St. Louis Business Journal
Building flexibility in your job

By Anna Navarro

October 2002 - Time flexibility is a perk many people crave. Whether it's to accommodate a jam-packed lifestyle or it's our penchant for personal freedom, flexible hours often top the list of "most wanted" job features.

The truth is that it works in some jobs and not in others. Bottom line, what employers care about is getting the job done. So your task is two fold; first to ask yourself if your job truly lends itself to a flex schedule. If the answer is yes, then figure out how it can be a win for you and your employer. If not, you may have to change jobs, even careers.

Solo, project-based endeavors lend themselves to flexible hours. For example, writing, or developing a computer program can be tackled on your own schedule. Your commitment is to deliver a completed product on time; how you get there is up to you.

Jobs that require a great deal of interaction will provide fewer opportunities to set your own work hours. Teaching, selling to other businesses, or doing one part of a production process that depends on others as well as yourself are hard to carry out on a schedule that varies.

Part of building flexibility into your work schedule is to clearly define what you really want. Do you need to work totally on your own time, creating a unique schedule every day? Can you work a fixed schedule, but need to do your work outside the traditional 9-5 day? Do you need the option to alter your working hours occasionally because of other commitments, with the understanding that you will make up the time? Defining what you need could help you get what you want.

Bert was an actuary who worked a 50-hour week during traditional hours. He liked his job for an insurance company, but he came to see me because he wanted more flexibility. He and his wife, who also had a full-time office based job, had decided to home school their son. Between the two parents they needed more daytime hours free.

When Bert approached his boss about the idea of working a flexible schedule, he was refused the opportunity. The reason given was that Bert needed to be available fulltime to respond to the requests of others in the office for actuarial input. Bert was the only actuary in the company so his co-workers depended on the information he provided. It wasn't that his boss was unreasonable, but rather that Bert's request for flex hours would impact workflow in the office. Bert realized that if he hoped to accomplish his goal of more time at home during the work day, he would probably need to be in a larger organization where there were several actuaries.

Bert started job hunting. But he did not mention his desire for a flexible schedule in the early stages of seeking new employment. When the right offer came along from a company he respected, he was up front about his needs.

At first the prospective boss didn't like the idea, but Bert was prepared to demonstrate that this would actually benefit his employer as well. By coming in two and a half hours later than the other actuaries and then extending his workday into the evening, Bert could make actuarial input available to the company's California branches. Bert's proposed 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. hours made good business sense to his new boss. Bert also pledged to work 60-hour weeks if necessary during several periods when the workload would be predictably heavy. That last offer was also attractive because it meant the company would be better able to meet deadlines during very high demand times. After some in-depth conversations about expectations, Bert was hired and allowed to work the schedule he desired.

There is a lot to learn from this example. Bert was careful to assess what kind of flexibility he needed and was able to communicate it very clearly. He also gave advance thought to how this arrangement would benefit his employer and what else he might do to help get the work done. In this case, offering to work overtime during times of peak demand provided just the incentive needed to get hired. By giving as much flexibility as he got, Bert was able to accomplish his goal and create a situation that worked for both parties.

Anna Navarro is the founder of Work Transitions, a nationwide career consulting firm that trains independent career strategists and consults with individual clients.

This column was originally published by the St. Louis Business Journal. The actual title of the column and date in which it appeared in the Business Journal may be slightly different from what appears on WorkTransitions.com.