Workplace flexibility creates connections and enhances creative collaboration. Explore flextime to benefit both team members and leaders.
Integrating more flextime into the workplace is a must as the workforce adjusts to a more hybrid landscape. With increased flexibility in the way we work comes greater opportunities for innovation and improved employee interconnectedness.
According to statistics, 63% of employees believe flexibility is the key to feeling empowered in the workplace.
In this article, we’ll explore the power of flexibility in the workplace in the following topics:
- What is Flextime?
- Why Flexibility Matters
- The Creative Flex
- Options for Flextime
What is Flextime?
Flextime is an arrangement in which employees can alter their work day. Employees with flextime can adjust the time their work day begins or ends. In addition to giving employees more freedom to work outside the standard “9 – 5”, flextime is a favorable scheduling option for organizations experimenting with hybrid work offerings.
Greater flexibility in the workplace creates a more enjoyable and enthusiastic experience. With flextime, team members can do their work when they feel they perform at their best. While flextime doesn’t reduce the number of hours in a workweek, a flexible schedule allows employees to design their workday according to their needs. Successful flextime schedules meet both the needs of their employer and employee as this new schedule allows each team member to maximize their productivity and performance.
Ultimately, flextime acknowledges that an organization is more than the work that is done; it’s about how the work gets done. By allowing your team members to work in a way that meets their needs, you’ll encourage flexibility in the workplace and promote a greater work-life balance that allows them to do their best work yet.
Why Flexibility Matters
Flexibility plays a crucial role in the working world. As more businesses opt for hybrid and remote positions, allowing team members to redesign their workday encourages a sense of autonomy that can lead to improved performance. Flextime is a suitable option for team members seeking a new way of work depending on their unique circumstances.
Employers can improve employee satisfaction by focusing on flexibility by enhancing the overall employee experience. A workplace that allows members to center their needs and work accordingly promotes empathy. Organizations that align their values with their team members will build psychological safety, trust, and connectedness.
Though some may see granting flexible working hours as a “give and take” in the workplace, flextime is really about building relational capital. In honoring the needs of others, we deepen our connection with each other. With this dedication to connectedness, you’ll be able to build stronger, more passionate, and more motivated teams.
The Creative Flex
Flexibility goes beyond granting employees’ wishes to work an hour earlier or later. At its core, a flexible workplace fosters the most creativity. Organizations that encourage the greatest flexibility can redesign the way they work, reshape their destiny, and co-create their future. A company that is a safe space for flexible working, creative thinking, and innovative collaboration is the breeding ground for the best ideas and most productive work.
In deciding how flexibility fits in your company culture, consider the overall employee experience. Giving your team the most flexibility helps to build trust among employees and employers. Moreover, team members will feel as though they truly matter to the company and will choose to remain loyal members of the team.
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As you configure various flextime arrangements, consider the following advantages and things to consider when thinking of offering workplace flexibility:
Advantages:
- Boost productivity
- Reduce overhead costs
- Improve morale
- Aid in recruitment
- Increase retention
- Foster innovation
- Expand your talent pool
Things to consider when planning for flexwork:
- Blurring a work/life balance
- Procrastination
- Communication issues
- Isolation
- Different time zones and working hours
- Technical needs of employees
- Training initiatives for team members
In the world of hybrid and remote work, flextime offers a significant advantage: team members can get the most work done, wherever they may be. Promoting an asynchronous workforce gives distributed and hybrid workers the greatest opportunity to reach their objectives.
Remember, the goal of flextime is to encourage employees to do their work when they’re the most productive. Offering such flexibility in remote and hybrid teams effectively promotes positive performance, achieves team goals, and increases motivation and productivity.
Options for Flextime
Though there are a variety of work models that increase flexibility in the workplace, flextime focuses on adjusting one’s work day. While this type of flexibility is easily accommodated with one person, employers should make further considerations to accommodate flextime requests.
Consider the following options when approving flextime in your organization:
1.Job Sharing
Since flextime does not reduce the number of hours in the work week, job sharing allows two employees to enjoy a flexible schedule while working the same number of hours. With job sharing, two part-time employees split the hours of one full-time employee. This allows team members to maximize productivity by evenly splitting their roles and responsibilities.
2. Flexible Schedule
One of the best models for flextime is allowing team members to work during different hours. This can mean coming in at different times or working on an asynchronous schedule in a hybrid or remote team.
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3. Flexible Work Week
In a flexible workweek, team members can alternate the number of days they work in a week. This allows team members to take a few days off as needed or work consecutively to have multiple consecutive days off.
4. Comp Time
Offering employees flextime with comp time gives them the ability to work later and leave earlier or take days off to balance their hours.
5. Remote Work
Flextime through remote work allows team members the opportunity to work from home, a co-working space, or wherever they have a stable wi-fi connection.
Benefits of Flextime
The reality of flextime is that it benefits both the employer and the employee. In a successful flexible workplace, all parties realize their potential and enjoy the greatest returns.
Employees that take advantage of flextime in the workplace will benefit from the following
1.A Better Work-Life Balance
Flextime gives employees the chance to meet their personal needs without compromising their performance or productivity. With a flexible schedule, they can do their work anytime, anywhere.
2. Improved Health
With the freedom to enjoy increased flexibility in how one works, employees can properly care for their mental, physical, and spiritual health. Team members enjoy optimal health, they’ll be able to do their best work.
3. More Opportunities
As flexibility allows for greater innovation, team members with flexible work arrangements can take advantage of more opportunities. Employees with flextime can realize their full potential and make greater steps in their careers.
Create flexible workplaces to change the way your organization works. At Voltage Control, we help leaders build retention and strengthen employee experience through change! Contact us to learn more about how to make flextime work for your team.
