By Cara Whedbee, Ph.D.
When the economy is down, it is sometimes hard to keep employee morale up. So what low-cost options do you have to offer as an employer to keep your highly productive, loyal talent when you can’t necessarily offer them more money?
Presence vs. Production
A debate has been raging in the business and human resources world as of late over this concept: “Which is more important, that your employees work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or that your employees are productive?”
What do you think?
Are you so tied to the idea that your employees must put in the traditional time period of eight hours a day, five days a week that you cannot see any other viewpoint because that’s the way your business has always been run?
Or, are you open to another option that could keep your employees loyal and increase their morale, even if it means considering ideas that may buck the way things have always been done in order to increase your business’ productivity? If so, read on.
More Flexibility Can Equal Higher Morale
Alternative work schedules, which have become extremely popular in the last few years in the American workforce, are a low-cost option you can offer to your employees to help increase morale, as well as loyalty. There are several alternative work schedule options, including:
- Telecommuting;
- Compressed Work Weeks;
- Flextime and
- Remote Officing.
You can choose to offer any and/or all of these options to your employees. For example, you could offer each employee in a certain department the option to telecommute two days a week. Or you could offer a position that is highly specialized and hard to fill to an employee who lives on the other side of the country by utilizing the remote officing option. Compressed work weeks are great for those employees in service or manufacturing positions that require constant coverage. Flextime is a great way to “dip your toe in the water” of alternative work schedules by allowing employees the option of choosing when they come into work and when the leave, so long as they work a certain amount of hours and are in the office during a core time slot for your business day (e.g. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.).
Flexibility Can Lower Costs While Increasing Production
So you have chosen to offer your employees flexible work options—how can this decision help cut costs and increase production?
- The less time the employees have to be in the office, the lower your utility bills.
- The less office space you need, the lower your rent.
- The less office supplies you have to buy for employees to work in-house, the lower your operations budget.
- The less driving your employees have to do, the lower your travel/commuting reimbursement payments.
- The less time employees have to spend in the office, the less they need to take off for sick days, sick children, personal issues, etc. because they are home to deal with those things while still being able to get work done.
- The less time employees spend in the office, the fewer distractions and interruptions they face from co-workers and the more work they get done.
- The less time employees spend in the office, the lower the incidents of negative workplace politics they have to encounter, increasing their productivity and morale, as well as yours.
- The less time employees spend in the office, the fewer rewards they require from their employers to stay loyal and productive.
So You’ve Decided You Value Production Over Presence—Don’t Forget the Policy!
No matter which alternative work option or options you choose to offer to your employees to show them you value their production over the requirement for them to be at the office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., you need to develop a clear policy for those options. Some things to consider including in such a policy could be:
- A statement that the option you choose is available at your discretion as an employer and can be changed or removed as an option for any employee at any time.
- A trial period of at least 90 days to ensure the employee is able to be productive using the alternative work schedule option they have chosen. If you determine the employee is more productive in the office at the end of that trial period, then the employee needs to know that they will have to return to the office.
- A listing of the equipment the option the employee chooses will require and whether or not the company or the employee will be responsible for providing such equipment (e.g. laptop, BlackBerry, printer/fax machine/copier/scanner, additional phone line, etc.).
- A statement that if equipment is provided for the employee, the company owns that equipment and is free to monitor anything done using the equipment, as well as free to take possession of the equipment at any time for any reason (e.g. employee is fired, resigns, takes a leave of absence, etc.).
As has been mentioned, offering your employees the option of an alternative work schedule can not only save the company money, but it can also increase the morale, loyalty and productivity of your employees. No matter which option you choose to try, just try it and show your employees you value their production much more than the requirement of a traditional workday presence. This shift in philosophy could be worth more than you might think to you and your employees.
Legal Disclaimer
The information contained in this document is for general, informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice. This information is not a substitute for the guidance of a professional and should not be relied upon in reference to any specific situation without first seeking the advice of a qualified HR professional and/or legal counsel regarding applicable federal, state or local laws. HRTools, Insperity and their respective employees make no warranties, express or implied, and make no judgments regarding the accuracy of this content and/or its applicability to a specific situation. A reference or link to another website is not an endorsement of that site or service.