Adaptability in the workplace is a necessity. In order for an employee to be successful, it is imperative to remain flexible and accessible. Regardless of what your job title is, an employer needs a well-rounded individual with the desire to help the organization succeed by any means possible. Maintaining a certain level of adaptability can help create a successful working environment. Most job descriptions often include a phrase or two regarding the right of management to add or rearrange responsibilities at their discretion. For many years, it has always been the employee remaining flexible for the employer. The new trend in employment is slowly shifting in flexibility. Not only are employees expected to be flexible, but the employers…show more content… Working 9 to 5 became the way of life. Job duties stayed at work, while workers went home and came back the next day to the same duties. Slowly, we evolved into a highly competitive and highly demanding world that required more and more of the employees’ time in and out of work. At some point, something had to give. That giving eventually came from the employer. The flexible workplace began with a simple concept and basic structure. According to the U.S. Department of Labor website on work hours (n.d.), “A flexible work schedule is an alternative to the traditional 9 to 5, 40-hour work week. It allows employees to vary their arrival and/or departure times. Under some policies, employees must work a prescribed number of hours a pay period and be present during a daily core time.” While many believe this definition of flextime to be the basis of flexible working, the flexible workplace trend is growing even beyond that. The newest trends beyond flextime include compressing the workweek, allowing flexible locations for work, job sharing, extended leaves of absence, phased and partial retirements, and work/family programs. With an increasing amount of support, flexible workplaces are rapidly growing within the United States. Let’s take a look at what flexibility in the workplace can mean. The following definitions were found in Managing Human Resources by Scott Snell and George Bohlander (2013).
• Flextime: flexible working hours that permit