Flexible Work Arrangements Slideshare 2 26 09 Revised

Flexible Work Arrangements: A Strategic Business Imperative in Any Economy February 26, 2009 Judi C. Casey Alfred P. Sloan Work and Family Research Network at Boston College

Agenda Why a strategic business imperative? Definition Common Flexible Work Arrangements Business Benefits Current Economic Climate Resources

Why a strategic business imperative?
Constant change is the norm
Resilience is a differentiator
Must be nimble and responsive in any economy
How individuals, leaders and organizations contribute
FWA are a strategic business imperative in any economy
Down Economy
Alternative to Layoffs and Rehiring
No/Low-Cost Strategy
Support Employees
Reduce Stress
Up Economy
Recruitment
Retention
Employer of Choice

What are flexible work arrangements?
“ Flexible Work Arrangements alter the time and/or place that work is conducted. FWA provide flexibility in the:
Scheduling of hours worked and arrangements regarding overtime, predictable scheduling, and shift and break schedules;
Amount of hours worked; and
Place of work.”
Workplace Flexibility 2010

What are flexible work arrangements?
“ The Sloan National Initiative also includes in their definition of workplace flexibility:
The ability to have career flexibility with multiple points for entry, exit and reentry into the workforce; and
The ability to address unexpected and ongoing personal and family needs.”
Workplace Flexibility 2010

Common flexible work arrangements
“ Compressed Work Week: A work schedule that condenses one or more standard workweeks into fewer, longer days. (9/80)
Flextime: A work schedule with variable starting and ending times, within limits set by one’s manager. Employees still work the same number of scheduled hours as they would under a traditional arrangement. (7 am-3pm or 10 am-6pm)
Job-Sharing: An arrangement in which two or more part-time (or occasional) employees share the responsibilities of one full-time job at a pro-rated salary.
Part-time Work: A work schedule that is less than full-time but is at least half of the regularly scheduled full-time workweek.
Personal or Family Leaves: A block of time off while retaining one’s job. These leaves may be paid or unpaid.
Telecommuting: … regularly work at home or at an alternative worksite during part or all of a work schedule (in office M/W/F, remote work T/Th).”
MIT

FWA Metrics and Statistics
Everyone wants FWA
Nearly 80% of workers say they would like to have more flexible work options and would use them if there were no negative consequences at work. Families and Work Institute, 2004
79% of companies allow some employees to use FWA
37% of companies allow all or most employees to use FWA
(Galinsky, Bond, & Sakai, 2008)
Not for every job or employee
Must meet business needs
More common among professional staff
Must achieve performance expectations
% of Workforce using FWA Beers, T. (2000). Flexible schedules and shift work: Replacing the ‘9 to 5’ workday? Monthly Labor Review, 123(6), p. 33.

Business benefits of FWA

Business benefits of FWA: Data
96% report that flexibility influences their decision to stay at the company; 73% say that flexibility is “very important” in that decision, and 23% say that it’s “somewhat important.”
Employees who use flexible work arrangements scored, on average, 30% lower on stress and burnout.
Bank branches with flexible work arrangements had retention rates 50% higher than other branches.
Corporate Voices for Working Families with WFD Consulting

73% of employees with high availability of flexible work arrangements reported that there was a high likelihood that they would stay with their current employer for the next year.
Bond, J.T., Thompson, C., Galinsky, E. & Prottas,D. (2003). Highlights of the 2002 national study of the changing workforce. New York: Families and Work Institute.
Studies indicate that the availability and use of flexibility and other work-family policies is associated with higher commitment, job satisfaction, loyalty, and lower intention to turnover.
Kossek, E., Lautsch, B., & Eaton, S. (2006). Telecommuting, control, and boundary management: Correlates of policy use and practice, job control, and work-family effectiveness. Journal of Vocational Behavior. 68 (2), 347-367.

Organizations with higher employee satisfaction report larger than average annual returns to investors.
“… with respect to flexibility programs that enable workers to work from home, if the proportion of employees working from home increases by one percentage point, the firm’s profit rate increases by an additional six-tenths of one percent. For the average firm included in this sample, this equates to a profit increase of approximately $84 million.”
Meyer, C.S., Mukerjee, S., & Sestero, A. (2001). Work-family benefits: Which ones maximize profits? Journal of Managerial Issues, 13(1), p. 40.

