Flexible Scheduling

As large corporations are looking to downsize their companies in order to improve employee efficiency, companies should consider flexible scheduling strategies and job sharing to address issues of poor morale and high absenteeism and to enhance worker productivity. Some of the most popular flexible scheduling strategies employers have used to deviate from the rigid "9 to 5" workday include the following: flextime, compressed work weeks, job sharing, part-time work, and telecommuting.

Flextime is a program that allows employees to choose earlier or later starting and ending times, as long as they are at the office during a core period specified by the employer. This option affords employees the opportunity to tailor their workdays to suit their personal needs and household commitments.

Similarly, compressed work weeks allow employees to work 10 hours per day for 4 days. Compressed work weeks allow employers to reduce their operating expenses by reducing its actual hours of operation and provide employees with more leisure time to spend with their families and recharge.

Job sharing occurs when two people work on one job. This strategy appeals to employees because job sharers can work while fulfilling other obligations. Employers mutually benefit from having the skills of two people on one job, and typically at a lower total cost than a full-time employee would be paid.

Some employers allow employees seeking to slow down for a brief period of time to care for a new baby or to simply rejuvinate themselves to work part- or full-time from home. Other companies are also allowing employees to telecommute and work at home for a few days of the week by staying connected via computers and telephones. However, to ensure that telecommuters still feel like a strong member of the company, be sure to provide them with some imprinted stationary products and memo cubes to help them stay organized and remind them that they are missed at the office.

Flexible scheduling plans provide employees with more options and will increase job satisfaction, which, will lead to increases in productivity. Giving employees scheduling options provides them with one of the greatest employee incentives--time. It will let them know that you truly appreciate their work.