In recent years, there has been this “on-again” and “off-again” business model to provide employees with more flexibility in their work schedules. Many companies of all sizes have experimented with telecommuting and virtual offices in the past. Some organizations continue to allow their employees the perks of these options, while others have either done away with or drastically scaled back in these areas.
Part of the problem, when a business offers a flexible work option, and then turns around and does away with it, is that it sends mixed messages to your employees. Your employees are not too keen to be told they can no longer work from home on the one afternoon they do not have a babysitter, or that you are doing away with a flex-time work arrangement, like 4/10s.
Unhappy workers are less productive, which translates to less work being performed and eventual impacts to your bottom line. Before you toss out your current flex-work options, take the time to discuss changes with your staff to develop an effective solution to keep everyone happy. You just might be surprised by the ideas and input your employees provide when working toward a mutually beneficial arrangement.
Flexibility and the Cloud
As the Cloud and virtual work environments continue to grow, businesses need to have an adaptive business work model. There is no reason why some of your employees might not be perfect candidates for a reduction in the number of hours they need to spend in the office. With these types of technologies, your employees can access the same information whether they are sitting in the office or at home.
For small businesses that are growing and which need to add new talent but have limited resources to hire employees, flexible work solutions are necessary. Some businesses opt for virtual receptionists and assistants through a qualified provider like us, here at Always Answer.
Other businesses choose from our other scalable options, to free up their employees for more important core business functions. Call us at 1-800-606-9898 for more information about our services and solutions that can help keep your business flexible!
