3 Reasons Businesses Should Offer Flex Schedules

Think you deserve a flexible work schedule? Well, I agree! Make these three points when pitching the idea to your boss. 

Whatever the product or service, creativity is essential to every business. Innovative ideas allow businesses to distinguish themselves from competitors by providing a product or service that is unique, fulfilling their customers’ needs in a way that competitors cannot match or duplicate.  Much to the dismay of some (micro) managers, inspiration for these ideas may not occur during the traditional business day.

Allowing for a flex-schedule allows for creativity. If employees aren’t feeling inspired, they can sleep in the next day, take a walk, hit the gym or run some errands allowing their minds to relax so that they can have those critical Eureka moments. Once creativity strikes, employees will then be able to grind away at the idea until it’s completed, spurred on by the excitement of the new idea. Does it really matter that this work isn’t occurring exactly between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm? Chaining employees to their desks in windowless offices for eight hours won’t necessarily result in eight hours of work or ideas. More likely, employees will feel stifled and bored, leading them to peruse the Internet and check their phone. Rather than taking a break to clear their heads to allow for space for more ideas, they are simply distracting themselves until it’s time to go home. 

Allowing employees to get away from the cube is the best way to inspire creative thinking. 

Allowing employees to work on a flexible schedule will allow them to create a better work product in a more efficient manner. Employees who have the freedom to make work fit around their other obligations and interests are better able to focus on the task at hand. Instead of worrying about who is going pick their 5-year-old up from school or finishing as fast as possible to make it to the 6:00  pm yoga class, employees can devote their full mental and emotional attention to work, feeling assured that their personal commitments have been addressed. Employees are then better able to fulfill the objectives of their job in a meaningful way.

Additionally, employees with flexible schedules are more likely to be productive than those who are trapped at their desks until 5:00 pm. Employees who feel forbidden from leaving the office for an extended break may find themselves down an endless click-hole online. Reading article after article won’t give them the mental break that they need, leaving them feeling even more tired and unable to finish their work quickly and effectively. Conversely, employees who have the flexibility to go for a 3:00 run, may be away from their work for a couple of hours, but they will be refreshed and eager to  get back to work, thus increasing their productivity and work quality.   

Employees with flex schedules are less likely to be absent from work or quit, saving business big bucks. When employees are able make their work schedule fit their personal schedule, they will have fewer reasons to miss work and are less likely to burn out because of a draconian work schedule.

Flex schedules also make employees feel appreciated which increases employee morale and employee loyalty.