose their own work hours, unless they are required to be on-site for key activities (e.g., In-person training courses, client meetings).

Job Sharing: Two employees share the same job, dividing hours and responsibilities, offering full-time coverage with part-time flexibility.

Part-Time Working: Employees work less than the standard full-time hours. For example, 20 hours per week instead of 35 hours per week, which can be ideal for those with caring responsibilities, students or phased retirement.

Remote Working: Employees working from a location other than their usual workplace, such as their home, cafes, co-working hubs or even abroad.

While these flexible working models offer structure, smart working goes beyond contracts. It’s about enabling people to work when and where they perform best.

At its core, ‘working smart’ means enabling individuals to do their best work in a way that works for them. It’s about prioritising outcomes over hours, autonomy over micromanagement, and trust over control. But to truly embrace smart working, we must go beyond the surface of flexibility and understand the deeper factors that affect how people work best.

Circadian Rhythms

People have different energy peaks. Morning larks are sharpest at dawn, while night owls hit their stride later. Smart working enables individuals to align tasks with these rhythms. For example, allow a team member who’s most productive in the afternoon to start at 10:30 and work later, rather than forcing a 9 am start that results in sluggish performance.

Forcing everyone into the same rigid schedule doesn’t just limit performance—it ignores basic human biology. Smart working enables individuals to align their most demanding tasks with their natural energy cycles, ultimately producing higher-quality work and reducing the risk of burnout.

Neurodiversity in the Workplace

Just as important is the impact of neurodiversity in the workplace. Individuals with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and other neurological differences often thrive in environments where they can control sensory input, reduce distractions, or structure their day in a way that supports their unique strengths. For some, that might mean working from a quiet home office; for others, it could mean building regular breaks or movement into their routine. Smart working empowers all employees to work in ways that support their unique cognitive strengths, boosting inclusivity and output.

Smart managers don’t just react to these needs—they lead with curiosity and adaptability. They know flexibility isn’t a perk—it’s a performance strategy. With 97% of UK remote and hybrid workers wanting to maintain that setup, ignoring it risks damaging morale, retention, and long-term performance.

Far from being a logistical headache, smart working, rooted in flexibility, can significantly improve team performance and company resilience. Here’s why:

1. Increased Productivity

Employees trusted to manage their own schedules are often more focused and effective. Removing long commutes or tailoring hours to personal energy peaks can lead to deeper focus and better output.

2. Improved Retention and Attraction

Flexible working is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a dealbreaker. A 2024 report by CIPD revealed that 71% of UK employees would consider leaving their job if flexible working options were removed. Smart companies utilise flexible working to attract and retain top talent, particularly working parents, neurodivergent professionals, and individuals with caregiving responsibilities.

3. Recruit for Jobs That Are Hard to Fill

The greater the opportunities for flexible working that are provided, the wider your net when it comes to recruiting, making it easier to fill those specialist or under-resourced roles. 

4. Enhanced Employee Well-being

When employees are empowered to work around their energy peaks, family needs, or mental health rhythms, they experience reduced stress and burnout. Happier teams are more engaged, and engagement drives performance.

5. Improves Diversity and Inclusion

Flexible working is one of the most impactful ways to make your workplace accessible to a wider range of people, including those with disabilities or caring responsibilities.

6. Cost Savings

When flexible working options include remote and hybrid working arrangements, fewer people are in the office daily, resulting in lower overhead. Companies can downsize office space or reinvest in team development and culture-building instead.

It’s one thing to believe in flexible working. It’s another thing to make it work effectively. Here’s how smart managers lead the way:

1. Audit Role Suitability

Not every role is suited to full remote working, but most can benefit from some form of flexibility. Collaborate with your team to assess what’s possible rather than assuming what’s not, and then make the necessary changes.

2. Focus on Outcomes, Not Hours

Shift your mindset from hours worked to results delivered. Set clear goals and success metrics so that flexibility doesn’t mean ambiguity.

3. Create Guardrails, Not Red Tape

Develop a team-level flexible working agreement. Set expectations around availability (e.g. 11 am to 3 pm overlap), communication channels, and response times without micromanaging.

4. Equip Teams for Success

Ensure your team has the necessary tools to collaborate, including shared calendars, cloud-based task managers, and asynchronous communication platforms. Offer training on all digital tools used to support remote collaboration and keep workflows transparent.

5. Lead by Example

If managers are never offline, teams won’t feel safe logging off either. Role model healthy, flexible working habits that respect boundaries and promote balance. For example, if you’re sending emails out of hours, a note as part of your signature, such as “As someone who works flexibly, I may send you an email out of hours. Please rest assured that I don’t expect that you will read, respond to, or action this email outside of the hours that work for you. Thanks.” Can be extremely effective.

Yes, flexible working can challenge collaboration, consistency, and culture. But these are management issues, not flexibility failures.

You can’t “see” productivity, but you can measure it. With strong goal setting, communication structures, and trust-based relationships, hybrid and remote teams often outperform traditional ones. Smart working isn’t about absence—it’s about accountable autonomy.

As flexible working becomes the norm, managers aren’t just responding to a legal obligation; they’re rewriting the rules of work. Leaders who embrace this shift are not only compliant, they’re competitive.

Working smart is about more than flexibility; it’s about strategic empowerment. It’s about trusting your people, aligning them to meaningful goals, and enabling them to thrive, wherever and whenever they work best.

At Delphinium, we help people managers develop the skills and confidence to lead high-performing teams in flexible and hybrid environments. Whether you’re navigating a team restructure or rethinking how you lead remotely, our leadership workshops and coaching programmes can help. Get in touch to discover how we can help your team work smarter and lead smarter.