What are the advantages for the employer to set flexible hours?

Question

My situation is quite similar to this question: How To Negotiate Flexible Working Hours

In order to help me to "build my case" I wanted to know what are advantages for the employer to let their employees have flexible hours (with core hours).

Here are some example I already found:

• Better retention of employees
• Reduced turnover/absenteeism

Other context information: Small software company of about 15 employees located in France

EDIT
I work full time on site

EDIT 2
Thank you to all of you, I will try to make an update about my request if you are interested.

Answer 1

What are the advantages for the employer to set flexible hours?

I would label them "potential" advantages:

• Employees like it, which may lead to decreased turnover
• Potential employees like it, which may make it easier to attract new workers
• In some cases, flexible hours may make it easier to provide coverage over a wider range of hours
• In some locales, workers will be able to arrange their hours to avoid longer commute times. That may allow them to remain more productive for longer
• In some cases, the other companies in the pool of companies that draw from the same worker base are already offering flexible hours. It may be necessary to offer this benefit or risk losing talent
• In some cases, it may make child care or other personal activities easier for the employee. That may help retain employees.

Answer 2

If this is a 9-5 business, there may never be an advantage for the employer.

After hours requests could be addressed:

1. Finishing a task that was requested at the end of the day.
2. Performing maintenance or repairs when others don't need their equipment.
3. Handling a customer request.

Negotiations usually involve some give and take. By giving you this perk, the employer may be in a position to ask you for something extra. The key would be to identify what is important to your employer in this area and make an offer.

Answer 3

The bigest advantage from flexible hours is much more motivation produced by autonomy :

Situations that give autonomy as opposed to taking it away also have a similar link to motivation. Studies looking at choice have found that increasing a participant's options and choices increases their intrinsic motivation

Answer 4

If a company is looking for "bums on seats" then there is no advantage. Let's ignore that case.

When a company hires an employee, that employee will do work for the employer, and the employer will supply salary and possibly other benefits to the employee. The higher the salary and other benefits are, the better the chances to find an employee, and to find a better employee, and to keep them.

Flexible time costs the employer no or little money, but can be a huge benefit to the employee. And that's the kind of thing a company should be looking for: Giving the employee benefits other than salary, if they cost less than salary.

Some other answer talks about "ridiculous extras like food". If you have the space, providing free or cheap food to employees is extremely beneficial to the company. Every place in my experience where this happened, people counted it like salary (so it really gets you better talent and keeps that talent), while costing the company a lot less. And importantly, lunch breaks were shorter, people ate healthy which is good for the company, and people were often discussing work problems during lunch.

Answer 5

These might help you make a case:

• Study: Effects of working from home. spoiler: WFH folks tend to be more productive.

• Study: Employees with flexible work hours are healthier. Link to the full PDF can be found in the final paragraph.

• Study: how flexible schedules can mitigate employee turnover.

• Several collected case studies involving flexible work schedules.

• Inside Three Companies That Are Innovating Flexible Schedules.