For employers, recent history can be divided into BC and AD - Before COVID and After Digitalisation.
During the pandemic, remote and flexible work wasn't an option - it was an obligation. By logging in digitally, many Kiwi workers realised that they could comfortably do their jobs outside of both the office and traditional work hours.
Some workers yearned for a return to the office. But most - 54% at the time of this 2025 survey - saw a combination of in-office and remote work as the ideal.
Which is why flexible working policies form a key way for an employer to retain its best workers.
Understanding flexible work arrangements
Flexible working policies allow employees to vary how, when or where they work. They're a way to grant your team members better work-life balance, they can enhance the productivity of your workforce, and they can help you to retain your best talent.
Definition and types of flexible work arrangements
What does it mean to work flexibly? Some examples of flexible employment agreements include:
Flexible hours: The ability to adjust start and finish times as required.
Compressed work weeks: Working longer hours over fewer days, e.g. 4x 10 hour workdays.
Part-time or reduced hours: Working fewer hours or days than the standard full-time 40-hour/5-day work week.
Job-sharing: One full-time role job shared between two (or more) employees.
Work from home: Working from home or combining home and office work in a hybrid arrangement.
Working remotely: Working from somewhere other than home or the place of work (e.g. as you travel, from a local co-working space, etc.)
Legal framework in New Zealand
Under the Employment Relations Act 2000, all employees in New Zealand have the right to request flexible working arrangements. That's not to say that the employer is obliged to grant those requests, just that every worker has the right to ask the question.
The legislation also requires employers to consider requests in good faith and approve or decline the request within one month. If a request is declined, that decision must be backed up by specific business reasons (e.g. concerns over quality of work, the cost of implementing the request, or an inability to reorganise work).
But rather than studying the fine print and fussing over terms and conditions, an organisation should frame flexible work policies not as an obligation, but as an opportunity. Let's take a look at why.
The link between flexibility and staff retention
Flexible work arrangements have become a cornerstone of employment strategies in New Zealand, particularly in the wake of COVID, which transformed the expectations of the modern worker in terms of how they could work and where they could work from.
The work flexibility that you offer is now one of the most important factors in your ability to recruit and retain the best workers.
Benefits of flexible work for employees
Flexible work offers a range of benefits for employees:
Improved work-life balance: Flexible work enhances an employee's ability to manage personal commitments.
Less commuting: The reduced need to travel allows a worker to save time and money.
Better mental health: More control over work patterns leads to less stress and reduced instances of burnout.
Increased job satisfaction: Greater levels of control and autonomy can make workers feel more fulfilled in their roles.
Greater productivity: Employees can work when they feel most focused and energised.
With a unique culture of employment, New Zealand businesses are perhaps more suited to flexible employment relationships than companies in a lot of other countries. With a strong emphasis placed on wellbeing and family life in NZ, local workers appreciate flexibility more than most, and local workplaces are perhaps more open to granting those requests when compared to the rest of the world.
Impact on employee satisfaction and loyalty
Flexible work arrangements are built on a foundation of trust. When you give employees more autonomy over their time, workplace and workload, you demonstrate your confidence in them to do the right thing. The best employees will repay that confidence with high quality work and loyalty.
This means that in New Zealand's competitive labour market, companies that support flexible work practices are more likely to retain top talent. They'll also avoid the surprisingly significant costs of staff turnover: according to a HR Industry Benchmark Report, in 2022 it took an average of 40 days to fill an open position, and the average cost to hire a new recruit was $23,860.
Implementing flexible work policies
The reasons for implementing flexible work policies are compelling. So how exactly do you do it?
Steps to develop and introduce flexible work arrangements
Flexible employment arrangements aren't just about satisfying employees - they need to work for the employer too. Here's how to craft your own set of flexible work policies that benefit your team while ensuring work quality and productivity are maintained or enhanced.
Assess organisational needs: Identify the roles and tasks that can be performed outside of the office or standard work hours without negatively impacting your business.
Consult with staff: Use surveys and meetings to understand what employees want from these flexible arrangements, and any concerns or reservations they might have.
Develop clear policies: Use the insights you've gathered to craft rules around your flexible work offerings, including eligibility, expectations, processes and boundaries.
Provide training and tools: Equip managers and staff with the knowledge, resources, technology and support they need to continue to deliver high quality work.
Pilot and review: Start with a trial period using trusted workers. Gather feedback, identify and manage risk, and adjust and optimise your approach based on your findings.
You should resolve to gradually expand your flexible working policy to as many employees as possible. The more workers enjoying the scheme, the more loyalty you'll earn.
Addressing challenges and ensuring fairness
Introducing a flexible work policy isn't an automatic home run. It can bring a range of challenges, including:
Maintaining morale and cohesion within your team: There's a lot to be said for casual chats around the water cooler. When a chunk of your team works remotely or outside of traditional work hours, they risk missing out on the important social side of work. Organising regular out-of-office catch-ups can help you to build familiarity and cohesion within disparate teams.
