You have a final candidate in mind — she’s the right fit in terms of background, temperament and experience. You want to offer her a long-term contract…and then she mentions wanting a flexible schedule. How do you respond? Does this mean she won’t be available during the “regular” workday? How will this affect her relationship with other employees who work the standard hours? Is this her way of asking to work less? Before you stress, look at the benefits of allowing for more flexible work opportunities for your company and your team.
- Look at the statistics. As the millennials and Generation Z come into the workplace, they truly want to strive for more of a work-life balance. The emphasis is on that last word, balance. With all of our digital capacity, most of us are reachable at any time (think of the last time you misplaced your phone and the panic you felt thinking nobody could reach you/you would miss something). Making working hours more fluid, the average employee ensures that boundaries exist: Work time is work time and home time is home time. The numbers show that 37 percent of workers telecommuting a few days a week, and “85 percent of millennials would prefer to telecommute full time and seek flexible work options for more work-life balance.”
- Satisfied workers do a better job. When employees don’t constantly have to worry about juggling work and home, they can focus more on each. Plus allowing for flexibility builds trust and loyalty — many candidates will want to work for a company that allows for them to create a flexible schedule that works for everyone, and it may even help bring in top talent. Millennials in particular truly want to change the world for the better — and they can focus that passion when they’re not constantly struggling to make certain hours as set by a corporation. Plus it actually can allow them to better collaborate with others on the team, a method they work quite well with.
- Flexibility is itself flexible. This doesn’t mean you’ll have nobody in the office and a bunch of video conferences at all times. Instead, it can mean more part-time employees (which can lower costs for you) to handle certain aspects of the company, employees who work outside the 9-5 realm, allowing you to communicate with other coasts and countries more fluidly, and employees who still get the work done whether meeting with a client, on the road, or even sitting at a coffee house. It allows your company to adapt quickly to change and be fleet of foot during a time of constant change.
Work with the staffing professionals at PrideStaff Thousand Oaks to figure out the best flexible strategy for your particular company. By doing so, you’ll have more satisfied employees and a better bottom line.
