Long-standing traditions don't die easily. Historically, success in corporate America has meant sacrificing your personal life, family involvement and community participation. For most corporate-ladder climbers, business came first, at the expense of family, continuing education and recreational time. The typical employee was a married "breadwinning" man, while the wife took care of the children and the home. However, such "Ozzie and Harriet" scenarios have become the stuff of '50s television -- not a reflection of the dual-career families of the '90s. Today, men and women alike are putting in long hours, striving for upper management positions and the fabled brass ring of success.
At the same time, the 40-hour workweek has vanished for most people. With unemployment rates at a near-all-time low and an increasingly competitive global economy, the number of hours spent working has actually increased. Add to that the growing number of couples who struggle with childcare arrangements and suffer long commutes to their offices, and you've got a stressed-out working population.
In response, many employers in corporate America are rushing to comfort its employees by creating "family-friendly" policies that allow frazzled staffers to better juggle their work and home lives. In fact, scores of companies have developed work-life programs, as they are called, that were unthinkable just a few decades ago. And the options are wide-ranging and creative: Flextime, job sharing, telecommuting, maternity and paternity leave, on or near-site childcare services, vouchers or subsidies for childcare, emergency childcare and elder care are but a few of the new family-oriented services that are common today. The list goes on and on.
Some companies are outdoing themselves, and of course, technology makes such programs all the more manageable. However, it's not only big corporations that are taking this kinder, gentler approach to achieving work-life balance. Small- and mid-sized business owners are increasingly using innovative programs. According to The Survey of Small and Mid-Sized Businesses conducted in 1998 by Arthur Andersen's Enterprise Group and National Small Business United, nearly half of the companies surveyed offered flextime (up from 36 percent in 1997); nearly one-third offered employee leave (up from 19 percent); and 22 percent allowed employees to telecommute (compared to 12 percent in 1997).
So what's driving this corporate benevolence? Apparently, recruitment and retention efforts are behind the change. Work-life policies are attractive to potential employees, and they can sometimes help make the difference in an employee's decision to join, remain employed by, or leave a company.
"The shift is from 'nice' to 'necessary.' Maybe 10 years ago employers thought it would be nice to offer childcare, flextime and such, but when you have an unemployment rate the lowest it's been in 30 years, it's not about nice anymore. These programs are necessary to attract and retain a quality work force," says Nancy Kaylor, an analyst with CCH Inc., a provider of human resources and employment law information based in Riverwoods, Ill. "Many more employers are investing the money and the time to get these work-life programs up and running. It's a bottom line issue."
It's not only those with families who are crying out for balance; Generation Xers are speaking up, too. Whether they want more freedom to continue their education or merely to pursue non-work-related activities and interests, they've let it be known that they want a life beyond the office.
Then, too, there's the notion that a less-stressed employee is more productive, and a juiced workforce is certainly a competitive advantage in today's global economy. To a lesser degree, there's another reason for the increased sensitivity coming from corporate boardrooms. "What's also driving the trend is the fact that many CEOs have watched their daughters struggle to cope with work and family,'' says Francoise Carre, research director at the Radcliffe Public Policy Institute in Cambridge, Mass.
Lastly, "In the face of competition, such policies have become a corporate priority," explains Diane McFerrin Peters, a human resources consultant in New York City.
Reality vs. Rhetoric
While many companies are making an honest effort to offer employees more balance in their lives, the jury is still out on how much staffers are actually benefiting from these policies. According to a 1998 study titled "Work-Family Roundtable: Technology's Affect on Work-Life Balance" conducted by the New York-based Conference Board, while 80 percent of surveyed companies allowed employees to telecommute, only 6 percent of employees did. More than 60 percent of employees were unable to telecommute, largely because of job requirements, such as operating machinery and greeting customers, that make it necessary for employees to be onsite. Other inhibitors included concerns on the part of both supervisors and workers who want employees onsite where they can be supervised.
Another 1998 study by the Families and Work Institute in New York City concluded that family-friendly benefits haven't improved significantly during the last five years. And while 74 percent to 84 percent of employees have access to traditional fringe benefits, only a minority had access to childcare services or assistance, or elder care.
It seems that many corporations are talking the talk, but not walking the walk; instead, they are tiptoeing around the issues. According to the Families and Work Institute survey, 64 percent of human resources executives said they believed that it's either "somewhat or very true" that their companies don't make a real effort to inform employees of the family-friendly programs that are offered. Discouraging results such as these beg the question, What good are family-friendly benefits if employees are unaware of them?
Tom Dunn, president of Dunn Lawn & Land, a St. Louis, Mo., provider of landscaping and other services, illustrates why some small business owners are reluctant to spearhead such programs. Dunn's company offers profit sharing and bonus plans, but not flextime or job sharing. He says he would consider offering other services, but his 22 employees haven't raised the issue with him. "These initiatives are worth discussing, but I wouldn't push for them," he explains. "When your [company is] small, everybody's job is defined. If people are not there, you could have continuity issues."
