Moving to Flexible Work Weeks & Hours

There has been some recent discussion on US businesses looking at changing the current work week of 5X8 and considering 4X10 as well as flex time. Having been at the forefront of 4X10 work week (rolling that is) in the late "70's" this is one real consideration businesses should truly consider. It was ground breaking then not just because of the gas prices & traffic, but to speed up construction time on large projects.

Forward thinking HR leaders should be knocking down the doors of their CEOs and putting together demographic location information on their workforce, productivity assessments to move current businesses to a 4X10 work week and new flex time recommendations. This will have an effect on your workforce in three major areas:

1. retention, they will see that your company is thinking about them and the commutation hassles as well as the costs;
2. strengthens the relationship between manager and employee in flex time arrangements;
3. a recruitment tool especially in areas like Atlanta where traffic is a nightmare.

Now, this is not to say that 4X10 fits all businesses or departments within a business but is saying that if you want to be ahead of the curve and not get hit by the wave, you should be thinking seriously about changing your work week and having more flexible arrangements. Now for those in California and other states where overtime is defined in excess of 8 hours in a day this really becomes a financial exercise as well as a productivity exercise.

You in the real world dealing with recruitment, small annual increases, labor shortages (in some areas), as well as the cost of commuting, food, electric, and other staples, put your progressive hat on and start moving towards your CEO's office. You need to lead and think progressively.

Your thoughts on this very important subject are welcome.lease send your thoughts & comments to wgstevens2@gmail.com .