Get Your Boss To Say Yes To Flex Time
Update: Follow this link if you’re looking for a flex time proposal sample.
Personal Finance - Despite the years-old prediction that the Internet would greatly increase the number of people who used flex-time or worked from home, most American workers are still married to the concept of a 9-to-5 day. “Despite long commute times, problems with public transportation and the complaint that they don’t enjoy enough family time—any of the factors that can make flex-time more desirable—many Americans don’t explore this option,” says Peter Handal, President and CEO of Dale Carnegie Training.
Definition
Flextime is an alternative work arrangement that allows an employee to work a non-traditional schedule to meet personal needs, in contrast to traditional work arrangements requiring employees to work a standard 9am to 5pm day.
Under flextime, there is typically a core period of the day when employees are expected to be at work (for example, between 10 am and 4pm), and the rest of the working day is “flextime”, in which employees can choose when they work, subject to achieving total daily, weekly or monthly hours in the region of what the employer expects, and (of course) subject to the necessary work being done.
Why the interest
For employed moms and single parents, combining child rearing and work can be extremely stressful. Working an eight-hour-plus shift, rushing to the day-care center, figuring out what to buy for dinner, cooking, helping with homework, bathing the kids and doing a quick load of laundry somewhere in between can be more than anyone can handle in a day. Truth is, a growing percentage of the workforce is having trouble adapting to the combined needs of a demanding professional life and a busy personal life the result being a decrease in the quality of both work performance and home life.
Parents of young children need time to drop those kids off at school or day care. Employees with elderly parents need time to assist with their parents’ daily care or even drop them off at elder care facilities. And at the end of the day, pick-up obligations for both kids and parents again eat into the traditional nine to five workday.
And there are reasons that go beyond the traditional family care issues. For instance, some employees need time off to attend or teach classes; other workers have a second job. Many need to adjust their schedules to avoid serious, predictable and time-consuming traffic jams. And for others, working a nontraditional part-time schedule is a lifestyle choice.
What are the options?
There are several scenarios to consider:
Condensed workweek. If your standard week is 40 hours — typically broken into five days, eight hours per day — could you perform your position in four days at 10 hours per day? Even if this is possible just once or twice a month, bottom line is you get a free weekday to tend to personal and family needs or to run a side business.
Telecommuting. Can your position be performed from your home one or two days a week? This would require you to have — or your employer to provide — whatever equipment and supplies are needed for your job. This eliminates a commute and typically leads to increased productivity among already-motivated employees. If you’re easily distracted or you don’t have dedicated space at home to work from, this might not be a viable option.
Vacation by the hour. Even though it’s more difficult to keep track of time used, some employers are starting to allow workers to use their allotted vacation time by the hour instead of by the day. This enables working parents to attend school functions or doctor’s appointments without missing a full day of work. The benefit to employers is better productivity — more work gets done if an employee is present for part of the day than not at all.
Alternative work schedule. The federal government and many private employers allow some employees to select arrival and departure times that suit their personal needs within the working day. These employees are still putting in the same number of hours in the office as their peers, but they’re not necessarily the traditional 9 to 5
Access to concierge services. Many employers are offering benefits that help their employees to better manage career and home simultaneously. Among the concierge services offered: dinner-to-go via their on-site cafeterias to help parents who work a bit later avoid the rat race of getting home to cook for their families; help with dog walking, routine car maintenance, a fill-in at home who can wait for the cable guy to show up; and other tasks that would normally take you away from work during the week or away from kids on the weekend. One company worked out an arrangement with a local laundromat to provide laundry pickup on a specific day of the week and delivery on the next day.
Part-time work. Some women would gladly accept reduced pay and benefits to receive a reduced work schedule. Many companies will honor this arrangement for high achievers because it’s more cost-effective than losing them altogether. Some employers recognize that you already have the knowledge and training, which would enable you to achieve the same (or better) results on a part-time basis as someone else could on a full-time basis without the same training.
Job sharing. This is perhaps the most difficult of all scenarios to secure because it requires the moon and the stars to align in ways that aren’t always realistic. Even though some job-sharing relationships work successfully, the jury is out on the overall effectiveness of such arrangements.
Fixed overtime. Often employees are happy with their core hours, but the real killer comes when they’re asked to perform overtime, especially with little to no notice. The ability to determine how much — if any — overtime you’re expected to perform is another form of flexibility.
Spontaneous requests. Sometimes life can’t be planned. Doctors appointments must be made, an elderly parent needs your attention, a child’s teacher wants to see you, and so on — all with little to no notice. While employees must usually request time off well in advance, a boss who is willing to work with you on last-minute requests is also extending a form of flexibility. There’s great peace of mind in knowing you can ask for an hour or two off the day before you need it, not just weeks or months ahead of time.
Advantages
Flextime arrangements help parents: one parent works 10am-6pm and is in charge of the children before school/daycare, while the other parent works 7am-3pm and is in charge of the children after school/daycare. This allows them time to commute.
Flextime is also beneficial to workers pursuing an education.
On the flip side, for a company, the main reason is to retain key, dedicated employees whose personal needs conflict with traditional work hours. Offering flex time results in increased productivity and worker satisfaction, along with decreased absenteeism and turnover–all great money-savers!