General obstacles to implementation
Nature of work
Managers perceptions and abilities
Culture of workplace and how work is done
Employee concerns

Economic obstacles to implementation
In today’s economic climate, FWA present new challenges:
Stock market rewards job cuts
Creates a culture that reinforces layoffs
Inflexible systems make it difficult to integrate FWA
Groundwork not created to integrate FWA within the organization
Not comfortable with FWA as a way to do business

Overcoming the obstacles
Effective steps to reduce obstacles at your organization:
Make managers accountable (raise-dependent) for creating a work environment where employees can thrive at work/home
Help managers to measure important business outcomes
Try a “pilot” program
Train managers and co-workers about how flexibility can help them to achieve their business goals
Train managers and co-workers about how to implement and sustain FWA
Encourage communication about how work will get done and the “rules of the game”
Use metrics and evaluation to demonstrate impacts, make improvements and re-measure

Overcoming the economic obstacles
Effective steps to reduce obstacles in current economic climate:
Examine how FWA could help the organization to achieve business goals
Reward performance versus face time
Ask employees and work teams how they could integrate FWA into their jobs/teams
Offer FWA as a way to support employees and provide relief from heavy workloads and stress
Remember: even if there have already been layoffs, it’s never too late to embrace FWA

Best practices and examples
KPMG UK , German and Swiss firms: Flexible Futures. Asked staff to volunteer to work either a four-day week with a proportionate pay cut or take a sabbatical for up to three months.
“ We learnt some painful lessons from the last downturn when we made redundancies and lost some real talent. When the upturn came, we were not positioned as well as we could be. So this time the challenge was clear. Could we create sufficient flexibility in our cost base that would allow us to react quickly to future events while retaining our people for the moment the market picks up?”
People Management
Dell asked employees to take up to 5 days off without pay during the next 3 months. Although the leave is not mandatory, the company has indicated that layoffs may be necessary if not enough workers participate in this reduction of hours/pay.
Goal: Reduce workforce costs without severing ties to employees

FedEx cut salaries of senior executives and salaried-exempt employees by 5 to 20%, a $600 million savings.
Brandeis University requested that faculty members give up 1% of their salary, and 30% have volunteered.
Cisco ordered a four-day year-end shutdown. Instead of a severance package, Cisco Systems offered the 8,500 employees it laid off in April, a third of their salaries, all benefits, and stock-option awards while working for one year at a not-for-profit group already associated with the company.

In Atlanta, an expected budget shortfall of $60 million meant that 4,600 city employees had their weekly hours and pay cut by 10%.
During their layoffs, founder Charles Schwab and his wife created a $10 million educational fund for these workers. The fund covers as much as $20,000 worth of tuition over two years at accredited academic institutions for re-training and new skill development.

Megavolt (Springfield, MO) moved to a "shared work program" of three 10-hour days a week. While workers keep their jobs, the lost 10 hours each week is enough for them to be eligible for state unemployment benefits in Missouri.
In 1984, the Maryland General Assembly established the Work Sharing Unemployment Insurance Program. This voluntary program provides employers with an alternative to layoffs. The principle behind Work Sharing is simple; instead of laying off a percentage of the work force to cut costs, an employer can reduce workers' hours by the same percentage and keep the entire work force on the job.
Numerous states allow workers with reduced schedules to collect unemployment: AZ, AR, CA, CT, FL, IA, KS, LA, MD, MA, MN, MO, NY, OR, RI, TX, VT and WA.

One last thing
Carefully consider the impact of your recession driven strategies on employee morale, productivity and loyalty in the long run.
“ So, as recession-inspired actions cross your desk, be sure to evaluate them not only for their bottom line impact today, but also know their impact on your employees and their level of engagement for tomorrow.” Allbusiness.com

Conclusion
FWA can help you to achieve your business goals
FWA offer a wide range of business benefits
FWA provide an alternative to layoffs
Research data documents the significant ROI of FWA
Obstacles exist but can be overcome

Network Resources on Flexible Work
Fact Sheet on Flexible Work Schedules
Effective Workplace Series on Flexible Work Schedules
Workplace Flexibility Case Studies
Topic Page

Other Great Resources on Flexibility
Business Impacts of Flexibility: An Imperative for Expansion, A Report by Corporate Voices for Working Families
Flexibility and ROI: Asking the Right Questions, FlexPaths
Aequus Partners Flexibility Portal
When Work Works
Workforce Flexibility 2010 Flexible Work Arrangements

More Resources
1. Articles
As Layoffs Spread, Innovative Alternatives May Soften the Blow
http:// knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid =2106
Alternatives to Layoffs
http:// management.about.com/cs/people/a/LayoffAlternate.htm
2. Free monthly newsletter on work-family issues from the Sloan Network
http:// wfnetwork.bc.edu/join_form.php
3. The Sloan Network Work and Family blog
http:// wfnetwork.bc.edu /blog/

Need more information? Questions? Contact: Judi C. Casey, Director [email_address] http:// wfnetwork.bc.edu

Flexible Work Arrangements Slideshare 2 26 09 Revised

by Work and Family Researchers Network on Mar 24, 2009

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Flexible Work Arrangements Slideshare 2 26 09 Revised — Presentation Transcript