Flextime and programmatic help would help ease the burden. While the power shortages in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami caused many companies to encourage employees to work from home, the overwhelming pressure to stay as late as one's peers means that "face time" will continue to trump flextime, and well-qualified Japanese women will pay the price. MORE

Here’s something that’s obvious, but at the same time not: We’re all a lot more than we appear to be at work. We have other dimensions that are invisible to our companies, supervisors, direct reports, and most of our colleagues, and those invisible dimensions have a deep impact on our work. MORE

Culture is what really defines how much latitude people have in terms of managing their work and non-work demands, whether or not there’s a flextime policy on the books. More and more companies are acknowledging the importance of work-life balance, at least as far as official policy goes. MORE

Flextime programs have never been more popular than they are today. Their research explored a potential reason for the widely varying outcomes: managers might look upon flextime favorably when they perceive a worker is using it to achieve higher productivity, and unfavorably when they perceive it being used to accommodate personal-life demands. make the case that depending on what the manager attributes the flextime use to, the employee may be either rewarded or penalized. MORE

The studies showed that fathers tend to use informal workarounds to spend more time with their kids; they should instead be encouraged to use formal ones, including flextime, telecommuting and compressed work weeks. MORE

Among the suggestions and solutions aired by conference attendees: Flextime is still relatively unknown in China. One way to remove the stigma associated with flexible work arrangements, suggests Rosalind Hudnell, Chief Diversity Office Director for Intel , is to detach it from working mothers and telecommuters, and apply "intermittent flextime" that could apply as much to someone whose job entails late-night telephone calls to California as to someone dealing with ailing elders. MORE

Gallup also found, in a separate study ( [link] ), that regardless of the number of hours worked, weeks of vacation time or a company''s flextime policy, engaged workers have a higher overall level of well being. A Gallup Poll conducted last year gives credence to what many successful companies have known for years--engaged, involved workers impact a business'' bottom line in a positive manner. . In 2012, Gallup looked at 49,928 businesses or work units and about 1.4 MORE

Flextime provides an opportunity for employees to match their work schedules to their own circadian rhythms. MORE

He started interviewing, taking flextime to travel to the meetings. Looking for a job while you already have one can be stressful, especially in the age of social media when privacy is scarce. You don't want to rock the boat at your current company but you want to find the next great opportunity. Should you tell your boss you're looking? How do you handle references? If you get an offer, is two weeks notice really enough? MORE

Sure, flextime is OK. One of the great pleasures of my job is thinking about, creating, and publishing charts in partnership with our amazing designers. And you all seem to quite like them, too. So as is required among most all digital editors at the end of each calendar year, I’ve gone through the entirety of 2014’s charts, tables, and other visuals we’ve published for HBR.org – hundreds in all – to highlight 20 that tell particularly interesting stories. MORE

Many companies also need to adopt more progressive policies regarding flextime, career stops, job sharing, and other alternative career paths. Ellen Kullman (DuPont), Maria das Graças Silva Foster (Petrobras), and Chua Sock Koong (Singapore Telecommunications) lead three of the most powerful companies in the world. These women, like many other great leaders, got there by working their way up the ladder — not by founding entrepreneurial ventures. MORE

Maybe you were contemplating a change in employment policies such as flextime or one in customer-facing processes such as a new billing system. Think about the last time you considered introducing a significant change in your enterprise with the intention of improving organizational effectiveness. You likely studied the proposed change in detail, discussed it at length with relevant colleagues, came up with a strategy for implementing it, and then introduced it. MORE

In fact, this is why most flextime arrangements mandate “core hours” for all employees. The potential benefits of workplace variability are numerous — increased morale, motivation, and the ability to attract and retain talent — yet many managers don’t know where to start. Others are afraid that performance could suffer or something important could fall through the cracks. MORE

Are such “right to request” laws indicators of a rise in flextime? Or do they reflect a fear that flextime programs are being eliminated? Extended flextime, such as job sharing, part-time work, and sabbaticals, is an even stronger employee magnet. MORE

Here’s something that’s obvious, but at the same time not: We’re all a lot more than we appear to be at work. We have other dimensions that are invisible to our companies, supervisors, direct reports, and most of our colleagues, and those invisible dimensions have a deep impact on our work. MORE

Moreover, when HR does institutionalize formal “work-life” programs like formal flextime or telecommuting, the effect is often to produce negative consequences for those using them.) I have a friend who is an ascending executive at an international financial firm. His career has always been demanding- long hours, lots of travel, ultra-high performance standards (which he always has met or exceeded). MORE

Employers don’t necessarily have to institute formal programs to allow for telecommuting or flextime. A new survey report just published by Staples Advantage offers a paradoxical set of findings about US office workers. Overwhelmingly, they are happy. MORE

Here’s something that’s obvious, but at the same time not: We’re all a lot more than we appear to be at work. We have other dimensions that are invisible to our companies, supervisors, direct reports, and most of our colleagues, and those invisible dimensions have a deep impact on our work. MORE

For instance, while more hours worked, less vacation time taken, and less opportunity for flextime generally relate to lower well-being in our studies, that doesnt hold true when workers are engaged in the workplace. MORE

A Gallup poll showed that, even when workplaces offered benefits such as flextime and work-from-home opportunities, engagement predicted wellbeing above and beyond anything else. MORE

So what are some of the best practices around flexible work and flextime? In this time of economic uncertainty, the pressure to control costs is at a peak. With hiring freezes and layoffs, companies increasingly are asking themselves how to produce the results they need with limited or decreasing human resources. One innovative firm in the Bay Area, Flexperience, has created a different talent market: experienced professionals who seek flexible work opportunities. MORE