Expert Advice for Executives from a Talent Management Perspective 

In today’s evolving workplace, many executives are asking: what is the best work schedule for your team?  The traditional 9-to-5 model is under scrutiny, hybrid and remote models are now commonplace, and compressed workweeks or flexible scheduling initiatives are proliferating. As an executive, the choices you make around work schedules can significantly impact productivity, employee engagement, retention, and your employer brand. 

As a talent solutions company advising executives across industries, we’ve seen firsthand how the right scheduling model impacts productivity, employee engagement, retention, and even your employer brand. This guide will help you evaluate talent management work schedules, compare options, and decide what truly works best for your team. 

Why Your Team’s Schedule Matters More Than Ever 

The best work schedule for your team goes beyond an operational detail. It’s a crucial strategic decision that can greatly impact your organizational culture and attractiveness as an employer.  

• Talent expectations have shifted. Top candidates increasingly expect flexibility. If your competitors offer hybrid or remote options, rigid schedules may cost you high performers. 

• Engagement and performance are linked to autonomy. Multiple studies tie employee control over their work hours to higher satisfaction, lower burnout, and improved output. 

• Operational demands still matter. Some roles (e.g. client-facing, on-call, real-time collaboration) require synchronous coverage. The schedule must support business continuity. 

For executives, the challenge lies in how to choose the right work schedule that balances employee needs with business demands.  

The Major Scheduling Models (and Their Trade-Offs) 

Traditional 9–5, Office-Centric 

• Advantages: 

• Provides clear structure and predictability. 

• Ensures consistent overlap for collaboration and visibility. 

• Disadvantages: 

• Can feel rigid or outdated. 

• Limits flexibility, which may hurt retention and recruiting. 

Hybrid Schedule (part office, part remote) 

• Advantages: 

• Offers balance between in-person collaboration and remote autonomy. 

• Appeals strongly to candidates seeking flexibility. 

• Disadvantages: 

• Requires intentional coordination across days and teams. 

• Risks creating inequity if policies aren’t applied consistently. 

Fully Remote / Flexible Hours 

• Advantages: 

• Access to a broader, geographically diverse talent pool. 

• Reduces office costs and provides high autonomy for employees. 

• Disadvantages: 

• Can lead to isolation and weaker team culture. 

• Timezone differences may complicate coordination. 

Compressed Workweek (e.g., 4-day week, 10-hour days) 

• Advantages 

• Boosts morale by providing longer weekends or extra days off. 

• Encourages focus and reduces burnout for many teams. 

• Disadvantages 

• Longer daily hours may be unsustainable for some roles or employees. 

• Certain functions may face coverage gaps. 

None of these is a universal winner. The “best” one depends on your team, your business model, and where you want to go next. 

What Executives Should Evaluate Before Choosing (or Changing) a Schedule 

To avoid one-size-fits-all mistakes and find the best work schedule for your team, consider these key dimensions: 

Nature of Work & Workflow 

• How much of the work requires real-time interaction vs asynchronous, heads-down time? 

• Are there clients, stakeholders, or systems that demand coverage during fixed hours? 

Team Dynamics & Collaboration Needs 

• How often do teams meet synchronously? What is the rhythm of collaboration? 

• Are there functions (e.g. design, engineering, operations) that interlock tightly? 

Talent & Market Signals 

• What do your competitors offer? What do candidates in your industry expect? 

• Are flexibility and autonomy differentiators in your talent market? 

Business Priorities & Risk Tolerance 

• Do you have aggressive growth or responsiveness goals that require real-time availability? 

• What is the cost of misalignment (e.g. missed client windows, delays)? 

Equity, Inclusion & Well-Being 

• Are certain roles or personas (caretakers, early career employees, people with constraints) disadvantaged in any schedule? 

• How do you ensure fairness when some roles must be in-office while others can be remote? 

Organizational Readiness 

• Do your leaders trust managing outcomes over hours? 

• Are communication, collaboration, and productivity tools mature? 

• Are policies, training, and expectations clear? 

By assessing these factors, you can determine which schedules make sense for your organization and can tailor them for your team. 

How to Measure Whether the Schedule Works 

Any major schedule change should be monitored to gauge success and adjusted as needed. A pilot period, lasting abour 3-6 months, is a great way to test run your new schedule and collect hard data on the schedule’s effectiveness. To understand what’s working and what’s not, monitor these metrics: 

• Retention & Turnover:  Are more top performers leaving (or staying)? 

• Employee Engagement & Satisfaction: Pulse surveys, qualitative feedback. 

• Productivity & Output: Compare output before and after; look at quality, speed, throughput. 

• Absenteeism / Burnout Indicators: Sick days, leave usage, overtime creep. 

• Collaboration / Communication Metrics: Missed deadlines, cross-team delays, sync meeting quality. 

Track both leading indicators (employee sentiment, pilot feedback) and lagging indicators (turnover, productivity) over a predetermined pilot period. 

Implementation Guidance: From Pilot to Scale 

Implementing a schedule change from pilot to scale is fairly complex. We recommend following these standard steps to make sure the process is seamless and productive.  

1. Start with listening & benchmarking. 
   Survey employees about preferences, pain points, and constraints. Analyze what competitors or industry peers are doing. 

2. Design your pilot with clear guardrails. 
   Define which teams will trial the new schedule, the duration, and the success metrics. 

3. Set expectations explicitly. 
   Clarify working hours (core windows, overlap), communication norms, accountability, availability, and boundaries. 

4. Train managers to lead differently. 
   Shift focus from hours worked to outcomes delivered. Equip them with tools for remote/hybrid leadership, performance management, and coaching. 

5. Provide infrastructure & tooling. 
   Ensure your collaboration and productivity stack supports async work (document-sharing, version control, communication tools). 

6. Gather frequent feedback and iterate. 
   Mid-pilot check-ins, anonymous suggestion channels, pulse surveys, focus groups. 

7. Make adjustments before full roll-out. 
   Use what you learn in the pilot to refine policies, address friction points, and align on final design. 

8. Communicate widely and transparently. 
   Explain the “why” (strategic and human), share pilot lessons, and set expectations for the organization. 

Rather than asking “Which work schedule is best overall?” ask, “Which schedule best aligns with our business goals, culture, and talent agenda?” The best work schedule for your team is context-dependent and will likely evolve over time. 

As executives, you hold the power to use your scheduling design as a strategic asset: one that supports high performance, enables flexibility, and strengthens your employer brand. When done thoughtfully, you’ll be far more likely to land on a schedule that your teams thrive under and your business benefits from.