The days of the traditional 9-5 (or 8-5) schedules are long gone. Every employee wants to be able to control their calendar. For students or parents, they need their plans to be flexible to work around other aspects of their lives. The workforce at more organizations is now global, which means there’s an even greater need to shake up schedules. Here are some of the innovative options I have seen employed recently:
Flexible Schedule
Flexibility is the primary keyword most people look for in a job advertisement. Our lives are hectic and demanding, and rigid workplace schedules are the last thing we need. People want to be able to flex their hours, whether it’s to deal with childcare issues, avoid a commute, or fit other activities like school into their plan. Employers that don’t allow this type of flexibility will find their employees quitting in record numbers (especially knowledge workers).
Choose your Own Schedule
Choosing your own schedule is a recent concept that I have seen pop up in fast-food job descriptions. They say that employees can pick their schedule and their shift to work their job around their lives. When you must physically be at work, this approach can work well (at least when you can anticipate your shifting schedule). This won’t work for all industries, but it’s a powerful incentive for those who need this ability.
4-day Work Week
I have long been a proponent of a 4-day workweek. I sometimes feel like I live for three-day or extended holiday weekends. Working five days a week with few breaks is exhausting – I don’t care what your profession is. With this scheduling option, employees work for four 10-hour days and have Friday off (or another day of their choice). One of my clients has this option, and I am happy to see that many take advantage of it.
4.5-day Work Week
A slight modification of the 4-day workweek is the 4.5-day work week. In this scenario, employees work four 9-hour days and have a half-day on Friday. Half days on Fridays tend to be quiet, and it gives employees an opportunity to have some rare focus time and get actual work done. I like this option for people who want to work a little bit on Friday and ease into their weekends.
Coast-to-coast Employees
If your team has people working from coast to coast (for those in the U.S.), it’s vital to accommodate everyone. I’m in this situation right now, with people from Seattle, WA, to Maryland on the East Coast. To be considerate of everyone on the team, we established core working hours that don’t require people to work too early or too late in the day. Everyone appreciates this, and most of our meetings end up being in the middle of the day.
Global Workforce
Another more complicated situation is when your workforce is global. I have experienced this, and it’s hard to make everyone happy. People must be flexible and make concessions on when to meet; this might mean waking up super early for meetings if you have people in the U.K. or having late evening meetings if your team is in India. My current company flip-flops meeting times; everyone must give up some of their time to accommodate the larger group.
Summer Hours
Employers recognize that when the weather is beautiful, people don’t want to be cooped up in the office the whole week, and they want to get outside and enjoy life. Having special “Summer Hours” is like the 4.5-day work week, but it’s only allowed during the summer. Summer Hours often also include a dress code change (for those in offices) that allows for sandals and shorts.
Overlapping Hours
Related to having a coast-to-coast or global workforce is setting up overlapping hours. You just have an open audio- or video-conference line during working hours that overlap. People can join at their leisure, popping in and out, and the conversation can be casual or targeted. Less formal than having meetings with specific agendas, it’s a way to “connect” with others during times that work for everyone.
Part-time Employees
Many organizations prefer part-time workers because they don’t have to provide benefits such as health insurance. Other companies only want full-time people, but they’re missing an excellent opportunity. If someone wants to be employed but only work part-time due to other commitments (raising a family, volunteering, starting their own company, doing a hobby, etc.), you shouldn’t reject a candidate outright. You might be overlooking top talent that might have other interests and want to enjoy their lives rather than spend the whole time working.
Job Sharing
A job-sharing setup might work for people whose jobs are meant to be full-time, but employees don’t want to work full-time. I have seen this in action before. It’s unusual and requires excellent communication and coordination, but it can be successful. It involves being able to perform work and hand it off to someone else regularly. A job-sharing situation can be viable if you find two people with complementary skills and opposite scheduling needs.
Final Thoughts
If you want to keep a standard set of hours, there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you’re going to live your life to the fullest, you might want to consider asking if you can apply any of these scheduling ideas at your workplace. If your employer is willing, you might start a trend.
If you missed the first few blogs in this series on Innovative Employee Incentives in the age of COVID, check them out now:
- Innovative Employee Incentives in the age of COVID
- Incentive #1: Work Environment
- Incentive #2: Workspace & Tools
I know there are other work scheduling arrangements that I didn’t cover (mostly because I don’t have personal experience with them). If there are alternative schedules to consider that you think are worthwhile, though, please share your thoughts in the comments below. I would love to hear your ideas!