Ivanka Trump predicts what the most successful companies will look like in 10 years

Ivanka Trump believes the companies that thrive in the next 10 years will be the ones that embrace flexible work arrangements - not just because it's nice a nice thing to do, but because it's a smart business practice.

Business Insider recently sat down with Trump, who advises young professional women with her #AskIT YouTube series, is the executive vice president of development and acquisitions at The Trump Organization, and runs her own company as the head of the Ivanka Trump lifestyle brand.

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When we asked what she thinks the workplace will look like in 10 years, she pointed to organizations that focus more on results and merit and less on time spent in the office as the future.

"I think companies that don't adapt and become more flexible in their approaches and their expectations from an office hours perspective - people who still care about the butt in seat as opposed to the quality of work being done - those companies are not going to be able to recruit best-in-class talent and retain them.

"People today want to live whole lives, and we're not going to put off our lives until our kids are through college and we're able to seamlessly integrate into that type of environment."

Within her own companies, Trump says she doesn't police her people's schedules. Instead, she says she hires motivated employees who are self-starters and excited to get to work on their own schedule.

"I recognize the fact that technology enables them to work remotely, and I don't penalize them for doing that," she says.

Trump believes this business model is particularly important for keeping women who want to raise families and pursue their passions in the workforce.

"We are capable of architecting lives that enable us to do both, but you do need flexibility to accommodate that," she says.

On a personal level, Trump says it's incredibly important for her to be with her three children in the morning and at dinner and bedtime each night, which means she leaves the office early. Once the kids are asleep, she'll log back on and work into the night, Trump says.

"We're all trying to make it work and adjusting, and I think technology has been a huge enabler of that happening," she says.