Flexible arrival time to work part 2
A month ago, I wrote a short note about the time of arrival at work . She caused an unexpectedly great interest on the Internet. And even got to top30 on Yandex the most discussed topics in the blogosphere.
That note was written on pure emotions, without any statistical data or research, without examples, and it was written for ordinary IT specialists. And they liked this note most of all and collected a lot of comments here and here .
The vast majority of commentators in Habré agree that flexible schedules are what they dream of and how they would like to work. This is confirmed by statistical data: " 94% of workers would like to have a flexible work schedule; 78% of working Europeans are ready to change jobs in exchange for flexible working conditions ."
However, it is unlikely that the note could convince managers or owners of companies about something. They need a completely different article.
Now I will try to write an article that will be of interest to managers and managers of companies who, in fact, make decisions about the introduction of flexible work schedules. These people risk their money and are not ready for rash experiments.
I collected several studies and articles on this topic and they, frankly, surprised me.
For the head of any company, it is first and foremost important to see the pros and cons of any innovation, as well as positive examples of implementation in other firms.
In terms of readiness to implement new methodologies or technologies, all managers can be divided into 3 categories:
There are also techniques that allow you to combine the advantages of all these three types of leadership. For example, this is a technique for the early introduction of new methodologies on a small scale. If the company is large enough, you can try to introduce a new methodology in one of the departments for several months and only after that make a final decision. This method allows you to understand the pros and cons of a new methodology applied to a particular company and to do so fairly cheaply.
')
Returning to our topic: many IT managers are now afraid of introducing a free work schedule and behave in many ways, as they think, in scenario 2. But is this true? Did they miss the moment when option 2 turned into option 3?
There are several options for how to organize a flexible work schedule:
In this case, these options can intersect and be used simultaneously. For example, employees may work part time at home, and some at the office. Or work from home in case of illness.
Consider the pros and cons of introducing flexible working hours of employees:
Let's look at statistics and examples.
From the article Flexible timetable for effective management :
“According to research data, today, about 70% of US companies operate on a flexible schedule, and in the Old World, 48% of companies use certain alternative work time programs. The leaders here are the Scandinavian countries. "
From the article “Flexible” working time :
“For example, IBM has a 40-hour work week, but the real work time in the company's office is 50 hours. At the head office of the company - 6,4 thousand employees, some of whom work at certain hours, and some on flexible hours. As a result, those who work on a flexible schedule - complain less about fatigue, are ready to work more than 40 hours a week, and only 1/3 of them complained that there is no time for personal life. Those who worked on a strict schedule in the office, with 44 hours of work during the week, complained of great fatigue, and 1/2 of them spoke about the lack of time for personal life. ”
“One can, of course, argue, saying that flexible work hours provide negligent employees with ample opportunities to evade from their official duties. This is partly true, but experts argue that the relaxing effect of flexible working hours is very easy to nullify, if you do not forget two simple rules. The first is that the leadership of the team, in which the alternative work schedule is applied, must have a clear statement that the work tasks must be carried out efficiently and on time, regardless of the schedule for visiting the office. The second rule organically follows from this: company employees should be aware that the right to a flexible schedule is given to them as a privilege, which they can lose if they do not cope with their duties. ”
From the study :
“On a continent, where almost a third (31%) of the working population would, if possible, change jobs in order to have flexible working hours (if other factors are equal), the inability of companies to create conditions for flexible work of employees is becoming an increasingly serious risk factor.”
Finally, what Western successful companies are already giving employees flexible work hours?
I will name a few: Microsoft, IBM, Google, Sun. An example of the success of these companies can serve as proof of the effectiveness of this technique?
There are a lot of other examples of applying flexible work schedules in successful small firms or startups, but they do not speak so convincingly in favor of flexible work hours as the fact that software giants use it, which have a lot of opportunities and time to choose the most efficient work method.
And what about Russia? Here is an excellent study of Russian realities. Here are a couple of quotes (much more information on the link ):
“As shown by our previous study, 44% of employers consider being late for work as a serious violation of labor discipline.”
“Penalties for late employees are applied by 32% of employers.” Examples of fines: “A penalty for being 15 minutes late is 1 000 rubles”; "Fine. Two late arrivals in a month are forgiven, and for the 3rd - $ 50 "; “Fines by the minute”
“5% of managers consider the free schedule of work to be the most effective way of dealing with non-punctuality:“ Everyone plans their time themselves. The main thing is that the work was done on time. ”
This study allows us to conclude that the majority of Russian companies are not focused on the criteria of a job well done or job satisfaction, but still on the criteria of discipline and time spent at work.
