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HR Outsourcing News Roundup: Flexible Work Arrangements Edition
No CommentsThe typical workday of sitting in a cubicle and working from nine-to-five Monday through Friday is becoming less common as flexible work arrangements become more popular. Whether they involve working four ten-hour days, a full time remote work situation, or a hybrid of office time and home time, flexwork arrangements are becoming the standard for employees who increasingly seek to balance their work lives with personal and family commitments.
What is the effect of these arrangements on business? Does all this flexibility lead to happier and more productive employees — or is it just another trend?
To help you sort out the pros and cons, this week’s HR Outsourcing News Roundup brings you articles and blog posts with advice and information on various flexible work arrangements.
Workflex Likely to Expand Significantly, Though Not All Managers on Board. SHRM: “More than one-half of respondents said flexibility had a positive impact on attracting and retaining employees, turnover, absenteeism rates, productivity, quality of employees’ work, quality of employees’ personal lives, employee health, company culture, company public image, and employee morale and job satisfaction.”
Survey: Majority of Men Want Flexible Work. The Washington Post: “The How Men Flex survey also found that most men preferred a mix of working from home and the office. Men who worked remotely five days a week reported more stress than men with no flexibility in their schedules at all. A majority of these telecommuting men reported feeling isolated, that they could never get away from work, and that their commitment to the job was constantly called into question.”
The Work From Home Debate And The U.S. Patent Office Telecommuting Debacle. Forbes: “The remote-working-isn’t-working crowd seemed to gain more steam in August, when a House of Representatives committee launched an investigation into the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) telecommuting policies and found widespread abuse, including over-reporting of hours worked by the agency’s remote workers. What can we learn from the debacle? That all successful remote-working policies are only as strong as their corresponding performance management policies, said Lisa Horn, director of the Alexandria, Va.-based Society for Human Resource Management Workplace Flexibility Initiative (coincidentally, located just a stone’s throw from the USPTO).”
Look Who’s Using Flex Time Now. CNBC: “In a study of flex-time arrangements published earlier this year, researchers asked 650 people to read transcripts of what they said were conversations between a human resources official and an employee. Some of the conversations included requests for flexible work arrangements. Almost 70 percent of the readers said they would respond positively if a man were asking for flex time to care for children, compared with 57 percent who would approve such a request from a women. Some 15 percent of the readers also rated women making those requests as less committed to their jobs, but only 3 percent interpreted the men’s requests that way.”
Why The Smartest Companies Are Embracing Remote And Flexible Work Arrangements. Business 2 Community: “It’s no secret that a happy employee is a more productive one, too. Flexible working hours give employees the freedom to plan their own schedules. Since there are fewer chances of employers breathing down their necks, it gives them a sense of ownership of the job they have at hand. As a result, they are generally not only more creative, but also more productive.”
If you’re interested developing a flexible work arrangements policy for your organization, contact us. We’re here to help.
HR Solutions is a human resources outsourcing firm based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We eliminate human resources headaches for businesses with 10 to 1,000 employees by handling their payroll, employee benefits, regulatory compliance and other staffing needs. Contact us to learn how we can streamline your company’s human resources function to save money and reduce risk.
