Fierce Resources: The Surprising Downside Of Flextime

This week’s Fierce Resource was written by Rieva Lesonsky and was first published yesterday on the American Express Company Culture Open Forum website.

The Surprising Downside of Flextime, looks at recent study from Catalyst, who conducted a survey intended to look at the myths around flex-time. The study finds that while both men and women enjoy the perks of a flexible schedule, women are more likely to take advantage of the work remote option, losing valuable face time in the office.

This can affect how women see themselves and how their leaders see them moving into leadership positions.

This article asks: Is this context working for us?

“If you’re overly focused on face time—as many small-business owners are—you might be hurting your business as much as your female employees. Catalyst says that while both men and women rate flexibility as equally important, women in a situation without job flexibility are far more likely to downsize their career aspirations. At companies with flexible work options, 94 percent of men and 83 percent of women in the survey say they aspire to top jobs. But at companies without flexible work options, the equation changes: While 83 percent of men still aspire to top positions, just 54 percent of women do. Keep in mind, this study focused solely on “high potential” employees—the ones you most want to attract and retain for the long haul.”

To read the full article, click here.