Flextime

Flexible work arrangements offer employees variable start and stop work times giving them the freedom and work life balance to accomplish various tasks as needed.

Goal

To take pressure off of employees and provide the “flexibility” they need to meet personal and professional goals.

What is Flextime?

Flextime, by its very nature, has no set time. It is a flexible schedule that allows employees to complete out-of-work tasks while still providing the time to finish work within set deadlines. It’s at the discretion of each business to decide if it wants to offer this type of arrangement, to whom, and what days and hours it's willing to let employees work. Flex time allows employees to customize their schedules within a certain range of hours and days.

How does Flextime improve employee engagement and culture?

Flextime arrangements improve overall employee job satisfaction. Because people juggle so many demands, giving them the personal space to do so will allow them to devote all their mental energy to their work, when they are at work. It is also a way to retain and attract employees to your company. People who want to be there, because of the benefits you offer, will necessarily be more engaged workers. Productivity and efficiency will naturally increase as people are more engaged and teams/goals/objectives work better and are more easily accomplished.

What are the benefits?

1. More engaged workers

2. Increased productivity

3. Less absenteeism and presenteeism

4. Attraction and retention of employees

5. An how inexpensive way to “reward” employees

How do you conduct Flextime in the workplace?

It is difficult to define a flextime work policy. The idea and execution will differ for each employee. If it is new to your office, attempt to incorporate it on certain days and alternate departments. For example, Fridays could be a flex day in one week and a different division might have flextime in the alternate week. Over time the days and choices will change. Consider also how telecommuting fits into the policy where people may work remotely so as to accomplish other tasks as well.

Action

Create and Implement a Flextime Plan

1. Create a plan: Without a plan HR may itself dealing with confusion, aggravated managers and missed deadlines for example.

2. Clarify expectations: It’s necessary for employees to fully understand what is expected of them in a flextime position. Work with managers to outline expectations and re-evaluate as needed.

3. HR communication: The HR team can interact with team members (disgruntled or otherwise) to ensure smooth operations and manage resentment. HR must outline how flextime can benefit the organization.

4. Formalize plan. Most companies have an employee handbook or package that describes company policy and expectations. Ensure flex time is explained in the handbook and everyone understand its parameters.

5. Conduct a trial period: Prior to companywide implementation, consider having a trial period with one smaller area of the company. Metrics can be to measure how it works and problems can be ironed out during this period.

Reference Material

How to Create and Manage an Effective Flexwork Policy