There must be something about the human being that appreciates a little flexibility, especially with regard to the workplace. This has recently been verified by a scientific study, too: workers who reported such flexibility also reported fewer illnesses and greater job commitment.

Joseph G. Grzywacz and Patrick R. Casey led the study at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He and his fellow researchers gathered data from 3,193 employees of a large, multi-national pharmaceutical company. They then analyzed the data to determine how increases or decreases in perceived flexibility were associated with a variety of factors.

Grzywacz and Casey discovered that an increase in perceived flexibility was negatively correlated with a decrease in sickness absences and work-related impairment. It was also positively correlated with improved job commitment.

The question almost begs itself: exactly how does one create flexibility? Grzywacz and Casey offered a couple of suggestions: one is to offer a variety of alternative work arrangements (E.g. part-time arrangements, remote arrangements and flextime options). Secondly, managers and supervisors may be trained to be more supportive of workers’ lives outside of the office.

Perhaps not going by the book all the time may be a good idea after all.