Flextime

1. Flextime enables the employees to attain a work life balance so that they can spend more time attending personal matters such as families or hobbies. It also allows the employees to travel to work in appropriate time, when they can avoid rush hours and therefore arrive while refreshed and their concentration level will be quite high.  Employers can also manage to retain their top performers given the increased work place morale and satisfaction.  On the other hand, flextime has some pitfalls. Without a supervisor’s presence, difficulties may arise with employees who need direction on their duties or to take initiative. Some may also fail to follow the guidelines provided on working hours, so that they spend less than required time (Aquinas, 2010).
2. To prevent the situation from occurring, Kathy should have ensured that there is clear and open communication with the employees so that they understand their responsibilities in regard to agrees upon working schedule.  Kathy should also have carried out some supervision so as to recognize the problem at its inception.
3. Kathy could also have ensured consistency and precision when preparing the flextime. This could involve having a policy that is detailed and outlining the departments that would be or would not be eligible for such flextime. It would also involve breaking up the employees into a team schedule for the flextime. For instance, team A would alternate with team B in the schedule to ensure that clients are served without interruptions. In addition, the flextime policy would ensure that protocol for communication related to work and logging hours and other expectations are put in place before employees can start on schedules (Tatara, 2002).

Reference

Tatara, I. E. (2002). HR how-to: work-life benefits. Chicago, Ill, CCH Inc. 115

AQUINAS, P. G. (2010). Organization structure and design: applications and challenges. New Delhi, Excel Books. 186