This week in HR, we look at a common theme in talent management – time on the clock and flexibility. I’m typing this from home.
My partner and I are shared by two Doberman Pinchers, Crystal, 7 yrs. old, 65 lbs. & Tabasco, 7 yrs. old, 85 lbs. Crystal, named after one Louisiana hot sauce, the greased-lightning black one. Tabasco, my caramel brownie boy with golden eyes (blue when he was bitty), named for the other state hot sauce. They’re beautiful, loyal, kind, cuddly, rambunctious, and even mischievous. We went out to my in-laws’ farm in Bush, LA, over the weekend and they bounded everywhere, chased the chickens, investigated the cows, and play-fought their cousin Catahoulas. Sunday evening, right before we were loading up, Tabasco came limping back to the car. There was no visible sign of a bite, cut, or sting (it was too cold for a snake, which are common near the Bogue Chitto River and swamps). For bed, we had to help him lie down and he screeched to bend his leg.
I hated leaving him the next morning for work. It gnawed on me to be away from him. So, I decided to work from home for the afternoon to care for him. I am free to do that, because the leaders at Crescent Payroll believe “life” isn’t an exception to the rule, “life” is the rule. Happy employees are those who don’t have a nagging fear that something outside of the office is falling apart. My work can be done from anywhere usually, with some exceptions; when sitting next to him in my home office, it’s a win-win. Of course, Crystal thinks of herself as the eternal priority…luckily, Tabasco is an easy-going brother.
So, I started thinking. Never to downplay the goodness of having generous and flexible managers, but why do we think of flexibility in the workplace as a benefit, especially for employees that are not billable by the hour or hands-on tradesmen? If life is this amorphic goo that constantly zigzags 9 to 5, is it rational to think that someone with a hurting pooch at home, sick family, scheduled home maintenance, doctor’s appointments, etc., could be incessantly effective at their desks? Don’t get me wrong, I deplore the advantage takers. It’s so diabolical to me because it erodes the trust system that is fundamental to flexibility in the workplace.
So, what’s the cost of flexibility? First, let’s disaggregate flexibility and absenteeism. The two are not at all the same thing, but absenteeism can be traced back to a LACK of flexibility. The CDC (for some reason they’re measuring this) estimates an annual cost of $1,685 per employee resulting from absenteeism. I would venture a guess that whatever the word for the opposite of Absenteeism is, it must be of equally negative impact to the bottom line with costs such as:
- Reduced productivity.
- Poor goods or services because of understaffing or overtime fatigue.
- Safety issues from inadequately trained employees.
- Poor morale from employees who had to do extra work, and manager’s spending excess time on discipline and finding replacements.
Let’s shift to the positive tangents of flexibility. Who is the progenitor of innovation? Necessity? What about in the workplace? It’s probably something closer to creativity and freedom, aka flexibility. Also known as flexible management that encourages employee expression, failure, and effort.
I could go on a bit, but I’m getting at a broader point. Flexibility in the workplace looks like empathic leadership, which is proven to increase engagement and productivity, which are almost always the key ingredients for retention. Strong retention lowers costs related to turnover, knowledge loss, etc. It’s all interconnected.
So, how do you create a culture of flexibility and preempt abuse?
- Write a policy that demonstrates your commitment to getting work done, meeting customer demands, and ensuring employee work/life balance. You don’t have to encourage folks to act indulgently but remind yourself of your purpose as a leader. Articulate flexibility mission. Tell employees how the company can help them find balance at your company:
- A procedure for requesting time off.
- Contingency plans for covering while the employee is out.
- Reference your data protection / company asset usage policies.
- Write telecommuting into how you do business. If you incorporate it into your culture, you’ll have folks who are more agile about it. They might even create dedicated spaces at their homes that help them be more productive.
- Always be clear on what the work is – a job description is a great starting point. A job is not just sitting at a desk in the office and acting busy.
- Days in and out of the office, almost like shifts – make it official.
- Consider a condensed work-week schedule or a flexible workday.
- Always acknowledge the work that is above and beyond what’s expected. Workers are happier when they’re acknowledged. Giving worker’s credibility and options is a good way of recognizing their contributions. Never forget that workers always remember going the extra mile and, if unacknowledged, they’ll remember it with regret and even resentment.
- Consider floating holidays as rewards for extraordinary employee contributions.
- Vacation in exchange for extra late nights or weekends.
- Remind employees of any programs you have for mental health assistance, such as your EAP.
- Acknowledge that stress these days is not just a possibility, it's an inevitability and that you care.
You may not know this, but the State of Louisiana has a leave law aimed at flexibility at work:
Small Necessities Law: All employers must give employees up to 16 hours of unpaid leave in any 12-month period to attend, observe, or participate in conferences or classroom activities relating to their children (in school or in day care), if those activities cannot be rescheduled outside of work.
There are lots of trends to systematize flexibility because employers haven’t done so proactively. The Biden Administration’s labor bureaus will be very active in the coming years, securing and enforcing worker rights. It can be hard to know how to lead in a way that employees need. And it’s ok not to have all the answers – sometimes the answer isn’t obvious. How you juggle as a leader is no small task. But those four suggestions above are a good start. Employers who get employee management right or close to right, win in the long run.