Working parents’ need for flexibility is usually recognized by businesses, and fortunately, more of them are creating flex policies to help moms and dads find balance between the workplace and the home.
When it comes to non-parents, however, it can seem that those same flexible work policies do not apply.
Instead, some companies expect non-parents to work extra hours or pick up additional tasks when a parent needs to spend time helping a sick child or wants to attend a recital or sporting event. It’s as if such businesses are saying, “You’re not a parent, so why would you need flexibility?”
In fact, flexibility is good for everyone. The fact that non-parents may have different reasons than parents to work from home or shift their hours does not mean those reasons are less important.
Fortunately, companies can take steps to make sure they’re offering flexibility fairly to both parents and non-parents. As noted in an article from Harvard Business Review, this means: “If you give people time off work to run a marathon, you should give people time off work to take care of their sick kid. If you give people time off work because the nanny didn’t show up again, you should give people time off work because their grandmother is sick. Though people’s reasons for needing flexibility at work may differ, the principles for managing that flexibility are the same.”
Here are a few suggestions to help you make sure you offer flexibility equally to all employees, regardless of their family situation:
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Formalize your flex.
The first step is to make sure your flexible work policy is a formal, written document, and not an ad hoc set of understandings between some managers and individual employees. Do your research, and create guidelines for flex that are adaptable to different situations. Then follow up to make sure your employees are aware of the rules and your managers are applying them fairly.
Make your work-from-home rules “reason neutral.”
This advice comes from the HBR article, which notes that judging reasons can lead to uncomfortable questions like, “does sick baby trump dying grandparent? Instead, when people work from home, just have them say, ‘I’m working from home.’ Don’t make people explain why.” This rule does have exceptions, if, for example, an employee has shown that he can’t finish projects when working remotely. But in general, it’s solid advice.
Show that you expect your workers to use the flex you offer.
If you create a formal flexible work policy, but one of your managers tells her employees that she wants to see them all at their desks between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily, you don’t have an equitable system. As a manager, set the example by showing people the correct way to use the flex you offer and making it clear that you want them to use it, too.
Set expectations regarding communication and collaboration.
Some managers worry that employees who are working from home or shifting hours won’t be available when they’re needed. And some workers feel like they’re “always on” if they don’t have defined hours in an office. Combat both problems by setting “clear boundaries and procedures so employees know when they are expected to be available and when it’s okay for them to work their preferred hours,” the HBR article says. “Make sure everyone is aware of, and signs onto, the rules.”
Build a relationship that is built on mutual trust.
As a manager, you can’t spend your time in constant worry that your remote workers are spending their days watching YouTube videos instead of completing projects. “One of the easiest ways for a comfortable workplace to become toxic is if there becomes a culture of trying to trap people in lies, checking up on people unexpectedly, or generally not trusting each other,” the HBR article notes. “There needs to be trust established between managers and employees and coworkers for a workplace to function.”
Focus on results instead of face-time.
This can be especially difficult for people who are new to flex work. Many managers take comfort from seeing their employees gathered around them in the office, apparently working hard. When workers are out of sight because they’re telecommuting or shifting hours, that comfort level decreases. But if your measures of success are focused on results—meeting deadlines, exceeding expectations, developing new ideas—and not on proximity, you can overcome this concern.
As you approach your plans to offer flexibility, remember that all employees benefit from it, whether they are married or single, parents or not. When you make flex available fairly to all, your employees will have happier, more balanced lives, which is good for them. They’re also likely to be more productive, which is good for you.
In other words, fair flex helps everyone, and that makes it worth the effort to do it right.
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