QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Q. Does your company offer flexible work hours? If so, what are the benefits and drawbacks of a family-friendly workplace?
We prefer the term “alternative schedules,” which means that a person may work fewer hours per week or on certain days, not that they work whenever they feel like it. The benefit to the company is to keep quality people happy so they stay with you longer and serve clients. The benefit to individuals is that they are able to focus on other things than going to work every day.
The drawback in a service business is that client business doesn’t stop just because people aren’t in the office. We manage that by using teams who back each other up, by checking e-mails and voice mail when outside the office.
The more people who want that schedule, the more challenging it is to plan.
– Wayne Pinnell, Haskell & White (certified public accounting), Irvine