Flexibilitatea în muncă, un tipar permanent

The parents of the Millennial generation had a clearly defined work schedule in their offices. "Going to work" usually means arriving at the office at 9 o'clock, staying in the office for eight hours and leaving the office at 5 or 6 o'clock. We are talking about a fixed work schedule and a fixed place of work. .aditional way of working under the pressure of today's changes.

Basically, the "workplace" remained strictly in the office until the next day. The evenings and weekends were reserved for the private life of the individuals. The place of work was (at best) close to the employees' homes, as they would have to travel to the office every working day in order to perform their duties. There is no other way to access company data and information.

The concept of work has changed drastically in the last two decades due to the technological revolution.

Technology has revolutionized our attitudes toward work and also significantly shaped the work routines we build.

Company data and systems can be accessed from outside the offices.

The COVID pandemic has demonstrated the widespread feasibility of working outside the office for certain occupations. And not only in the private sector. This fact is also confirmed in our country by the Study on the opportunity to make more flexible the way and time of working in the Romanian Public Administration carried out by the National Institute of Administration (INA).

Companies need access to a global workforce to compensate for the limited resources available in the local labor market. Technology now allows them access to the global market.

The increase in traffic in the cities in recent years has meant that for the usual situations in which a work schedule starts at 9 o'clock, employees are forced to go to the office much earlier either to avoid traffic or because they spend a lot of time in traffic and there is no way to avoid it. Employees are stressed, late at the office and their productivity decreases.

Last but not least, a big change is the way in which the balance between professional and personal life and the allocation of time are taken into account. For example, as a result of the work at home during the COVID pandemic, many employees made significant changes in activities, capitalizing on the elimination of time spent in traffic and favoring regular activities with children and / or accompanying and caring for the elderly. These new habits established during the last 18 months are difficult to fight today.

A flexible work schedule can be a great way to help employees find the right work-life balance and, as a result, have high productivity at work.

The flexibility of the work program can be achieved in several aspects. We mention below some aspects recently adopted as common (and not exceptional) elements:

-  Temporal flexibility - at the level of the work schedule ("schedule") - newer existing in the Labor Code began to be increasingly implemented. Flexible work schedule - with the establishment of "core" hours between which all employees must be available, as well as unequal work schedule - a number of hours agreed over a period (week, month) and distributed according to the needs of the employer and employee availability

- Spatial flexibility - at the place of work. The options at the employer's premises and at the clients' premises were common. Telework - at the employee's home - is the option that is added as a permanent option (and not temporary during the pandemic)

The existence of a flexible work schedule (schedule), both when employees work from the office and from home, has no impact on their responsibilities, the individual objectives to be achieved or the agreed number of hours worked.

Here are some examples of flexible working schedules:

Project Manager with unequal work schedule, with 40 working hours per week, distributed as follows: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 10 hours, Wednesday day off;

Developer who works 3 days from home and 2 days from the company office;

Sales Manager who works daily between 10 am and 7 pm, in contrast to a regular work schedule between 8 am and 5 pm.

The benefits of flexible work schedules are perceived by both employees and employers. This is one of the main reasons why companies are moving towards flexible work schedules.

Job satisfaction

Employees are more likely to be efficient when they have more control over their working hours. Thus, offering flexible work schedules will encourage employee satisfaction, and happy employees lead to better profit growth and profitability.

Flexible work schedules also build a better relationship between employers and employees, so employees feel a sense of support from their managers. Last but not least, absenteeism and delays are reduced.

Productivity

Employee productivity can increase as employees work when and where they are most productive. For some, working at home may work late at night. While for others, it may work full-time remotely from another part of the world.

Loyalty of employees

Due to the professional satisfaction that flexible work schedules offer, employees are more likely to stay, even in difficult times, significantly reducing employee fluctuation.

Oraroo helps managers and HR officials manage all types of work schedules (work schedule, work location).

With Oraroo, you can set company-wide standard work schedules as well as customized flexible work schedules. Thus, the managers will know exactly what is the effort that must be made by each individual employee and the interval in which they will be in the office. In turn, employees can consult their work schedule and the availability of their teammates in real time.