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flexibility in the workplace

did you know?

Workers of all ages and ranks - even executives in Fortune 500 Companies - say they want more flexibility and would prefer it to a pay increase.

wise words we heard

The juiciest carrot to dangle for prospective employees is not cash; it's flexibility.

The building blocks of the custom-fit workplace are flexible work arrangements that allow employees to create a work-life fit while successfully meeting the needs of their employers. Alternative scheduling, flexible hours, compressed work weeks, reduced workload, part-time, job-sharing, and working virtually are some of the best known options.

You probably already know someone who takes advantage of such an option: a nurse who works four ten-hour shifts each week, an administrator who negotiated a 32-hour reduced schedule, or a salesperson who telecommutes. These common flexible work arrangements affect when, how, and where we work and are critical pieces of the custom-fit workplace.

Advice for Employers

Even small changes in an employee's schedule add up to large improvements in people's lives, such as letting a dad start work at 9 am instead of 8:30 so he can drop his child off at daycare.

Examine any rigid scheduling traditions. Don't let tradition block you from making changes that will make your workforce more able to manage the dual demands of job and life.

Work with your employees to determine schedules that work for them and the company. Seek win-win solutions.

Advice for Workers

When making a case for a flexible work arrangement, cite the business benefits of worker loyalty, decreased absenteeism, even improved health. (See Studies and Research)

Work with your employer to determine a flexibility strategy that works for both you and the company.

Honor your commitment. If your employer allows you to start work at 9am instead of 8:30, don't push your time out to 9:05 or 9:15 without making prior arrangements. If you work from home one day each week, make sure that day is productive.

blogging on flexibility in the workplace

The Gifts Mothers Really Want

flexibility in the workplace

Submitted by Ellen Bravo on Sat, 2012-05-12 04:00

My favorite Mother’s day gifts from my sons were their original stories, songs and poems. But what I needed when they were infants and toddlers was something children can’t deliver: affordable time off when they were born and when they were sick.

So for all those candidates and elected officials interested in the women’s vote and eager to prove their support for motherhood and families, here’s a sampling of what mothers want and need, not just one day a year but every day:

The right to care for a sick child or personal illness without losing our paychecks or our jobs. Moms need leaders to actively support the right for workers to earn paid sick days and champion local, state and federal policies that would guarantee this protection. Make sure no one has to choose between being a good parent and being a good employee — and that no one has to serve you flu with your soup.

Earth Week is for Mothers

flexibility in the workplace

Submitted by Rachel Sarnoff on Wed, 2012-04-25 04:00

by Rachel Sarnoff, Executive Director & CEO
Healthy Child Healthy World
www.healthychild.org

Happiest Babies Are Soothed by 5 S’s

Can simple soothing take the place of sugar? That was the takeaway from a new study published this week in the journal Pediatrics. In a study involving more than 200 infants, researchers found the “5 S’s” baby-calming tactics worked better than the sugar-water supplements traditionally given to infants after experiencing pain, according to ABC News. The 5 S’s tactics were developed by Dr. Harvey Karp, a founding board member of Healthy Child Healthy World and author of “The Happiest Baby on the Block” book and video series. Yet another reason to “shh-shh-shh”!

Carcinogens in the House

The question no one is asking about Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg

Submitted by Jody Thompson on Thu, 2012-04-19 04:00

The world is sludging Sheryl Sandberg. What is “sludge?” you ask? Read on!

This story has been buzzing around the internet this week, and it’s been driving me crazy.

Pete Cashmore of Mashable writes in this article:

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg recently set off quite a debate in the tech world when she told an interviewer that she works a 9-to-5 schedule:

“I walk out of this office every day at 5:30 so I’m home for dinner with my kids at 6, and interestingly, I’ve been doing that since I had kids,” Sandberg said in a video posted on Makers.com. “I did that when I was at Google, I did that here, and I would say it’s not until the last year, two years that I’m brave enough to talk about it publicly. Now I certainly wouldn’t lie, but I wasn’t running around giving speeches on it.”

Is it over already? The Debate about Women and Work Lasted Less than a Week

flexibility in the workplace

Submitted by Ann O'Leary on Tue, 2012-04-17 04:00

Cross posted with author permission from the Huffington Post.

Wow.

So many readers of my last blog post thought I was endorsing Rick Santorum, his policy prescriptions and all the anti-gay and anti-women statements he has made when I wrote that I’d miss him in the Presidential contest.

Not at all.

As I wrote, I don’t agree with his policy prescriptions, but I wish that we had people in both presidential campaigns who are forcing our country to confront the hard issues of how we raise our children and support our families at a time of growing single-parent households and growing childhood poverty.

Case in point: The inane media debate over who works harder—stay-at-home mothers or mothers who work outside the home—and the fact that less than a week later, it seems to be over.

