How Being Flexible Helps Small Businesses Hire Outsized Talent
Small businesses may struggle to compete with larger companies on salary, but they can attract and retain top talent by offering flexible work arrangements, including remote work and adaptable schedules. This flexibility not only broadens the talent pool and improves retention but also fosters a stronger workplace culture built on trust and loyalty.
Small businesses often face a hiring disadvantage compared to larger competitors that can offer more generous compensation packages. However, pay isn't everything when it comes to recruitment. Smaller companies can still attract top-tier talent by leveraging their size to provide greater flexibility and a more personalized work experience.
Remote and hybrid work as a talent magnet
Many workers got a taste for remote and hybrid work during the COVID-19 pandemic and realized how much they enjoyed flexibility at work. In fact, a 2025 Harvard research paper found that employees are willing to accept a 25% pay cut, on average, in exchange for partly or fully remote roles.
This is a substantial opportunity for small businesses, as larger organizations have scaled back their remote and hybrid roles. The majority of employees at medium and large organizations work on-site only, according to ADP's 2025 HR trends and priorities guide. On the other hand, 37% of small business employees work fully remote and 19% work in a hybrid model, with just 45% working on-site only.
By hiring remote workers, small businesses can expand their talent pool beyond their local area, reaching qualified candidates across the country and even around the world.
Flexible hours and schedules: a near-universal practice
Another way small business owners can increase their competitiveness in hiring is by offering more flexible hours and schedules.
In fact, this is almost a universal practice at this point: 86% of small businesses, 81% of medium businesses and 86% of large businesses report offering flexible hours and schedules in ADP's 2025 HR trends and priorities guide.
For this reason, small businesses without flexible scheduling are at a disadvantage in recruiting. Some ways small business owners can offer more flexible hours and schedules include:
Staggered start and end times
Under this system, employees can work earlier or later than the typical 9-to-5 schedule.
Evening, weekend and part-time shifts
This can help attract students and other workers with responsibilities during the typical workday, but who can punch in at different times.
Compressed work weeks
Employees still put in the standard 40 hours per week, but over fewer than five days. For example, four 10-hour days with three full days off.
Short-notice schedule changes
You allow employees to change their hours without a long notice (within reason). That helps support employees with caregiver and other family responsibilities, where issues often pop up without warning.
Small businesses do not need to offer every single flexible schedule arrangement. However, being open to some flexibility in scheduling can help attract employees at a lower cost than giving higher pay.
Benefits of workplace flexibility for small business owners
Offering workplace and scheduling flexibility is more than a nice thing to do for employees. It can provide substantial benefits for small business owners, including:
A hiring edge
Workplace flexibility provides a recruitment advantage over larger competitors who are too rigid to do the same.
Larger talent pool
Workplace flexibility attracts workers who cannot commit to the traditional 9-to-5, such as caregivers who may need last-minute time off, students juggling work with courses and retirees who want to extend their careers without committing to a full-time job. It gives business owners access to a broader talent pool, including hiring remote workers who don't live nearby.
Improved retention
While higher pay was rated the best way to keep employees loyal in the ADP HR trends and priorities guide, flexible scheduling is an extremely close second: 41% of small business owners say pay is better for retention, 39% say it's flexible scheduling and 20% say both are equally valuable.
Better culture and trust
Giving employees the ability to support their families, education and other needs goes a long way toward building a culture of loyalty and trust.
Challenges and how to manage them
In the end, creating more flexible work arrangements requires additional planning compared to when everyone operates on the same hours. Here are some of the top challenges and possible solutions.
Risk of uneven workloads or perceived favoritism
When employees work different hours and schedules, it can quickly seem like some are doing more than others, even if that's not the case. Set clear rules and procedures for flexible work arrangements and job responsibilities or targets so the process doesn't feel ad hoc or inconsistent from person to person.
Compliance with wage/hour tracking with nontraditional schedules
Tracking hours and wages does get more complicated on nontraditional schedules. However, modern payroll technology has evolved to meet this new type of work arrangement.
Delivering results when schedules vary
You want to support your employees, but it's also important to meet the needs of your projects, customers and clients. When considering flexible work arrangements, ensure that enough team members remain available to provide support during regular business hours and meet your deliverables.
Ultimately, finding the right fit could take some trial and error. Your smaller size gives you greater operational agility to figure out what works without having to battle multiple layers of bureaucracy.
Using workplace flexibility for your advantage
In the end, small business owners may not be able to win the battle for talent on salaries alone, but they can still stand out by offering more flexibility at work.
Flexible work arrangements do take planning. However, with careful management, flexibility helps small business owners attract outsized talent, retain valuable employees and build stronger workplace cultures. That's an investment worth making.
