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Workplace Trends: Flex-time
By
Dec 26, 2005, 21:44
A recent report on ABC World News Tonight brought to light a relatively new work place trend: flex time. The retail electronics chain Best Buy, the show reported, now allows more than 2,000 employees at its Minneapolis corporate headquarters to make their own hours and work from home when they choose.
The company calls it a Result Oriented Work Environment (ROWE) and since introducing the initiative two years ago, productivity has increased by more than 13 percent. Now, the company says, employees can get their jobs done and spend more time with their families by choosing the hours that they work. And flex-time is especially useful for families with two working parents that have traditionally experienced conflicts between home and work life.
According to the US Department of Labor, more than 27 million employees currently operate on flex-time schedules, and a 2005 Society for Human Resource Management study reports that 56 percent of companies offer flex time options to their employees. While it doesn’t work for everyone and every employment environment, when offered, nearly 70 percent of employees choose to work on a flex-time schedule.
What are some of the benefits for employers? According to a study by the Families and Work Institute, workers with flexible options—such as telecommuting from home or having alternate work hours—were more loyal to their companies, had increased productivity and enjoyed better mental health. Flex-time scheduling is highly cost effective for employers because the overall rate of employee productivity surges even though employees with flex-time work slightly fewer hours. Providing employees with flex-time options helps companies attract qualified employees who need work flexibility to take care of family matters. Further, since flex-time allows employees to schedule daytime hours to take care of doctors appointments and other personal matters, there are fewer unscheduled absences.
If you’re interested in implementing a flex-time program into your business, here are a few things to keep in mind:
1. Talk with managers and employees to make sure you can establish a flex-time policy without negative impact to you customers or bottom line.
2. Define your flex-time policy. For some companies, flex-time doesn't mean you can work whenever you want to. Most companies expect staff to identify working hours, while providing flexibility to change hours––with notice––as needed.
3. Consider the possibility of offering flexible schedules for full-time work, allowing employees to take a break in the late afternoon to be with their families, and finish their work from home in the evenings.
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