The regular, nine to five workday is outdated. In todays environment, we need a more flexible workforce. Our customers and suppliers are global, and we operate in online, 24-hour environments. The “standard” workday is one of those ingrained rituals organisations across the world have come to love.
I’m not sure of the exact reason, but I suspect it relates to supervision and the fact that we still pay by the hour. When you pay by the hour, you’re tempted to track every minute of every day to make sure you get what you’ve paid for. So much time is expended on that type of tracking, and we need to find another way.
Today we see the line blurring between work life and home. life I think thats a great thing. They are, after all, one and the same. What if staff were paid a salary, and had no fixed working hours? Instead, staff must meet clearly defined performance objectives. How or when they do it is their responsibility. If your staff can meet the criteria, does it really matter if they do it during regular hours, or outside of those hours? Does it really even matter if they can meet the criteria working two hour days? I’d suggest not.
There are two problems with that type of scenario. Firstly, the most expensive six words in business – “That’s the way it’s always been”. Secondly, organisations lack the framework to have the type of performance plans and criteria in place.
Many benefits are available from completely flexible working hours. Perhaps the most vital to organisations is employee satisfaction. There are few things more pleasing to staff than the true ability to have such truly flexible arrangements.
Excellent post — not only has the environment for and idea of “business hours changed” but many of the employees can work more efficiently with flexible schedules that allow them to be more productive and less costly to the employer.