Australian management consultancy Nous Group has released a tool that helps organisations understand the financial benefits and costs of flexible workplace policies.

Felix: The Nous FlexiWork Savings Calculator uses a few key pieces of information about an organisation to understand what impact different types of flexible work arrangements are having on operating costs.

The first tool of its kind in Australia, employers can use Felix to make informed decisions about the use of flexible work arrangements from 10 categories: part-time work; purchased leave; unplanned leave; parental leave beyond statutory requirements; flexitime; compressed working weeks/hours; time in lieu; job sharing; flexible career management; and working from home/telecommuting.

To find out what flexible work will mean for their organisation, users need to enter details including the number of employees, salary expenditure, use of flexible work, staff turnover and number of managers. For more precision, employers can enter the results of a staff survey that captures attitudes and motivations.

The idea to develop Felix began when Nous was commissioned to help Victorian Government agency the Office for Women understand the impact of flexible work on organisations’ bottom lines. The results were significant: Nous found the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning was saving $31 million a year (2.25 per cent of net income), Mercy Health was saving $23 million per year (3.92 per cent of net income) and Wannon Water was saving $150,000 per year (0.21 per cent of net income).

Now, Nous has used that work to develop Felix so any organisation can do its own calculation.

Tim Orton, Managing Director of Nous Group, said: “Here at Nous we are proud of the flexible work practices we have put into place for our own team. We know people lead busy lives outside of work, caring for children and elders, studying, volunteering, or making the transition to retirement.

“For us, flexible work has been a critical part promoting an inclusive and equitable culture in Nous. Now, I’m pleased to say, it also contributes to a 4 per cent cost saving for the business each year. Felix has shown us that flexible work is a win-win for employers and employees.”

Tanya Smith, the Principal at Nous Group who led the team designing Felix, said: “Much of the debate surrounding flexible work is driven by anecdotes and personal experience. We thought it was important to take a rigorous and analytical approach to the issue.

“Felix calculates the benefits of flexible work in such areas as direct labour productivity, recruitment and retention. It then subtracts the costs involved, such as those associated with management burden and additional recruitment. The result lets organisations estimate the net impact of their flexible work policies.

“We hope organisations take the time to use the tool and would be pleased to assist either in doing the more detailed analysis or finding other ways to improve organisational performance.”

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