Flexible work options

HR Magazine, Feb, 1996 by Elizabeth Sheley

Workplace flexibility might strike some as old news, with flextime now almost as common as the coffee break. But as hard data on the subject begin to replace anecdotes, flexible work options are gaining strength both as a business imperative and as a new direction.

Retention has become a major reason behind workplace flexibility programs. As Joan Gardner, vice president of management resources at the DuPont Corp. in Wilmington, Del., says, "If we don't have programs that will encourage our people to stay, then somebody else is going to invent the next breakthrough product." And at the Big Six accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche LLP based in Wilton, Conn., Jim Wall, national director, human resources, is equally emphatic. "Our only competitive advantage is having talented people, so we need to keep them."

Another business argument for flexible work arrangements is that they allow companies to match the peaks and valleys of activity. More organizations have shifted their focus to bow potential changes in schedule will affect the product. Reduced absenteeism, though often overlooked, is also a legitimate business rationale; flexible options not only strengthen commitment, but also give employees more time to handle the very situations that sometimes lead to absenteeism.

The message from those leaders trying out flexible options is: Focus on the business reason. If the work can get done and the employee pulls his or her weight, the employee on a flexible option will be more loyal and productive than other employees. By focusing on business concerns, the burden of equitable decision making - or playing favorites - is also eliminated. For example, not asking for the reasons behind flexible option requests leaves managers less vulnerable to having to judge whether one employee's baby is more important than another's elderly parent. HR managers at DuPont point out that corporate policy has never been to rank needs for flexible options, to pit child care against golf, or graduate study against writing poetry.

If employees - especially managers - view the workplace flexibility program as an accommodation for people with special needs, they will not accept it as just another way of working. According to Marcia Kropf, vice president of research and advisory services at New York-based Catalyst, a nonprofit organization dedicated to effecting change for women, establishing programs is not enough to effect culture change. Employees must know about policies and be comfortable using the options. Dramatic shifts occur when the change is truly driven by senior management.

MOST POPULAR OPTIONS

Kropf points out that the most popular flexible options are those that involve the least change. Flextime and compressed work weeks, for example, call for the same number of hours, at the same workplace, as in traditional work arrangements.

Another popular option is telecommuting, which is gaining ground because of changes in technology that allow better communication with the office via e-mail, voice mail and other means. But this option, too, assumes full-time work. Since most workers want the money that comes with full-time hours, flextime and telecommuting are likely to remain the most commonly used - especially by men.

At White Plains, N.Y.-based Nynex, which provides phone service for the northeastern United States, flexible work arrangements are viewed as a business imperative. According to Robyn Phillips, director of corporate culture initiatives, although women have shown a much stronger willingness to request flexible arrangements that require approval, men use full-time flexible options such as compressed hours as often as do women.

Some employees worry about whether participation in an organization's flexible workplace program could make them more vulnerable in a downsizing. According to Kropf, it's a legitimate fear. "Those in flex options are seen as less committed, less loyal and less hard-working," she explains. "It's a very common concern."

Nynex's Phillips has looked at ways to combat this defeatist mentality. "When we find groups of employees who have an environment where flexibility can work, we discuss it with them, and promote it by giving examples of success" from within the company. Ultimately, it comes down to the relationship between the employee and the supervisor, however, and not all those relationships have the optimal level of trust. The Nynex HR department tries to show that productivity and loyalty improve when flexible work arrangements are available; where successful, they can promote the program more easily.

MANAGING EMPLOYEES USING FLEXIBLE OPTIONS

Workplace flexibility requires managers to develop a new set of skills. Managers used to manage by sight, and defined work by hours on site. If a worker was in the office for eight hours, the boss assumed that person did eight hours of work. But Kropf sees a need for new skills focusing on work flow, productivity and the nature of the work that needs to be done.

This has been the experience at Deloitte & Touche. Wall is convinced that most, if not all, of the 600 workers now on reduced hours would have left the company if it had not become more flexible. Deloitte & Touche's program was initiated by CEO J. Michael Cook, who was alarmed at the high attrition rate among the firm's female accountants. Interviews with employees, including some who left the organization, led to a flexible workplace program that solved the problem. To make the managers comfortable with the change and heighten awareness of related issues, the organization ran a mandatory two-day workshop on men and women as colleagues.