Strain on your employer
Employers effectively take a gamble when they grant a flexible working request. For flexible arrangements to work there must be give and take on both sides. If not carefully managed, flexible working can lead to inefficiencies and a drop in quality and communication.
Whilst there are many benefits to implementing a flexible work schedule, there are also several challenges that you may encounter. These include communication and coordination, maintaining company culture, managing employee performance, and addressing employee isolation.
Loose muscles and ligaments permit more wear and tear on the joints than is safe. Hypermobility can lead to osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis.
According to a new ILO report, innovative working time arrangements, such as those introduced during the COVID-19 crisis, can bring benefits for economies, businesses and workers, including greater productivity and improved work-life balance.
Employees are more likely to be happier when they have more control over their work hours. Thus offering flexible working hours will encourage happiness. And happy employees drive better business growth and profitability.
Studies have shown that even the occasional use of flexible working arrangements significantly improves an employee's satisfaction with their workplace, making them more likely to remain with their current employer for longer.
Flextime
Most commonly, this means simply adjusting precisely when their daily working hours take place. So, for example, rather than working from 9 am to 5 pm each day, an employee may opt to work from 11 am to 7 pm on one day, and from 8 am to 4 pm on another.
Increased work-life balance: When given the opportunity to exercise flexible work options, employees are better able to meet their many obligations outside of work such as pursuing job training and education, caring for family members who need them and having the time to exercise and eat well.
Employees with flexible schedules may not have to commute to the office every day. This saves them money on commuting expenses, work clothing, and eating lunch out every day. Employers save money on their overhead costs. They can rent a smaller office and use less electricity and water.
Offering flexible working to employees can boost morale and improve their physical and mental well-being. When staff members work from home, they are likely to be less tired and better rested, reducing the risks of fatigue, burnout and stress that can be the result of a toxic workplace culture.
When you have too much flexibility (i.e. when you are too flexible for what your body can handle), your risk for injury skyrockets - because your ligaments are too lax and your body lacks enough strength to support your bodyweight / control the range of motion.
The advantages of a very flexible approach are that it may give a better fit for non-linear models and it decreases the bias. The disadvantages of a very flexible approach are that it requires estimating a greater number of parameters, it follows the noise too closely (overfit) and it increases the variance.
An inconvenient fixed work schedule or shift can lead to attrition or recruitment problems as some workers prefer having flexible work hours. The rigid work schedule can be restricting to some employees, especially during emergencies or other circumstances, affecting their motivation and productivity.
One of the most common barriers to flexible working is a lack of trust between the employer and their employees. However, employers may be surprised at just how productive workers can be when they're given the freedom to work remotely and tailor their working day around their family and social life.
Employees are more likely to be happier when they have more control over their work hours. Thus offering flexible working hours will encourage happiness. And happy employees drive better business growth and profitability.
Studies have shown that even the occasional use of flexible working arrangements significantly improves an employee's satisfaction with their workplace, making them more likely to remain with their current employer for longer.
Workplace flexibility has a major bearing on an employee's sense of well-being at work. Flexible scheduling, for example, reduces job-related stress by 20% and increases satisfaction by 62%. When workers feel satisfied and rewarded by their jobs, they're less likely to seek employment elsewhere.
Disadvantages of teamwork can include conflict between team members, difficulty in making decisions, and feelings of isolation from the rest of the company if you're not working closely with others on a daily basis.