How do we understand employees’ flexible working needs?

Ask employees about their working lives, including how they want to work and how they want changes introduced. The Frameworks surveyed its entire team, working with its strategists and operations director, to understand how colleagues' lives had changed and inform plans for communication and the future workplace. The approach gives employees a voice in shaping arrangements rather than treating communication as an announcement of decisions already made.

Establish transparent dialogue between leaders and employees, and listen across the business rather than assuming leaders already understand people's circumstances. A 2025 survey by CIPD found that, among employees in the United Kingdom, 30% would feel uncomfortable requesting formal flexible working, and 31% would feel uncomfortable requesting informal flexibility. Invite employees' views instead of relying only on requests they initiate.

Look beyond the majority preference to understand the different conditions employees need to work well. The Frameworks found that its team overwhelmingly preferred remote working, with the studio serving as a hub for creative collaboration and socialising. Some team members, however, saw the office as somewhere they could work without distraction and wanted to keep using it that way.

Read findings for differences in circumstances, not just the most popular answer. The Frameworks highlights living arrangements, caring for children and mental health as reasons why an arrangement that suits one employee may not suit another. Consider both personal and professional needs when interpreting requests for flexibility. A preference for home or the office can reflect where someone can concentrate, collaborate or manage competing responsibilities, rather than a shared expectation of what either location provides.

Keep checking needs as arrangements change by maintaining open communication and asking regularly what works and what does not. The Frameworks argues that employee involvement requires dialogue, empathy and a willingness to adjust working practices, not simply more communication from leadership.

In developing its flexible working approach, The Frameworks described plans to extend its use of a performance management and employee engagement platform for more regular feedback. It also planned guiding principles built around mutual trust: employees managing workloads and communicating honestly, and the business creating a workplace that supports everyone.

Use a continuing feedback loop to refine working practices as employees gain experience of different arrangements. Bring HR, operations, communications, leadership and employees into that process. The Frameworks treats flexible working as a collaborative responsibility, rather than a change that internal communications can deliver alone.