Flextime helps create a happier, more satisfying workplace, too. Because employees are often so glad that their employers are willing to allow for a work-life time adjustment, they tend to work harder and in a more dedicated fashion to hold on to their now-perfect schedule and re-balance their lives.
Caveats
Flex time does have its disadvantages. The leading problems associated with it include
Issues with employee communication. Goals for any employee working flextime need to be clear, specific, and action-oriented so they can be measured at the end of the work period. You absolutely need to agree with your boss on the amount and actual scope of work. Your exact role in the company needs to be clearly defined. Each person–manager and employee–must know the expectations and responsibilities of self and others. Each person must also know exactly who does what and with whom and who is responsible to whom.
Complications for management. Under flextime the manager’s job can become more complex and involved. Flextime makes it harder to schedule work and more difficult to coordinate meetings; keeping track of worked hours is also more difficult. Furthermore, there are often periods during which supervision is lacking and there are occasional times when understaffing occurs (more on that later) or when employees need to interact with others who are not present.
Occasional understaffing. Your boss’s biggest concern will probably be that the office will be a ghost town on Fridays and Mondays, since many people may want a condensed work week and a long weekend. Similarly, he/she won’t want everyone leaving work early.
Concerns with abuse of the program. This happens most frequently in the form of reporting eight hours though working less.
Perception of employees unable to participate in flextime. Unfortunately, a co-worker’s flexible schedule will inevitably invite scrutiny from co-workers who don’t qualify or believe in the benefits of flex-time.
Where to find it
Companies with peak periods. In companies such as accounting firms or tourist businesses, employees can work many more than forty hours a week during the busy season(s), and then enjoy shorter weeks in the less-busy season(s)
Customer service positions. A company, if it chooses to implement flex time, can respond to calls from customers during more hours, if some people begin work prior to 9 a.m. and others stay later than 5 p.m. This works especially well if the company deals with customers in different time zones.
Contact your local chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and asking what companies in your neck of the woods offer flex packages-and how their employees rate them.
How to get your boss on board (at your current job)
First and foremost, it doesn’t matter how open-minded your employer is, if your job can’t be done off company premises or outside “normal” business hours, you don’t stand a chance of getting your boss to say yes to working flex time.
Timing is everything. As in, if you hear rumblings about layoffs, then obviously it’s not a good time. On the flip side, your annual review is an excellent time to broach the subject. And if the boss won’t give you the raise you want, suggest a flex work situation.
Be a strong performer on the job. Flex time is an accommodation, not an entitlement. Slackers and clock-watchers won’t get the benefit of the doubt. Good workers and solid, reliable producers are more likely to have requests approved. So your first step is asking yourself if your performance is truly outstanding. If it’s not, focus on improving it before asking for a special accommodation.
Research. Research other departments within your company. If someone else has had success with flexible work arrangements, it could help to persuade your boss to give it a shot too. The same is true for other employers in your area and in your industry. Those precedents can be very powerful in your favor.
Consider power in numbers, where appropriate. If other co-workers would benefit from a similar arrangement, join forces. There’s often great leverage in numbers if you work together on a proposal that benefits the department and the company.
Play devil’s advocate. Anticipate the reasons why a boss might say no, and offer counterarguments. Before you present the proposal, figure out what the opposition might be — and address it in the proposal. If you think the boss will be worried that you won’t be available for key meetings that might pop up, explain how you’d be willing to alter your schedule as needed to accommodate such needs. If you’re worried the boss will say, “If I do it for you, I must do it for everyone,” then remind him or her that a) not everyone wants to work at home — many are thrilled to get out every day and b) not every job can be done from home. The boss can offer other forms of flex to other staffers
Be positive. Don’t just walk into your boss’s office all fired up about how this is going to make your life easier. Your boss wants to know how it’s going to make his or her life easier. Show enthusiasm for your job and be clear about how flex time will improve your ability to do it. Be positive about your work. “I’m exhausted running from work to my kids’ daycare each day” is not a business case. Instead, explain how working from home will give you more time to devote to work and less stress because you aren’t sitting in a car for four hours a day. Be willing to compromise.
Suggest a trial. Offer to wade in slowly. Rather than ask to overhaul your entire schedule, suggest trying one or two days a week. Also suggest weighing how the arrangement’s working for you and your boss a few weeks or couple months down the line. The more comfortable you can make him with the idea, the greater your chances of sealing the deal.
Put it all in writing. Write a formal proposal that presents the benefits from your and your boss’s perspectives. Decide exactly what you want-a compressed workweek, an earlier start time, two telecommuting days a week? Then make a business case for it on paper. This is a serious change from the norm that you’re proposing; don’t ask for it casually. A written document is also great if your boss has to ask his boss about your request. You’d rather have your words passed up the chain of command. Many people I’ve worked with have learned this the hard way; their verbal, spur-of-the-moment requests were rejected because it was easy for the boss to say no.
Be patient. Even though we all love instant gratification, don’t expect an immediate answer. If your request is turned down, ask for feedback on why the idea was not accepted. Ask to establish a time frame for revisiting this — and then be ready to go back with gusto. If you’re rejected, ask if there are any particular concerns the boss has and see if you can help alleviate them. Work to see if there are compromises that can be reached. Ask for a time frame for revisiting the conversation.
Leave a Reply