What would Bill Gates do (if he were still trying to hire lots of people)?

Bill Gates says this is the 1 most important perk to offer. Now a Harvard study backs him up.

I’m Bill Murphy Jr. Welcome to Understandably (formerly “The Byliner”), my new regularly published email about the “story behind other stories.” Please consider subscribing!

Not long ago, Bill Gates shared what he thinks is the most important perk companies can give the best employees: flexible work arrangements.

Now a new study from Harvard Business School says companies that let their employees "work from anywhere" and work whenever they want wind up with employees who are more loyal, more productive, and cost less.

I suspect you're hearing from more employees who want this kind of arrangement. So, let's take a look at the latest studies, and then ask if there's room for this kind of flexibility in your business.

First, the recent study results. HBS professor Prithwiraj Choudhury and his colleagues say they compared how productive, loyal, and cost-effective employees at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office were when they were allowed to work flexibly.

They chose the government office bec…