More Employers Offer Flexible Hours, but Many Grapple With How to Make It Succeed

USA Today observes that more businesses are allowing variable hours and work-from-home options to attract workers in a tight labor market. However, as adoption grows, a sizable share are struggling to make it work mainly because they haven't put the necessary technology and tools in place to ensure seamless communication with co-workers and clients. Cali Williams Yost, CEO of Flex + Strategy Group, laments, "We're asking people to work differently but not telling them how to do it." A spring survey by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 57 percent of organizations offer flexible schedules versus 52 percent in 2015. A separate Flex + Strategy poll revealed that "98 percent of companies provide some form of fluctuating hours based on a broad definition that could include letting employees leave occasionally to pick up kids at school or go to the doctor."