Flexible Scheduling

Maximizing Work/Life Balance

These days, companies of all sizes are offering flexible work schedules to allow parents more time to spend with their kids and adjust on-the-fly to unforeseen schedule changes. Flexible scheduling allows employees to adjust their work hours and days to accommodate their childcare needs. There are several ways to execute flexible scheduling at a low cost and using minimal resources.

No matter what type of flexible schedule you offer, it will immediately influence workplace culture and can strengthen long-term sustainability. Before making changes, evaluate how scheduling adjustments will affect staffing needs, safety regulations, operating hours, and other essential business operations.

What can you do?

Assess your working families’ needs

Collect data on childcare-related schedule disruptions. Talk directly with working parents to understand challenges and shape flexible policies.

Talk to your operations team and line managers

Work with operations and frontline managers to find where flexibility is feasible without affecting staffing, safety, or service standards.

Find out where there is flexibility in the business

Communicate with line managers to determine what’s possible, then identify how and when flexibility could be utilized. Look for flexible options that you haven’t considered, including specific days, hours, time blocks, or predictive scheduling. Ask teams that have already instituted flexibility how their system might be scalable.

Implement and communicate

Once it’s determined how to introduce flexibility into shifts, create a plan to communicate these changes, starting at the leadership level and working toward employees.

Track the impact

Keep track of missed shifts due to childcare needs. Collect feedback from employees regularly to understand how flexibility changes are working. Consider coding shifts to track if/when working parents adjust schedules due to childcare needs.