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Being offered flexible working hours that make it easier to create a better work/life balance is the key to keeping staff in all businesses happy, a new survey has found.

Research of more than 5,000 UK employees by One Poll, on behalf of online learning provider SkillSoft, found that 49 per cent of respondents cited office flexibility as among the most important factors in their work well-being.

The next most important factor to staying happy at the office was being able to build strong relationships with work colleagues, with 48.6 per cent of those surveyed citing 'Working with people I like' as important and 41 per cent rating 'Feeling liked by my colleagues' as vital.

'Employees clearly place great store in the quality of their relationships at work alongside work/life balance issues and the flexibility of their working day,' says Kay Baldwin-Evans, director of research at SkillSoft.

'Our survey shows that in order to create a contented workforce, organisations need to foster a friendly and supportive working environment; demonstrate to employees that they are valued; and promote a healthy work/life balance by finding ways to allow people more flexibility,' adds Ms Baldwin-Evans.

Other factors that featured highly in the poll include enjoying the work being done, being able to get time off at short notice if necessary and having a good relationship with company bosses.

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