Time is Key to Employee Recruitment and Retention in Business and at Work

All you have to do is to decide what to do with the time given to you.

Gandalf the Grey, The Lord of the Rings

In my travels over the last few years, giving employees flexibility with their time continues to take priority on the list of what attracts and keeps employees working for their employer. Some of these best practices include, but are not limited to:

• Ability to work from home, either regularly or when weather / nature does not cooperate;
• Ability to work out of town / at client sites / remotely;
• Flexible arrival and departure times;
• Multiple schedules with multiple arrival and departure times;
• Unlimited Paid-Time Off (PTO) subject to business need;
• Use of videoconference technology in lieu of / as an adjunct to in-person meetings;
• Use of messaging applications like Slack;
• Use of shared work documents like Google Docs.

For many jobs, employers and industries, many items on the above list are not feasible, based on factors like supply-chain / manufacturing / construction schedules and working with clients / customers in person.

However, for those employers that do not require 100% customer-facing time and/or do not have the above in-person requirements, employee autonomy with regard to schedule flexibility may be the most valued benefit of all. And – ironically – schedule flexibility has the potential to be one of the lowest cost (if no-cost) benefits options available to employers.

How does your flexibility with regard to your employees’ time support recruitment and retention in business and at work?