At the same time, Russia lags far behind in IT and in order to simply catch up with the rest, it is necessary to actively apply the latest and best methodologies. Otherwise, the gap will only increase.
Flexible working hours are used by 70% of American companies and 48% of European ones - this is already VERY much. This means that this is not a new approach, but the mainstream.
This means that those who still do not apply it are no longer pragmatists, but conservatives. Simply, they still do not understand this or do not have enough information. I tried to give this information and I hope that it will get these people to think seriously.
You can come up with any number of arguments “against” or arguments about why this will not work in your company, but this will not change the statistics - the most successful companies in IT already use a free work schedule. And behind them stretched the rest.
And you?
That note was written on pure emotions, without any statistical data or research, without examples, and it was written for ordinary IT specialists. And they liked this note most of all and collected a lot of comments here and here .
The vast majority of commentators in Habré agree that flexible schedules are what they dream of and how they would like to work. This is confirmed by statistical data: " 94% of workers would like to have a flexible work schedule; 78% of working Europeans are ready to change jobs in exchange for flexible working conditions ."
However, it is unlikely that the note could convince managers or owners of companies about something. They need a completely different article.
Now I will try to write an article that will be of interest to managers and managers of companies who, in fact, make decisions about the introduction of flexible work schedules. These people risk their money and are not ready for rash experiments.
I collected several studies and articles on this topic and they, frankly, surprised me.
For the head of any company, it is first and foremost important to see the pros and cons of any innovation, as well as positive examples of implementation in other firms.
In terms of readiness to implement new methodologies or technologies, all managers can be divided into 3 categories:
- Someone is willing to take risks and be one of the first implementers of the new methodology. Such leaders may lose a lot, but they can also gain a lot. These are romantics or simply very rich companies that have enough resources for risk.
- Someone will work less effectively with the old method, but it will switch to a new one precisely when it will be clear that it works better. These are pragmatists - they do not always work efficiently, but the risks and losses are small.
- And someone will always be afraid of innovations and always work only on outdated methodologies. This is conservatives . Such leaders also have a place to be and they are even sometimes successful, but they are successful in spite of. With more effective methodologies, they would be much more successful.
There are also techniques that allow you to combine the advantages of all these three types of leadership. For example, this is a technique for the early introduction of new methodologies on a small scale. If the company is large enough, you can try to introduce a new methodology in one of the departments for several months and only after that make a final decision. This method allows you to understand the pros and cons of a new methodology applied to a particular company and to do so fairly cheaply.
')
Returning to our topic: many IT managers are now afraid of introducing a free work schedule and behave in many ways, as they think, in scenario 2. But is this true? Did they miss the moment when option 2 turned into option 3?
There are several options for how to organize a flexible work schedule:
- The employee independently plans his entire working day and arrives at the office for work not at the appointed hour, but when he is comfortable for himself, during the period of time that is stipulated in advance with the management.
- The employer sets a certain number of hours that must be worked during the day, week or month, and when an employee chooses to come and work himself. Often, an employer requires all employees at workplace at certain times, for example, from 12 to 16.
- The employee works at home completely remotely .
In this case, these options can intersect and be used simultaneously. For example, employees may work part time at home, and some at the office. Or work from home in case of illness.
Consider the pros and cons of introducing flexible working hours of employees:
Advantages of flexible working hours:
- With such a schedule, it becomes important, first of all, the result of the work, and not the time spent at work.
- The working relationship between the employee and the employer is built on trust. Team spirit above.
- Thanks to this schedule, the company becomes more attractive in the job market for applicants.
- Employees who live far from the office have the opportunity to work at home. In Europe, according to recruitment agencies, 85% of qualified personnel reject job offers due to its remoteness. Flexible work schedule makes it possible to agree to even very remote work.
- Employees working in this mode have more time left for family, friends, and hobbies. This is a big plus, because A happy employee works much better than an accident.
- This schedule is well suited for those who, according to their biological clock, work well in the evening or at night.
- Saving office space, and, as a result, rent for the office, utility bills, equipment.
- Transport problems are solved. Thanks to the alternative working time, the traffic density in large cities is reduced by 20-50%. Rush hours on the roads - from 8.00 to 11.00 and from 17.00 to 20.00, numerous traffic jams, finding a place to park provoke stress from employees. Choosing another time to work or work at home can solve this problem.
