Managing Flexible Work Arrangements

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic placed flexible work arrangements, especially remote work, in the spotlight. With many states issuing stay-at-home orders and allowing only essential businesses to keep their physical locations open, unprepared employers were forced to implement flexible work options on the fly. See Coronavirus Makes Work from Home the New Normal and Full Poll Results: Telework in the Time of COVID-19. As social distancing orders are lifted, and businesses reopen, employee requests for flexible hours and remote-work arrangements will be part of the new normal. Now that many employers have experienced how successful telecommuting can be for their organization or how work hours that differ from the normal 9-to-5 can be adopted without injury to productivity, offering flexible work arrangements have become more commonplace. Even in the absence of a pandemic, flexible work arrangements can improve recruitment and retention efforts, augment organizational diversity efforts, encourage ethical behavior, and help the organization's efforts to be socially responsible. Employers can experience cost savings, improved attendance and productivity, and an increase in employee engagement. See Leveraging Workplace Flexibility for Engagement and Productivity.