Soon the kids will be back to school, and workers will be faced with the increased challenge of finding a balance between home life, childcare, after-school activities, and work obligations. Many times this conflict of interests is a main source of employee frustration and lowered morale, eventually leading to attrition. As an employer, you are in a position to make this delicate balancing act a bit easier by offering your workers some much desired flexibility.
A recent national survey of 500 HR Managers, found that three quarters of employers surveyed are indeed offering some flexible schedule solutions to their teams. More and more, employers are finding that the need for at least some flexibility in scheduling is a basic requirement of employment, not simply a nice perk.
It will benefit you to find some ways to be accommodating this fall, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the productivity of your company or result in increased effort on the part of your managers to oversee any policy changes. Here are a few examples of what you might be able to offer. See which ones, if any, will work best for you.
- Offer reduced hours.
Many people will work extra hard during the week, or even come in an hour early Monday through Thursday to get tasks completed so they can leave early on Friday. This may end up saving you some money on your electric bill to keep the office cool on hot afternoons. It will certainly go a long way toward the collective group morale. - Offer telecommuting options.
Even if it is only one day a week, this option is very appealing to employees, allowing them one less day of childcare payments or savings on gas. You need to consider which job tasks lend themselves to telecommuting and which employees’ work ethics will match the task. - Schedule a company outing.
Use the opportunity to do team building activities, allowing everyone to enjoy each other away from the pressures of the office. - Consider job sharing.
If appropriate, coworkers can team up to make sure that each other’s job tasks are accomplished so they can alternate days off. This promotes teamwork while allowing employees the flexibility in their work life they really desire.
One thing to keep in mind, no matter which of these options you select, is that ground rules need to be very clearly spelled out to each worker so they know the expectations and what they may have in return. This will ensure that productivity remains intact, clients’ needs are being met, and your company benefits from your flexibility as do your employees.
These options all have one main focus: keeping your employees as happy as possible at work. Happy employees are productive and loyal, and more willing to go the extra mile for you when it is needed because they feel their needs are being met.
Making plans to manage your fall workload?
Let Helpmates’ Certified Staffing Professionals fill your needs for office personnel, accounting, healthcare, distribution, manufacturing, or HR professionals. Contact us today.
