By Adam Bajan

Workplace efficiency boils down to workplace productivity. However, as HR professionals know, keeping employees productive is a lot easier said than done. Perhaps the biggest reason for this is that everyone works at a different pace.

To put this another way, contrary to Dilbert cartoons or films such as Office Space, employees are not, in fact, mindless automatons who spend the entire 40-hour work week staring intensely at their computer screens, fingers darting across their keyboards at a furious pace only interrupted for caffeine refuelling.

In fact, studies have shown that employees can waste as much two hours per day on tasks completely unrelated to their daily duties. This runs the gamut from the standard talking or texting on the cell phone, all the way to leg shaving in employee bathrooms—or in a more humorous situation, the feeding of a pet bird that was smuggled into the office. Yes, apparently these things do happen.

In a more serious light, what this actually means is that out of an eight-hour work day, employees may be doing less than six hours of actual work. In an effort to combat this, the current trend overtaking the workplace is the implementation of a “flextime” policy which gives employees the freedom to work how and when they please. The benefits of this are obvious; flextime allows for a better work-life balance (of crucial importance to those with young children at home), less stressful commute to and from work (allowing employees to travel before and after rush hour if they choose), and more importantly, the ability to structure work responsibilities around one’s most productive times.

As HR professionals, how do you implement a flextime policy if your workplace doesn’t already have one?

1. Clear it with Management First: The first step with implementing a flextime policy is to get management on board. This can often be a difficult hurdle to overcome, especially when dealing with older companies with longstanding views on how a workplace should be structured. However, by showing them how a flextime policy will actually help accrue capital for the company by making employees more efficient, you should be able to win over even the most skeptical executive.

2. Draft a Policy: Once you have management on board, you’ll need to draft a flextime policy for employees and have it added to official corporate documents such as orientation packages, internal newsletters, etc… When putting the policy together, start by clearly stating what the objectives of implementing a flextime policy are and how employees are expected to utilize it. For example, employees will need to know that a flextime policy is in place to be used and not abused.

    
   Flextime exists to give employees the freedom to maximize their productivity output by scheduling their work week and day-to-day hours in a manner that suits them—but the point that needs to be stressed is that communication is key. This means ensuring that managers are made aware of any changes to employee scheduling, an aspect of flextime that becomes even more important with larger workforces. The more employees a company has, the harder it can be for HR to keep track of who is doing what at any given time. However, by enabling management to maximize employee output providing them with training in the form of continuing professional development workshops, you keep things rolling in a positive manner.

3. Implement—Go Time: Okay, so you’ve got a management-approved flextime policy in place—now comes the fun part of implementation. This is a lot easier said than done, and the most effective way to do this is from the top down. Start by briefing management on the ins-and-outs of the policy and have them review it their respective departments. You should ensure that announcements are also made through internal communication channels like e-newsletter blasts and message board postings. The trick with this is to ensure that you’re also broadcasting the nuances of the policy. You can’t realistically expect every single employee to take the time to sit and leaf through the document, but you can at least present them with an abbreviated version and and push it through that way.

4. Keep it Coming: Lastly, you’ve got to make sure that in addition to implementing a flextime policy, you also leverage it to get the most out of your employees. For instance, if management feels that a certain individual gets lethargic in the late afternoon, as an HR professional it might be a good idea to sit down with that person and see if you can’t get them to switch their hours so that they come in earlier and stay fresher throughout the day. Lastly, don’t forget to touch base with your employees throughout the rollout of a flextime policy. There’s bound to be some hiccups along the way, but as HR professionals you’ll know how to effectively navigate your way around them.

Adam Bajan is a researcher and writer contracted to Ashton College, an accredited post-secondary institution offering flexible education options for working professionals including a Human Resources diploma and a variety of professional development seminars.