Advantages of Flextime
Fleischmann says. "Her productivity was high and from a financial point of view, it costs Pfizer tens of thousands of dollars to replace someone at that level of sales," Fleischmann says. "It's downright painful to lose them."
In an effort to stem the turnover of productive salespeople like these, Pfizer recently began offering a limited number of its highest performers the opportunity to work shorter, more flexible hours. Flextime reps would work 60 percent of a full-time schedule, with several scheduling options to choose from. Their income would also be scaled back to 60 percent, but bonuses, awards, and health benefits would stay the same.” (9)
As one can see that if an effective flextime program would have been in place at Pfizer loosing valued employees such as this could be avoided. Not only does Pfizer face the task of hiring a new salesperson, but also must pay to train the new salesperson as stated in the example. Many employers have no idea that they have lost a valued employee because of an unfilled lack of flexibility. (8)
Flextime can also help attract the most talented of employees to work for a company. When employees see that a corporation cares about their personal lives and their well being then the company will be one that many people will want to work for. In fact according to the book 100 Best Companies to Work for in America, one of the top areas for improvement has been sensitivity to work and family issues. Many of the companies cited in the book showed major advancement in dealing with the problems of family care and flexible work schedules, offering such options as flextime (7). Flexible working hours are also more important than money to many new job seekers. Flexible working hours are more important than money for nearly a third of people looking for a new job, according to a recent survey. The online poll, carried out by recruitment website reed.co.uk with the Department of Trade & Industry's Work-Life Balance campaign, surveyed more than 4,000 job-seekers. They found that 68% of jobseekers would like the chance to work more flexible hours when necessary. 77% of parents with children under the age of six said that work/life balance is an important factor in deciding whether to apply for a new job, and 60%of workers view their work/life balance as an important factor in deciding whether to take a new job. Flextime is a major advantage to companies who are seeking new talented employees. (1)
In fact just having a flextime program in place also reduces stress on the job. “Most of those employees won't actually take advantage of flextime, but just knowing they can take advantage of it makes all the difference,” says Maria Bailey, founder of Blue Suit Mom .com, a work/life balance consultancy based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Having a flextime program gives a sense [next page]