(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-09-24 07:02

Employers should be able to adopt a more human-oriented scheduling system so long as it does not affect the quality and efficiency of the work being done, says an article in Oriental Morning Post. The following is an excerpt:

A few days ago the company P&G implemented a new policy that allows employees to choose one day out of the five regular working days to work at home.

The flexible system should allow employees to allocate their time freely and is not likely to have an impact on the quality and efficiency of the work. The system could benefit all sides.

There are many ways to make a company's operations more flexible. Beyond allowing staff members to work from home, some companies allow workers to leave the office at different times, while others allow employees to reduce their work week from five days to four or three, with their salaries being cut down accordingly. To put it simply, some enterprises allow staff members to create a schedule that is best suited to their skills and needs.

More than 40 percent of the large companies in Europe and the United States have adopted flexible scheduling systems. In China, quite a few of the Fortune 500 companies in Shanghai, as well as some local heavyweights, have followed suit.

In fact, flexible scheduling could help companies make up for any downtime that might occur. For example, a draftsman can still finish his design work outside of the hours prescribed by the standard workday. At present, many companies and government agencies rely on rigid management systems. Strict management generally means nothing more than punishing people who arrive late or leave early. The highest goal of many managers seems to be keeping all of the employees in the office. This type of management stresses formality over productivity, which is meaningless and not desirable.

(China Daily 09/24/2007 page4)