The Pros and Cons of Flexible Work Schedules

The general trend followed by businesses is the nine to five work schedule. But many firms are now moving to flexible work timings for the advantages that come with them. These schedules give employees the freedom to manage their working hours the way they want, on the condition that they complete the designated work hours.

There are many ways to implement flex timings - through a compressed work week, or compressed work hours or through telecommuting, that is, they offer the freedom to work from home on some days. But are flexible work schedules justified? What are the advantages and disadvantages of offering this flexibility to the employees?

Points like these have been covered through the coming paragraphs...

Working people would definitely prefer flexibility in working hours as it gives them the advantage to manage work and personal life quite effectively. Say for example, you follow an eight hour daily work rule at your workplace. You want a day's leave. You can compensate the lost eight hours by working in the office for twelve hours straight for two days.

This is the flexibility you are entailed to get in flexible work hours. Some organizations also offer telecommuting, a bliss for working women. But this is not as easy as it seems to be, and, needs to be managed well by both employer and employee.

There are more pros of flexible work schedules than the cons, so, we have first covered the plus points from the perspectives of both employers and employees.

• Flexible work schedules work in favor of employees as they find it quite easy to find time for family and other activities of choice. The schedule of timings may differ from one organization to another but it definitely entails a person to decide on the day to take leave.

• It saves a lot of commuting time and fuel. This also benefits in case there is bad weather making commuting difficult.
• Employees don't feel bonded by schedule and this eventually promotes greater enthusiasm to work among them.

• Flexibility in work is the biggest advantage, there are many people who love working in the night and there are others who prefer working in the morning hours. The employee can schedule his work timings according to the set rules.

• A satisfied and happy employee is what any employer wants, and, this is what these schedules guarantee. It gives freedom to the employee to reap maximum benefit from them.
• With flexible working schedules there are less chances of employees remaining absent. These schedules work in favor of both the employers and employees.

• Flexibility in working hours works well for the image of the employer as they care and give freedom to their employees.

Another important point to note is that flexible work schedules indirectly encourage recruitment of skilled employees, as people would, but obviously would want to work in an organization that gives freedom to its employees. This is a factor that cannot be ignored.

There are also disadvantages of flex schedules, the biggest one being employees failing to give hundred percent at work. To take leave on a particular day, the employee will work hard for many hours on the previous or later days and this in turn hampers their work to a considerable extent.

This factor works against both the employer and the employee. There are many people who abuse the privilege of flexible timings to work less. Proper training and motivation to the employees will help to counter this factor. Many employees also cannot cope to work in the home atmosphere, with telecommuting, and end up giving low results.

A home's atmosphere is completely different from work, and if the person is married she will have to handle the household chores too.

At the end, if properly managed and not abused, flexible work schedules work in the favor of both employees and employers. The key here lies in finding the perfect balance and managing your time fruitfully.