A new report has highlighted that employees place particular value on professional flexibility, including the option of working from home, it has emerged.

The Hudson recruitment company polled 1,500 employees in New Zealand and found that for 22 per cent of people having flexible working options was the most important consideration in their professional life.

With this in mind, the recruitment firm suggests businesses and public sector organisations across the country should aim to develop their flexible working practices in the interest of staff retention, reports the New Zealand Herald.

"It’s about holding on to the organisation’s current and future stars – those who are a good fit with the organisation’s values," said Hudson’s executive general manager Marc Burrage.

A recent study carried out by Future Labs on behalf of Microsoft found that nearly 90 per cent of people in the UK would prefer not to work in the traditional office environment.