A comfortable schedule brings in benefits for both the employees and the company. It allows businesses–large or small–to create a friendlier working environment for their workers, which eventually leads to increased productivity. That’s why company owners and managers should allow more schedule flexibility.
Changing working hours, compressed work week, or simply allowing your employees to work from home. Any of these methods of introducing more flexibility in your business’ schedule can bring you advantages in the long run. Here’s how:
You’ll Have Happier Employees
A flexible schedule gives employees more freedom to organize their working activities. This way, they find a work-life balance that keeps them happy and allows them to meet personal obligations and life responsibilities.
Why should you be interested in that? Because happy employees are up to 12% more productive–which is positive for any company. Happier workers are more efficient. They manage to focus on their tasks and to finish projects in time. Furthermore, they’re more motivated to improve their skills and to provide better results at work.
We’ve all heard about Google’s culture of success based on making its employees happy. It seems that their strategies have brought a 37% increase in productivity. Most likely, you don’t have the resources to invest in a playground for adults, free meals, or long maternity leaves, but you can be more flexible in terms of working hours and other things.
You’ll Improve Employee Retention
A hostile working environment is one of the main reasons why employees quit their jobs. On the other side, a flexible schedule makes people think twice before leaving their jobs for better offers for obvious reasons.
So, by allowing schedule flexibility, you’ll manage to reduce employee turnover. This also saves significant costs for your business. A company spends an estimated $3,500 to replace a worker who makes $8.00 per hour.
The study considers the costs with recruiting, hiring, and training together with the reduced productivity caused by frequent substitutions. Other studies have revealed that costs with replacing staff could be even higher, depending on the employee’s wage and level of experience.
Workplace flexibility reduces turnaround by increasing the level of job satisfaction among employees. Even more, workers will be more loyal and won’t consider changing their jobs, even if their lives change (after the birth of a child, for example).
You’ll Be Able to Recruit Better Employees
By allowing a more flexible working routine, you’ll also get to boost your recruiting activities. Many skilled candidates don’t even take in consideration companies with rigid working schedules–mostly parents.
81% of working parents believe that work-life balance is more important than salary. In this context, not offering them the possibility to work from home or to adapt their schedule means not having them at all.
On the other hand, schedule flexibility is a good method to attract specialists toward your company. Generally, they’re well-educated and have previous experience in working with flexible schedules. 79% of people who prefer flexibility have a college degree. Most of them are mid- or manager level professionals.
You’ll Reduce Absenteeism
When an employee can’t balance personal life with work activities, he or she will have to take a day off. Or more, depending on the problem – sickness, injuries, child or elder care, burnout. In fact, the lack of schedule flexibility is itself a cause for absenteeism. People who have to stick with rigid working hours are tired and deal with a wide range of health issues caused by stress–which could lead to social security disability and a court date.
On the other hand, employees who adapt their working hours to personal needs are healthier and more relaxed. This way, they manage to deal with working responsibilities even when they have personal problems. Absenteeism rates are lower and you won’t have to manage internal problems, such as replacing workers in the last moment.
Yet, you need to set clear rules, to create a smart workplace calendar that everybody respects. For example, business management software can help you keep track of personnel performances without forcing them to stay in the office from 9 to 5. Having a tool where employees can mark their progress allows them to work from home whenever they can’t arrive in the office.
You’ll Increase Employee Engagement
Only a third of American employees are engaged in their jobs and more than half would change job if they had a better offer. Employee engagement rates are growing, but we’re still far from an ideal situation in which the majority of employees are satisfied with their jobs and believe in what they do. Consider using automation tools to reduce boredom. Inventory software can better manage product that is or isn’t in stock. This is cost-effective and will reduce errors in stressful aspects of a job.
Flexibility is the top trend when it comes to make an impact on employees’ engagement. Better arrangements for working hours and the possibility to work from home make workers happier with their jobs. This way, they tend to align their values with the company’s values. You’ll see higher levels of performance, as you’ll become more flexible and you’ll create a healthier working environment for your staff.
Make Your Business Better
If you’re a business owner or manager, you should develop an efficient model to allow schedule flexibility. This way, your employees will be happier and healthier, both essential elements when looking to increase productivity. It can be a hard job at the beginning, but this investment pays off in the long run.
