Work Schedule Flexibility

 The pandemic literally changed how we all view work. It increased the work-life balance by 43% of people surveyed by Qualtrics. We all know that the old-school mentality bosses are terrified that people will take advantage of this flexibility. However, there is this cool little thing called gift exchange theory that is responsible for 55% of people working more hours remotely than at the office. This is where people feel grateful for the gift of flexibility, so they feel obligated to work longer and harder for receiving it. They also want to keep their work schedule this way since they like it, so they work harder to prove that they can still get the same job done at home, maybe even better, then being at the office. We thought this little tid bit was useful and interesting. It seems like all sunshine and rainbows, right? Well, no, it’s not that simple. There are pros and cons to every situation and this one is no different. Let’s first talk about the pros for employees and employers.

Advantages for Employees:

1. Better work-life balance

   1. Self-care is easier (mental and physical)

   2. Pursue passions outside of work

2. Reduced commute/lowered carbon footprint

3. More control over schedule

   1. Work in the hours where you feel most productive

4. Child care isn’t a problem

5. Autonomy

Advantages for Employers:

1. Boosts employee morale

2. Build trust through employee autonomy

3. Lower turnover

   1. Recruit and retains better talent

   2. Positive brand image

   3. Employees will take fewer sick days

Disadvantages for employees:

1.     Work life and personal life boundaries are blurred

2.     Difficult to bond with other employees

3.     Disconnect between at home employees and in office staff

4.     Less structure

Disadvantages for employers:

1.     Some employees are not self-motivated without supervision

2.     Compressed work schedules decrease client availability

3.     Difficult to create a work culture

4.     Harder to arrange meetings

While there is no right or wrong way to approach flexible work scheduling, we believe that there are more positive results that come of it. Locomotive is a fully remote team that gets it done in many parts of the world. Our employees are happy, able to work on other things and they make sure that every job gets their maximum effort! This may not work for every company and we understand that so we hope that this list can help you decide if that style of business is right for you! 

Hybrid Work & the Freedom of Choice

We recently did a poll on LinkedIn to see how many people would prefer to be back in the office. Did they feel more productive there or working from home? The results showed that out of the 21 people that voted, 90% said that they prefer to work from home and feel they get more done. This is a hot topic right now since a lot of businesses are demanding that employees come back into the office full-time. What’s interesting is that the pandemic shifted employee mindset vastly into what social scientists are calling “The Great Reshuffle.” Workers now have a new “worth it” equation and 53% of employees are more likely to prioritize health and wellbeing over work than they were before the pandemic (Work Trend Index Report 2022). What is also interesting to note is that most of Gen Z and Millennials that entered the work force during the pandemic right out of college haven’t even been inside of an office yet and it seems they prefer it that way. 58% are considering a shift to hybrid work in the year ahead and 56% are considering to shift to fully remote (Work Trend Index Report 2022). As expected, management everywhere is under pressure to make the choice to either A.) lose employees if they require full-time in person employment. Or, B.) offer hybrid work options to entice people to stay. Josh Bersin, business analyst and adviser specializing in talent management and HR issues stated that, “Generally speaking, what most companies tell me is that working together comes easily and people really enjoyed being back together, as long as they don’t feel forced to show up when there’s no real reason to be present” (ADAGE). So, what it really boils down to is employees seem to not want to feel like their being (work) forced into coming to the office. Now, there are some benefits and draw backs of hybrid work systems. Let’s discuss the benefits first. Hybrid work allows employees to feel more power in their roles. This gives them the choice to decide when and why to come into the office. It also allows for more employee overall work-life balance and wellbeing. Being that Locomotive is a fully-remote agency, we understand the importance of both. Now, let’s talk about some drawbacks. Remote employees have fewer work friends and feel less included. The work cultures have taken a hit with fully remote work. Another draw back from remote and hybrid work is digital overload due to lack of structured hours and increased number of online meetings that would typically be done in person. With these few things in mind, there are solutions that can be determined in order to keep hybrid work environments thriving without suffering the disadvantages. Managers will have to take strong roles in creating new norms for the office. They will have to establish guidelines to see what works best for everyone. Here are some of our tips to making hybrid work, work. 

1.     For what reasons it will be important to come in?

2.     Create relationship building events for employees.

3.     Create quiet spaces at the location to promote productivity when employees are at the office.

4.     Reduce the time spent in meetings.

Managers and CEO’s must realize that employees have lives of their own. It’s easy to want to micromanage when they work from home but giving them the space, they need to do the work will give them the freedom to give it their best on their terms.