- Due to chronic lack of sleep and reprocessing, many diseases and syndromes occur - chronic fatigue syndrome, manager syndrome (aversion to work), apathy, etc. Flexible work schedule allows you to deal with this problem.
Cons of flexible working time:
- Such a flexible schedule is not suitable for everyone - because it requires an employee of great concentration, responsibility and self-control. In this case, you need to independently draw up a program of your actions according to the instructions of the company’s management, distribute work on time and have time to deliver it to the deadline. If an employee fails to coordinate his work independently, flexible working hours will not work for him.
- The company’s management needs to develop a system for monitoring the company's employees, which should be more demanding than when all employees work in the office, when they are in full view of management, as well as a system for recording working time for part-time employees in the office. It can cost a lot of money.
- With a completely remote work of employees, the IT department has a large load in connection with the modernization of computer work for the organization of remote access to internal networks. Security costs are also rising.
- If a part of the company’s employees work on a flexible schedule, and the rest on a strictly standardized schedule, this may entail in the second part some envy and ill-will towards the first, looser part of the employees.
Let's look at statistics and examples.
From the article Flexible timetable for effective management :
“According to research data, today, about 70% of US companies operate on a flexible schedule, and in the Old World, 48% of companies use certain alternative work time programs. The leaders here are the Scandinavian countries. "
From the article “Flexible” working time :
“For example, IBM has a 40-hour work week, but the real work time in the company's office is 50 hours. At the head office of the company - 6,4 thousand employees, some of whom work at certain hours, and some on flexible hours. As a result, those who work on a flexible schedule - complain less about fatigue, are ready to work more than 40 hours a week, and only 1/3 of them complained that there is no time for personal life. Those who worked on a strict schedule in the office, with 44 hours of work during the week, complained of great fatigue, and 1/2 of them spoke about the lack of time for personal life. ”
“One can, of course, argue, saying that flexible work hours provide negligent employees with ample opportunities to evade from their official duties. This is partly true, but experts argue that the relaxing effect of flexible working hours is very easy to nullify, if you do not forget two simple rules. The first is that the leadership of the team, in which the alternative work schedule is applied, must have a clear statement that the work tasks must be carried out efficiently and on time, regardless of the schedule for visiting the office. The second rule organically follows from this: company employees should be aware that the right to a flexible schedule is given to them as a privilege, which they can lose if they do not cope with their duties. ”
From the study :
“On a continent, where almost a third (31%) of the working population would, if possible, change jobs in order to have flexible working hours (if other factors are equal), the inability of companies to create conditions for flexible work of employees is becoming an increasingly serious risk factor.”
Finally, what Western successful companies are already giving employees flexible work hours?
I will name a few: Microsoft, IBM, Google, Sun. An example of the success of these companies can serve as proof of the effectiveness of this technique?
There are a lot of other examples of applying flexible work schedules in successful small firms or startups, but they do not speak so convincingly in favor of flexible work hours as the fact that software giants use it, which have a lot of opportunities and time to choose the most efficient work method.
And what about Russia? Here is an excellent study of Russian realities. Here are a couple of quotes (much more information on the link ):
“As shown by our previous study, 44% of employers consider being late for work as a serious violation of labor discipline.”
“Penalties for late employees are applied by 32% of employers.” Examples of fines: “A penalty for being 15 minutes late is 1 000 rubles”; "Fine. Two late arrivals in a month are forgiven, and for the 3rd - $ 50 "; “Fines by the minute”
“5% of managers consider the free schedule of work to be the most effective way of dealing with non-punctuality:“ Everyone plans their time themselves. The main thing is that the work was done on time. ”
This study allows us to conclude that the majority of Russian companies are not focused on the criteria of a job well done or job satisfaction, but still on the criteria of discipline and time spent at work.
At the same time, Russia lags far behind in IT and in order to simply catch up with the rest, it is necessary to actively apply the latest and best methodologies. Otherwise, the gap will only increase.
Flexible working hours are used by 70% of American companies and 48% of European ones - this is already VERY much. This means that this is not a new approach, but the mainstream.
This means that those who still do not apply it are no longer pragmatists, but conservatives. Simply, they still do not understand this or do not have enough information. I tried to give this information and I hope that it will get these people to think seriously.
You can come up with any number of arguments “against” or arguments about why this will not work in your company, but this will not change the statistics - the most successful companies in IT already use a free work schedule. And behind them stretched the rest.
And you?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/38175/
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