Managing the performance of remote workers: Trust is critical in flexible working arrangements, but you still need a level of control and oversight as an employer. You need to set clear expectations for remote workers, and track their progress towards those goals, potentially using remote management software. Regular check-ins and feedback sessions can help remote workers to stay accountable.
Ensuring fair and equitable access to the program: While the aim of your flexible work policy will be to retain your best workers, you need to apply it equitably. Craft fair policies and apply them consistently. Monitor for unintended bias by analysing which workers take up the offer for flexible work.
Case studies from New Zealand
What do flexible work policies look like in the wild? Let's review a few real-world examples of NZ employers who have implemented such policies, and the results they have driven.
Unilever and the four-day work week
The NZ offices of Unilever - the global brand behind supermarket staples like Dove, Rexona, Surf, Persil, TRESemmé, Continental and Streets - decided to conduct an experiment on the four-day work week. The plan was built around the concept of "100:80:100": a pilot group of 80 employees would retain 100% of their salaries, work 80% of the time, but remain committed to 100% of their five-day productivity.
The results were stunning:
Absenteeism dropped by 34%
Self-reported stress levels dropped by 33%
Feelings of strength and vigour at work increased by 15%
100% of stakeholders agreed that high quality work was completed on time
The vast majority of staff reported feeling engaged
Business revenue grew
The results were so compelling that the 12-month trial was extended to 18 months, and ultimately became a permanent fixture, with plans to expand the program to Australia.
EziBuy and work-life balance
While awareness of flexible work grew exponentially during COVID, it's far from a new phenomenon. Way back in 2006, EziBuy, then New Zealand's largest fashion and home catalogue company, worked with the Department of Labour to enhance its employment offering.
The company developed a range of flexible work policies, including:
Flexible start and finish times in some business areas
Allowing employees to use sick leave to look after family members
Setting shift times to work better for certain demographic groups, such as parents and students
Allowing contact centre staff to swap shifts
The pilot program was a huge success, more than meeting its goals of improving recruitment and retention and helping to manage overtime and workloads. Ultimately EziBuy went on to include work-life balance measures in its performance management program.
Measuring the impact on retention
To understand the effectiveness of the flexible work arrangements you implement, it’s essential to track their impact on staff retention. By keeping an eye on key performance indicators you can identify what’s working, what's not, and how enhancing work flexibility influences employee loyalty over time.
Key metrics to track
What are the most important numbers for measuring retention and informing your flexible work strategies? These indicators are a great place to start:
Turnover rate: The percentage of employees leaving the organisation over a given period.
Retention rate: The percentage of employees who stay with the organisation over a given period.
Employee satisfaction scores: A survey-captured measure of how content employees are with their roles and work conditions.
Engagement levels: A survey-captured measure of employees’ emotional commitment to and involvement in their work.
Absenteeism rates: The frequency and duration of unscheduled absences (which can point to underlying dissatisfaction or stress).
Internal mobility: The rate at which employees are internally promoted or voluntarily reassigned (which can point to positive career development and retention).
Continuous improvement strategies
No matter what insights you draw from your flexible working and retention KPIs, you should always look to do better. Here are a few key strategies for continuously improving your efforts:
Regularly review flexible work policies: Conduct a comprehensive review of your efforts once a year, to analyse the pros and cons of your current system, and potential enhancements to your flexible work offering.
Collect and act on employee feedback: Survey your employees regularly to read the room on your policies. Ask open-ended questions, and consider making these surveys anonymous to encourage honest and forthright responses.
Provide remote management training: It can be difficult to lead remote teams, so you need to arm your managers with the knowledge and tools they need to do so successfully.
Benchmark your retention data: Retention rates are far higher in some organisations than they are in others, e.g. a hospital vs a hospitality business. Benchmark your rates against the numbers for your industry to get a sense of how well you're doing.
Flexible work: a win-win for employers and employees alike
If you're looking to retain your best employees, offering flexible work arrangements is one of the most effective strategies at your disposal.
Offering flexibility can help employees feel appreciated and trusted. It can create a better work environment while also delivering a healthier work-life balance.
The benefits are just as impactful on the business side: it enhances your ability to keep your very best workers, while also potentially enhancing their productivity.
Offering flexible work isn't the right move for every organisation, and you need to consider whether it works for your business and employees. But as many NZ businesses have already found out, it's most certainly a policy worth pursuing.
Another effective way to increase employee retention: reward your staff with a range of perks. With the help of 1Team you can offer your team members savings from New Zealand's leading retailers – Torpedo7, Dulux, Pita Pit, Hirepool, Repco, Warehouse Stationery and more – all through an app tailored for your business.
