Tweet

Flexible Working - Brave companies

Written by:

Article Overview: When is the right time to introduce Flexible working - many companies have different views. - this is just mine.

Flexible Working - Brave companies

Implementing flexible working in a recession - is the timing right? During the recession many clever companies have introduced flexible working as a way of avoiding redundancies. Instead of losing the employee they have looked at cutting the corporate overhead of having an office space for that employee and found that actually the saving by moving them to home working has enough of an impact to pay the salary of the individual for at least one year. Is now the time to introduce flexible working?

Flexible working ranges from 'flexitime' where an employee can choose how weekly or annual hours are worked (also called 'self-rostering'), through 'flexi hours' where an employee is allowed to come in and leave earlier or later, to 'flexiworking' which enables an employee to work overtime and then take that time off in lieu. Another approach to this is 'condensed hours' where an employee works the week's hours in just four days, taking the fifth day off.

There are many different variations of the above which accommodate the particular requirements of the employee and employer, such as 'shift working', 'staggered hours' and 'term-time working'.

At the next level employees may be given tasks to complete and not given any particular time to complete them in for example a sales role may be targeted on results and paid on results rather than on hours worked.

Some organisations have gone as far as allowing many of their staff working from home. BT has used this methodology to save money instead of ‘off shoring' their call centre's. Others are completely virtual using mainly a contracted workforce of freelance consultants and specialists. Many are a combination of all of the above.

There are benefits to employees when they are able to choose a more flexible work life as many of the day to day tasks we have to undertake (such as getting children to or from school or visiting the dentist) often need to be completed during the working day. Being able to have this flexibility leads to less stress for the employee and this in turn leads to higher productivity and loyalty as people remember trying to strike a balance when they did not have as much control.

People feel better about the work they are doing if they feel as though they are doing a good job, and, if your morning school-runs, for example, are very tight , having to start a day by apologising for being late can damage self esteem. If organisations are completely flexible then people within them are less likely to find it odd that someone is unable to commit to a 9am meeting.

As Directors it is our responsibility to ensure that we do all we can to reduce stress in our companies. We have the responsibility for ensuring our compliance with legislation around flexible working. This legislation would seem to have not been popular in the media but in most cases we are finding that organisations are directly benefiting from flexible working policies.

These companies are using flexible working as part of a wider strategy to enable them to connect with customers in a more modern way.

Some organisations see flexible working as a perk and are putting off implementations until they can afford to do it. These organisations may be making people redundant unnecessarily or delaying investment in marketing, networking, recruiting and training.

As a board of directors part of our role is to ensure we comply with legislation and to be responsible for our employees - our main role is to ensure the continuity and performance of the organisation that we lead. Flexible working allows us the opportunity to ensure all of our objectives are met. This must be done strategically and with proper thought. There is much help and guidance available and directors should look to those sources for information about how to create the right situation for their company.

Related Articles
  What Would You Do If You Were Brave?
  Top tips on how to manage flexible workers
  Confidence Deficiency?
  Negotiate a Flexible Work Schedule
  Flinching is for Sissies, Right?

Article Tags: call centre, clever companies, day tasks, dentist, fifth day, flexi hours, flexible work, flexible working, flexitime, freelance consultants, next level, office space, recession, self rostering, staggered hours, term time, time off in lieu, wor, workforce, working from home



Related Forum Posts
Re: What is Your Favorite Thing About Owning A Business? - [quote="freddyb45":1t3lpfi8]For me it's the fact that all the time and effort you put in is worth a lot more, due to it making you "business" more profitable. Working for yourself is also a positive, although employing people you can trust is quite different.[/quote:1t3lpfi8] I like this idea. Working for yourself means you are investing in your own future, not someone else's, although there is value in working for someone else first to gain experience and confidence. Working for yourself does not automatically mean success, fame and fortune. For most entrepreneurs, it takes much work and dedication to get to the point of financial success and comfort - sometimes years. But the benefit is, again, you know you are investing in yourself and building equity for your own future. GT :-]
Re: help wanted in u.k. - Working on it all, a new world to me cheers brendan
Work With Them and They'll Work! - I agree!! Working with your employees is a huge thing, and if you show them that you're willing to put the same work, the hours, and the raw effort into what you're doing as what they're doing, they'll soon respect you more. Evan -- I found that keeping someone on Elance.com more motivated to work is being motivated yourself. Stay upbeat about the project, and make an effort (Again I pull back to this) to be involved in the project. I know that for at least small companies, those who are working with you appreciate being involved and helping them, instead of just giving them details and dropping the project from your thought base. And with large projects, or projects on a strict time frame, try using a rewards system -- an extra $20-$50 if they get it in by such-and-such a time, or if they go over so many words, etc. Although it sounds almost degrading, if you're worried about time frames, it's really the best way to work, and motive who ever you hired to get it done. Hope this helps! Marie
Australian Computer Franchise looking to be taken Globally! - John I'd like to talk with you about your IT franchise project. I have a client that is looking for IT companies to support him. So, for the right companies, you would have business to offer to them from the start. Actually, in large metropolitan areas, it would be millions. Of course, I want to make sure that these companies are capable and reliable. I'd also like to learn more about your company. Alan Boyer alanboyer@leaders-perspective.com
Help to win smaller Business trust - Any company that has a phone switch and computers that tie back to a server. This is most medium to large companies. We have some large clients but I would like to have more but as I said before I need to find a way to get some face to face time with them to show them some pictures of work that we have done and to share with them some companies that we do work for. The companies that trust us now should help us win some of the smaller business's trust. Thanks


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

The Golden Rule of Communications

Email Marketing Made Easy #11 - Avoiding Spam

Soda Vending Machine = Energy Hog

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.