Flexible staffing initiatives reduce payroll costs, but they don’t cut people. Implemented well, they allow a company to meet business objectives and save money, while allowing employees to keep jobs they might otherwise lose. Following are some flexible staffing examples:
Part-time hours: Employees are given the option of reducing their weekly hours. They remain regular employees, but their pay is prorated to reflect the hours they work. For example, an employee who works five six-hour days, instead of the traditional eight hours, gets paid at 75 percent salary. Managers and employees work together to establish complementary work schedules that ensure departmental coverage and achievement of work objectives.
Flex hours: When it is critical that all of a company’s employees work 40 hours to complete the workload, those 40 hours could be flexed over four, instead of five days, thereby reducing energy costs. This is a strategy that has been used successfully by a number of Connecticut municipalities looking to reduce energy consumption and related costs.
Contract Work: Hiring professional talent on a temporary basis works well for companies when money is tight but workload is increasing. It’s risky to hire new people when the future is uncertain, but a try-before- you-buy strategy protects employer and employee. Paying hourly (with no benefits) is not only less costly for the company, it also allows for precise coverage based on need. Moreover, once the economy recovers, a tested, trained employee is in place, ready to jump into full-time productive work.
Telecommuting: Second to payroll, office maintenance is the biggest expense for most companies. These include rent, heat and electricity. By setting up employees at home — where most already have the necessary computer and modem — the cost-saving potential is vast.
Some positions can be worked exclusively from home, others require face time in the office and most can allow for partial telecommuting. Companies should encourage interested employees to propose, in writing, how their work objectives can be met from home. Then, schedules can be arranged so that sections or floors of the office can be shut down periodically.
Employers who adopt a flexible staffing mentality may be surprised that many of their employees will jump at the chance to work flexibly. Parents of young, or school-aged, children are an obvious fit because flexible scheduling affords them a better balance between work and family.
The case is similar for employees with elder-care issues. In addition, those nearing retirement age are good candidates, as well as employees who have long commutes. Regardless the fit, most employees will enthusiastically support a flexible work initiative if it means saving jobs.
Saving jobs and reducing expenses are not the only benefits of flexible staffing, however. Studies show that flexible employees are more productive than their regular-time counterparts.
With more time off, they take care of personal business on their time, not their employers’. Employers report that because these employees have more control over their time, they suffer less burn-out, are more accepting of increased work hours in crisis periods and more willingly embrace special projects and extra work, when necessary.
Lastly, companies that offer flexible work policies inspire loyalty among their employees. Even those workers who do not desire flexibility will appreciate the boss’ attempt to save jobs and keep people by introducing flexible work options.
Given the down economy and the conflicting demands on business leaders, the case for creating a flexible workplace has never been more compelling.
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Susan Rietano Davey and Sue Glasspiegel are partners in Stamford- and Simsbury-based Flexible Resources Inc., a consulting and staffing firm that champions flexible work policies and practices.
