The greatest effect on a flexible work force is your recruitment practice. If you hire the right people they appreciate flexibility. They understand others’ need for flexibility and they will not complain when you are flexible for their teammates. The right employees will work as a team to get the job done, not just be concerned about themselves.
My former boss always said, “Performers get their own rules”. We did not keep track of sick time or make employees take vacation time to go to a school play. In turn, the right people “get the job done” even If it means working through lunch or staying late to finish a needed project. I never felt the need to “keep my eye on them”. If you need to babysit your employee, you have the wrong employee.
What does flexibility look like? Think about Checkers and Chess. Checkers has very ridged moves. Chess has flexibility. The chess pieces have assigned moves, but the freedom to do what it takes to “get the job done”. Allowing only ridged “movement” in your team dampens the freedom needed for a happy, thriving work force.
You must recognize every person’s needs and desires are different. Effective flexibility means understanding each individual. Those needs change as the stages of life go from single to married to raising children and then to the empty nest. The different stages create different needs in the employee’s life.
I have always said managing people is like raising kids. You will get the results of your actions, whatever they are. You can use them and burn them out, you can spoil them and eventually become frustrated with their actions, you can use the “one-size-fits-all” approach and treat everyone the same and end up with robots or you can recognize the value of individual development and reap the rewards of a great workforce.
Here are some examples of flexibility I have used.
• Altered work schedules for child care, family needs, etc.
• Altered vacation times and sick day policies
• Flexibility through illness, cancer, tragedies
• Time for family events scheduled in the middle of the day (school, etc.)
• Altered hours to work around classes
• Bereavement extension for death in Europe
• Compensation increase as education allowance instead of a raise
• More time off instead of pay increases
Flexibility in the work place is not complicated. Hire the right people, treat them as individuals and enjoy the results; happy productive employees.
Christian Life Coach 
Tom: This was awesome! I wish every boss in the U.S. could see and read this. Funny, what you say makes perfect common sense, but too many employers complicate things with too many rules and the helicopter approach (always hovering above). Thanks for another great article. This one is going on The Professionals Forum Facebook page.
Thanks for the comment Tedi. The funny thing is managers that use the “helicopter approach” just create more work for themselves. If they would learn to trust their employees their own job would be easier.
…once again Tom you hit the nail square on the head; it took me 30 years (in my current position) before I found a Manager that understood this and lived by these rules. He is greatly respected and appreciated too; especially after the turmoil in my life these last few months.