Employers Find Flexible Schedules Improve Company Performance
Companies offering employees flexible hours and compressed workweeks see flexibility not only as a reward of accommodation for workers, but also as a key management strategy that can have a positive impact on the company’s financial performance, a study conducted by Corporate Voices for Working Families (CVWF) concluded.
Based on surveys and interviews examining the effects of flexibility on business outcomes in 28 large American businesses—including Ernst & Young, Marriott, AstraZeneca, KPMG, Mellon, Sodexho, Deloitte, and IBM—the study identified several important ways in which flexibility can benefit both the employee and the employer.
Researchers found flexibility had a significant positive impact on talent management, especially in the retention of key employees. Internal research conducted by the companies involved in the study concluded that flexibility has saved them millions in turnover costs.
Deloitte, for example, calculated the cost of replacing employees who indicated they would have left the firm had flexible arrangements not been available. The turnover-related savings attributable to flexibility, the company concluded, amounted to an estimated $41.5 million in 2003 alone.
Internal organizational studies conducted by the companies also found significant improvements in human capital outcomes since flexible schedules were introduced. Employees given even a small measure of flexibility regarding when and where their work is done tend to be much more satisfied with their jobs.
An employee survey at JP Morgan found that employees with access to flexible schedules were much more likely to report overall satisfaction than those who were not granted flexibility. Similarly, a survey of AstraZeneca employees found that job commitment scores were 28% higher among those employees who indicated they had the flexibility they needed, compared with those who said they did not have sufficiently flexible schedules.
Assessments of the business impacts of flexibility on the companies studied concluded that flexibility is a driver of financial performance and productivity. It can also be correlated to increased revenue generation and stock price.
"We have found a continuum of flexibility where regardless of size or type of program, the results point to flexibility as a key management tool," said Donna Klein, president and CEO of CVWF. "The increasing use of flexibility mirrors changes in the global marketplace. To remain competitive, business leaders must deploy resources quickly to respond to marketplace changes. The rise in the use of formal and real-time flexibility enhances competitiveness by allowing business to deploy their workforce in the same way."
