How to Ask for a Flexible Work Arrangement
What
flexible work arrangement would help you balance
your work and family obligations? What
would you like to do with your current role?
Set some goals. Do some
research. If you want to go part
time, how will that impact your take home pay?
Remember, there are variables other than paid hours that you need to
consider. Will your dry cleaning
bill go down? What will happen to
your transportation costs? We
have a great tool on our site that we have developed to help you determine
what your current “Real” take home pay is and what it would be working an
alternative work arrangement. Go
to the
Wage
Comparisons tool to calculate some before and after wages.
You may be pleasantly surprised!
Once you know what you are looking for, start putting
together a presentation and formal written proposal (if you think you will
need it).
Start by anticipating what the issues will be for your
boss. Make a list and address each item in writing prior to the
meeting. Be very specific. These items will become your
proposal. I would not reference having children at home in the
proposal. You can, however, talk about your desire to balance your
rewarding career with your outside responsibilities.
Here are some topics to keep in mind when thinking about
potential issues.
Purpose:
retention, increased
productivity, decreased burn-out, increased effectiveness
Schedule:
Outline the days you
plan to work from home and what hours and/or what your total schedule will be
(full or part time). If job
sharing, who will work what hours?
Communication:
How will your
co-workers and customers contact you while you are working from home?
How will you communicate the change? Will your regular e-mail be
available to you from home, phone, fax, cell phone.
If you will work part time, will you be available for emergencies?
Or, if you will job share, how will you and your partner communicate to
provide seamless full time work?
Physical Set-up:
What will your
home office set up be? Will you have a separate room away from home and
family distractions? Do you have a computer, fax, printer, etc.
available? Do you have a separate phone line? What kind of access
do you have to the internet if applicable, how will you access digital work
files...can you dial in?
Evaluation:
Set a timeframe
during which you and your boss can re-evaluate whether or not the new schedule
is working. 3-6 months with time scheduled for interim evaluation with
opportunity to discuss any problems and resolve them. Indicate that
either party can terminate the arrangement at the end of the trial period.
Job Duties: Make a list of the job
duties that can be performed seamlessly from home. Provide details of
how it will be transparent to customers where applicable. Or, if you will go part time or job share, how will work be
redistributed?
Conclusion:
List examples of any
departments in your organization who already allow telecommuting, part time,
job share, flex time. Indicate that you feel that you have the same work
ethic, etc...and are committed to making this a success. Discuss that
many organizations are now using this kind of work arrangement for recruitment
and retention of high quality employees. Discuss the decreased stress
and added productivity that will result from working from home (think of
examples of distractions at work that will not be present at home)
Kirsten Ross is mother of two sons and is
a Certified Human Resource Professional (SPHR) dedicated to helping women
achieve more life balance and to transforming the design of work.
Visit Womans-Work.com at
http://www.womans-work.com
to search our revolutionary flexible work job board featuring more than 35,000
fresh work from home, part time, job share, flex time and telecommuting
opportunities, search for a job share partner or
read valuable career, life balance and family articles. You may also email
her at
mailto:KRoss@Womans-Work.com
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