How Flex Is Your Time?

The longer I am responsible for my company, the more I have come to realize that unless you are verbal and concise about your expectations, employees will take advantage of opportunities to build their universe, and that expansion is often at company expense. I do not blame them, I want the same thing. Flex time, work schedules like (4) 10 hour days, Holiday bundling, work from home, all of these give people more flexibility to be with their families, hobbies, libraries, whatever it is that makes them happy. I want happy employees, because they very often do good work.

Young new employees have trouble with;

The job is primary, your professional goals are also primary. Your work schedule is secondary, which often includes time with your family.

That concept had started to fade, but is making a comeback. The correlation between work and success is reviving, I think because the economy has been so sluggish. I just don't continue to employ people who are not high performers. I start over with a new employee, and continue to grow, making the company more stable for all of us that make the job primary.

We have some flexibility on the schedule that an employee uses but expect consistency. Most office workers begin work at 8:30. It is OK it is more convenient for somebody to begin at 7:30 or 9:30 because of family engagements or commuting advantages. But it is the same time everyday for a long time. We don't accept weekly schedule changes...

As long as they work 40h a week (not just kill time at the office...), we are satisfied. Employees giving more of themselves when needed are rewarded with even more flexibility and advantages.

People who abuse are quickly replaced. We don't like people who don't pull their weight. We are a team and every member must contribute.

The success of the company is what makes our job security.

I have a fairly flexible schedule. I start at 5 AM most days and finish between 2 and 3 PM most days. I am able to work from home when I want assuming I do not have meetings with clients or others that I need to see in person. I do mostly technical work and have no interest in becoming a manager. I generally work 50+ hours a week and am able to charge most of it. I work for a very large engineering firm (50,000+ employees) so it is nice to have so much flexibility.

Three years ago I became a work at home and the truth is I work much harder that when I'm in the office! My wife don't bother me nay more than at the office (real emergences), my four grandkids say I ignore them, when I am concentrating, I just tune every thing out.

When I was in the office, I always had someone come by and BS now and again. Lunches ran over and we were late back to the office, etc.

When I am involved in a project, I often forget lunch entirely.

But is a hundred mile to the office and I can do almost everything from home.