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Last week, we looked at the myriad of benefits that flexible schedules provide to employees. This week we will delve into some of the benefits for employers.
Today’s global marketplace operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
With all of the technological advancements within the last decade alone, consumers demand access to products, services, and customer support around the clock. Because of this, the traditional 9-5 work schedule is becoming inefficient at handling the wants and needs of the modern business’ customers.
Flexible schedules allow for employees to handle work tasks when they need to be handled.
What if one of your customers posts a scandalous tweet on your company’s page at 1 am? Unless there is someone that can handle conflict resolution immediately, there can be seriously damaging repercussions. When your employee arrives at the office at 9 am and gets done with their morning coffee run, more than 8 hours have already passed. Instead of one scandalous tweet tarnishing your company’s social reputation, there are now hundreds. This could have easily been avoided if your employee had the freedom to work when work needed to be done.
In addition to possibly saving your reputation, flexible schedules allow your employees to be more productive.
There have been numerous studies that show that productivity plummets around the 5-6 hour marks. Humans are not wired to be glued to a chair with their eyes on a screen for most of their waking hours. Breaks and short bursts of work have been shown to increase total productivity levels. Some employees are far more productive in the morning, while others may operate best in the evening. Imagine how much more can be accomplished if your employees could work when they are performing at their best.
Working remotely also allows employees to take care of their personal affairs. Because of this, when it comes time for work tasks, they can be fully focused on what they are doing instead of wondering when they might be able to fit in time to finally mop their floors. This option also takes away the need for a commute. By the time your employee arrives to start their work day, they may have already spent what would have been their most productive time of the day battling traffic. By eliminating this stressful, tedious, and often expensive part of the day, employees can put that energy into their duties and help your company succeed.
If you could allow the majority of your roles to work remotely, think about how much money you could save on office space, office furniture, and coffee. With all of those savings, you could re-invest in better products and experiences to make your customers happy.
Increasingly, employees want – and expect flexible work.
Rohit Singh, Director of Talent Management for MassMutual sees this as the new reality of work. In a recent interview, Rohit said, “The work that you do can spill over and the boundaries between personal and professional space will become less and less structured. Even today, the days that I work from home, I use my own technology to access our network but I am able to do my work as if I were in the office. Even our phones allow us to move over and access the same information. As an employee, I use multiple devices to get things done. For the employees, there needs to be an allowance of constant connectivity and the access of information at a click of a button. Look at the Uber app. You can click a button and you know when you will be picked up and who will be picking you up. It’s so constant and seamless. People are expecting the same things from the organizations that they work for.”
If you want engaged employees, to meet your customers where they are, and to save on overhead costs, consider adding flexible work to your organization.
This piece was originally published on More Than Resources.