Less Stress, Good Business

If you're sick of the 9-to-5, five-day-a-week grind, it might not just be a problem for you—it could be a problem for your whole company. In Schedule Flexibility and Stress: Linking Formal Flexible Arrangements and Perceived Flexibility to Employee Health, a study in Community, Work and Family, Dawn Carlson of Baylor University and Joseph Grzywacz of Wake Forest University find that "flextime" work schedules, when combined with compressed workweek schedules, not only make employees' lives less stressful but also increase a company's competitive advantage. The authors looked at over 80,000 employees across the United States. They found that, when used alone, these alternative schedules have little effect, but when used together, they reduce burnout and stress and increase employees' job satisfaction.