Hitting snooze: 50% of employees want to try 'chronoworking'

Whether you're an early bird or a night owl, most people have to tailor their wake windows around a traditional 9-to-5. Yet a new flexible work strategy could mark the end of synchronized start and end times for entire organizations.  

Eighty-seven percent of employees are interested in "chronoworking" — where companies allow workers to choose their hours according to their natural sleeping patterns —according to a survey from recruiting company Robert Walters. Almost half of employees feel this kind of arrangement would improve their mental health.

"It's a newer work trend," says Sean Puddle, managing director of Robert Walters New York. "It's based on employees' body clocks — when and how are you going to be the most effective or the most productive? It's a flexible working schedule that should allow people to get the best out of their day."  

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After the pandemic, companies were quick to establish flexible work arrangements, such as hybrid or early releases on Fridays. However, 30% of employees feel that their employer has adopted a one-size-fits-all approach, and 50% do not feel like their organization's current flexible work model caters to their specific needs. Over a third have stated that their organization still has no obvious approach or strategy toward flexible working.

With a chronowork strategy, companies would keep the standard eight hour work day, but they would happen in shifts. Employees with earlier circadian rhythms could clock in earlier than the typical 9 a.m. start and work until the early afternoon. Employees who are more productive later in the day or into the evening would clock in and relieve the previous shift. In theory, this arrangement can be beneficial both personally and professionally. 

"By allowing employees more autonomy in choosing the hours that they work, it should improve their work-life balance," Puddle says. "Working in line with circadian rhythms, employees are also more likely to be productive during their peak hours."

Chronoworking is significantly less popular than options like remote or hybrid strategies, since it's often not technically or physically feasible for many organizations. But some companies have already built in core tenets of the practice into their existing flexible work policies.  

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"[Companies] are already aligned with the principles of structured time management — which is to focus work periods and flexibility around employees' schedules, which are all aspects of chronoworking," Puddle says. "It's all acutely linked to how and at what times of the day individuals operate best." 

If making the full shift feels too daunting, companies can begin by allotting certain days for chronowork and experimenting with specific boundaries and expectations while keeping communication constant and transparent. And while Puddle doesn't necessarily believe chronowork will become the ultimate form of workplace flexibility, he does see it as part of the evolution of flexible work. Employers need to keep an open mind. 

"We're still on the journey of trying to work out what the end result of workplace flexibility looks like," he says. "If companies want to remain current and attractive, being able to be flexible with how you view work is going to be paramount, because what worked three years ago clearly isn't working today."