Work Stronger, Not Longer

Submitted by Jennifer Spencer on Tue, 2012-04-03 04:00

Cross-posted at Out of My Head

An article on Salon.com made the rounds yesterday about returning to a 40 hour work week. Sound familiar?

The new ideal was to unleash “internal entrepreneurs” — Randian übermenschen who would devote all their energies to the corporation’s success, in expectation of great reward — and who were willing to assume all the risks themselves. In this brave new world, the real go-getters were the ones who were willing to put in weekends and Saturdays, who put their families on hold, who ate at their desks and slept in their cubicles. Forty-hour weeks were for losers and slackers, who began to vanish from America’s business landscape. And with their passing, we all but forgot all the very good reasons that we used to have those limits.

I posted the article on Facebook and got a lot of agreement from entrepreneur friends, then I sent it in an email and got complete push back from an entrepreneur friend. Hot button topic much?

3 Key to Making Unlimited Vacation Policies Actually Work

flexibility in the workplace

Submitted by Cali Ressler on Mon, 2012-03-26 04:00

The concept of unlimited vacation or “no vacation policy” is becoming a popular idea. Large companies like IBM, HubSpot, and Netflix have kicked the standard two-week vacation policy to the curb.

Over the years, we’ve worked with many organization, big and small, to help them implement a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE). A big part of this process is helping management and employees understand what it takes to make a “no vacation policy” actually work.

Naturally, people love the idea of unlimited vacation. You hear about it and you want it for yourself. But it’s easy to say, harder to do. “We’re going to have unlimited vacation from now on!” just doesn’t cut it.

Management expects employees to jump for joy, but instead what we find is that employees and leadership have a lot of questions and concerns. We hear things like:

“What do you mean? You’re taking away my vacation?”

“How will I ever take a vacation then?”

“Is this just a sneaky way to get me to work MORE?”

Time Off For Babies: Why it matters

flexibility in the workplace

Submitted by Amy Lyman on Wed, 2012-03-14 04:00

A report released by Human Rights Watch on Feb 23, 2011 titled Failing Its Families offers a critique of the historical and current support provided by the United States government for family-leave programs. The US is cited as one of just three countries worldwide offering no legal guarantee of paid maternity leave for working families. The question of a legal guarantee for paid paternity leave, or paid guardian leave was not raised in the report. The 1993 Family Medical Leave Act does provide for up to 12 weeks of job protected unpaid leave for men and women, yet covers only about half of the workforce.

There is of course also no guaranteed support provided for non-working families in the US, unless the mother is living at such a level of poverty that she and her baby qualify for a government aid program. Yet in these cases poverty is the reason the aid is provided – it is not in general provided as recognition of the fact that a new member has joined society and we all want to make sure that she/he gets off to a good start.

A Working Mom’s Journey to a Results-Only Work Environment

Submitted by Cali Ressler on Mon, 2012-03-12 04:00

I want to share a story from my friend, Rebecca. She’s a successful lawyer and mom, and she’s been on the hunt for a better work environment. I hope you enjoy her story.

In June 2012, I wrote a blog post called “Having It All”. I shared my journey through law school, the entry into private practice, having a baby, and my plan to claw and scratch my way into a work environment that allowed me to have it all.

A Day in the Lives of 15 Working Mothers

Submitted by Michelle Noehren on Wed, 2012-03-07 05:00

Have you ever wondered if your work day is anything like other working mothers days? Recently, my website www.ctworkingmoms.com followed the working day of each of our work-mom bloggers (15 of us!) and we found it fascinating to see how alike our days actually are. (Credit for this terrific idea goes to our blogger Christa Allard)

A few themes we discovered:

We are all, very, very tired at the end of the day.
We often use the TV to entertain our kids while we get ready for work in the morning and/or try to prepare dinner at night.
Working moms are heroes! Seriously. It’s amazing how much each of us gets done in a single day.

Check out each one of our blog posts. I think you’ll find we all have a lot more in common than you may think.

UPS Hearts Logistics. Pregnant Employees, Not So Much.

flexibility in the workplace

Submitted by ACLU on Mon, 2012-03-05 05:00

By Ariela Migdal, Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU Women’s Rights Project

Peggy Young delivered letters and packages sent by air for UPS. When she got pregnant after struggling with infertility and IVF, her doctor recommended that she not lift more than 20 pounds. She asked UPS, where she had worked since 1999, for a "light duty" assignment, so that she could continue working through her pregnancy.

UPS said no. It explained that its policy was to offer light duty assignments or "inside" jobs to lots of different kinds of workers who were temporarily unable to perform their regular tasks: workers who were injured on the job, workers with a qualifying disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act, workers who lose their commercial driving licenses because of an off-the-job injury, and workers involved in a car accident.

As a result, Peggy was put on unpaid leave with no medical coverage.