Flexible Work Scheduling: Options Beyond Layoffs

Introduction: Unemployment and the Search for Solutions

In the midst of an economic downturn that has been compared to the Great Depression of 1929, the United States' unemployment figures reached alarming levels. As the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported: "The unemployment rate rose from 9.8 to 10.2% in October, and nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline (−190,000). The largest job losses over the month were in construction, manufacturing, and retail trade" (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009). The ten percent mark seems high, but it had not yet matched the Great Depression peak of over twenty-five percent. Getting and maintaining employment was, obviously, a very important objective during this period.

Some management teams around the nation successfully implemented various solutions to the problem of high levels of layoffs and job elimination during this financial crisis. The underlying goal was to try new approaches that would keep workers employed while allowing companies to operate in a fiscally responsible way. Keeping people on the payroll even when new orders and productivity are down is no easy undertaking. The objective is to allow employees to fill all of the needs of the company as opposed to outsourcing those needs to outside vendors.

For example, one company in Boston featured on national news reported that it had its employees filling many new roles — mowing lawns, painting the warehouse, and performing minor clerical work — all of which had previously been outsourced. The organization's CEO explained that the company actually saved money because of reduced outsourcing costs. He also noted that employees were highly motivated and extremely grateful to remain on the payroll. Critically, this experiment was made possible because everyone across the board accepted a mandatory reduction in hours through four-day workweeks. This organization may or may not sustain this strategy long term, but the important point is that they were innovative enough to try.

This paper examines several flexible scheduling approaches that small, midsize, and Fortune 500 companies can consider as viable alternatives to forced job cuts while the nation works to regain its economic footing.

Flexible work programs are not used solely to save financially troubled companies. "In the U.S. specifically, the customary work ethic has always boasted long hours and face time at the office as essential ingredients of the recipe for success" (WorldatWork, 2005). In fact, these programs were quite popular even when the economy was booming. Their purpose is to provide both employees and employers with more flexible scheduling possibilities and options. These arrangements often produce win-win scenarios for management and employees alike, because there are so many additional ways to incorporate freedom and flexibility into how positions are staffed and how the organizational infrastructure is utilized.

Consider, for example, a desk, cubicle, or office being shared rather than a single employee occupying that workspace from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday while it sits unoccupied and unused for the remaining portions of each business day or on weekends. Some entrepreneurial businesses take this even further, using buildings in flexible settings where entire facilities can be utilized by different departments or entities at specific times, without any one group claiming a permanent stake in the building. This approach maximizes the use of the facility for overall organizational success. The computer industry has employed this type of platform approach ever since computing power was centralized in mainframe computers, meeting the needs of multiple users simultaneously.

What Are Flexible Work Programs?

Like the computing industry serving multiple users, flexible work scheduling programs allow employers to meet the varied needs of employees who either require or simply choose to introduce greater balance into their lives. These needs can include second jobs — as is common in the nursing industry, where 48-work/60-pay scheduling options allow nurses to work across two facilities with schedules that rarely overlap. Other considerations involve family obligations, such as caring for a child with a chronic illness or supporting an elderly relative in a hospice situation. Whatever the circumstance, employers who embrace flexible work arrangements recognize that employees have lives beyond the office — and that acknowledgment, ironically, makes companies more attractive to prospective hires.

Of course, critics of these arrangements do exist. Those opposed argue that while flexible work initiatives make meaningful strides in correcting long-misunderstood inequities in work-life balance, the programs are often not far-reaching enough, and poorly conceived or implemented plans can actually harm a company's growth potential. A relevant example appears in the Industrial Engineer journal in a discussion referencing General Motors:

"There is a surge in demand for a new sporty version of a popular existing family car that could in turn lead to a surge in demand for rear spoilers. If, however, the company had contracted for too few spoilers, then it would have to sell more basic vehicles than sporty vehicles. Some customers would be without their most desired product and substantial discounting could be required to sell what was actually produced. Conversely, lower demand for a product line or a whole class of products could lead to disproportionately large overcapacity problems for certain parts. This would result in losses due to contractual obligations, unnecessarily high upfront costs, and product discounting." (Research, 2009)

This example illustrates how flexible arrangements, when not properly planned, can create mismatches in supply-chain capacity that cost companies significant resources.

Benefits and Criticisms of Flexible Arrangements

There are many variations within the flexible work movement. The most well-known programs are offshoots of the foundational model: flextime. Flextime offers employees a wider range of potential hours and shifts — varying when a workday begins and when it ends — while always monitoring the most important variable: the total number of hours required by the employer to justify a full- or part-time schedule.

Flexible work arrangements can take many forms. Offshoots of the flextime model include telecommuting, job-sharing, compressed workweeks, shortened schedules, 24-hour building usage, and just-in-time employee arrangements. Each option addresses a different set of organizational and employee needs, and the best choice depends on the specific context of the company and its workforce.

There are many theories about how best to implement a flexible work program, but several common themes emerge. These principles may seem like standard operational procedures, but businesses too often jump on the bandwagon of whatever approach is currently popular without doing due diligence to ensure that a new methodology is the right fit. The foundation for implementing a flexible work environment involves five key steps:

1. Research

Research means different things to different organizations. One company may be primarily concerned that a new flex program will place an undue burden on its Human Resources or payroll department, while another may view a flex program as a potential security or technology challenge. Both concerns could be valid — or neither might apply. These issues need to be thoroughly researched and understood before a flex program is implemented. As WorldatWork (2005) noted:

Conclusion

Today's business world requires new approaches in a globally based economic environment. One solution to many problems is a flexible employment scheduling process like telecommuting, which continues to grow mainly because businesses aim to prosper while also improving the quality of life for their employees. As Kirrane (1994) observed: "Other familiar practices and benefits continue to contribute to flexibility and strengthened families as well, including employee assistance program referrals, seminars, and counseling; assistance and subsidies for work-related moves; and leaves and subsidies for education of employees and family members. Looking ahead, as more American workplaces and homes become networked electronically, it is to be expected that some of today's new-fangled arrangements will become familiar, too."