And, there's also a perception problem on the part of employees: Some workers shy away from taking advantage of work-life initiatives out of concern about the negative impact they may have on their careers. While management may say that participating in these initiatives has no ramifications on one's career, studies show that employees feel otherwise. Staffers may, for instance, feel that they'll be labeled "mommy trackers" if they utilize job-sharing to have more time to spend raising children. Likewise, younger workers fear the "slacker" stigma if they take advantage of a flextime schedule.
Companies Seize the Opportunity and Benefit
Despite the obstacles and drawbacks, smart companies are wholeheartedly embracing such programs -- and benefiting from them. According to the Families and Work Institutes' 1997 National Study of the Changing Workforce, employees with more supportive workplaces and better quality jobs are more likely than other workers to have higher levels of job satisfaction, more commitment to their companies' success, greater loyalty to their companies, and a stronger intention to remain with their companies.
Family-friendly policies can also combat expensive absenteeism. According to CCH, in 1998, unscheduled absenteeism by American workers reached the highest level in seven years, costing the nation's businesses millions. And small employers were hit the hardest by this epidemic. In fact, firms with fewer than 100 employees had the highest absenteeism cost per employee, at up to $1,044, compared to the overall maximum of $572 per employee. CCH reports that most of these employees were not sick themselves; rather, they were using sick days to handle work-life issues and recover from high stress levels.
Although family-friendly policies can be costly, especially when it comes to putting in place on-site daycare, for example, some executives say it's money well spent. And those without big budgets have found ways to offer work-family programs without breaking the bank. In fact, what many employees want and need most is flexibility, which when structured properly, can cost little or nothing at all.
"I'm big on flextime -- always have been," says Aurora Flores, president of Aurora Communications, a five-employee public relations and advertising firm in New York City. "If someone needs flexibility in their hours so that they can pick up a child from school or for some other family reason, I accommodate that,'' says Flores, who has been in business for 11 years. "They don't ask for flexibility for frivolous reasons, so I take them seriously."
Flores credits her family-friendly policies with building a team atmosphere, as well as increasing productivity and loyalty. "I don't have turnover problems. I don't want people working for me who hate their jobs so much that they don't want to come to the office," she adds. And she has discovered that if you give a little flexibility, you are often repaid tenfold in loyalty. "When I have an emergency crop up with a client, and everybody needs to put in extra hours, I find they do so happily, not begrudgingly."
Another small business owner who is a big advocate of flexibility is Gregory Carson, president of Echolink Interactive, a 60-employee firm in San Diego that creates content and e-commerce for clients. "We don't have any official policies, but we are just generally flexible,'' he says, explaining that some of his engineers telecommute. "As long as everyone stays committed, it's not an issue."
At one point, the ever-flexible Carson even allowed an employee to bring a puppy to work. "I find you get a better quality of work when people are happy and having fun," he says of the decision.
JTECH Communications, a small technology-communications firm in Boca Raton, Fla., found a way to help employees deal with their teenagers on summer vacation from school. In the past, JTECH's working parents had been forced to miss work to cope with their teenagers' problems. In response, a creative human resources department launched a summer internship program in which worker's kids joined them at the office to handle jobs such as large mailings. Not only did JTECH save money by paying the teens the minimum-wage rate when they would have had to pay higher rates to more qualified workers, but the youngsters learned a lesson about responsibility, made a little cash, and allowed their parents to concentrate on their own jobs.
How to Get Going
For those companies who have yet to implement programs, experts provided advice and strategies for getting started.
First off, know that you don't have to spend vast sums to make your employees happy. If an employee expresses interest in telecommuting, it doesn't necessarily mean you have to shell out the money to set them up with a computer, fax and whatever other supplies they need to get started. Often, employees already have the equipment or will buy it themselves if it means an opportunity to telecommute.
What's more, in such a case, the responsibility will fall on the employee -- not you -- to show how the situation can work. "You can ask employees to submit a proposal outlining how they can effectively do their jobs from home. If they have children, you should discuss whether they will have childcare available so they can work without interruption," points out Caroline Zambrowicz, spokesperson for the Society for Human Resource Management.
Then, you can effectively evaluate from the employee's proposal whether or not it makes sense to allow him or her to work from home. Keep in mind, however, that after you offer this benefit to one employee, you may have a flood of similar requests from other staffers -- in which case you will need to develop an overall corporate policy on telecommuting.
Consider the following additional tips for offering cost-effective family-friendly services:
Finding the right mix of work-life services is not a one-size-fits-all situation, points out Kaylor. "The important thing is not to just offer some [generic] new program. The first step is to know who your workforce is today, and who they will be tomorrow. If they all have pets, for example, then offering petsitting may be the way to go."
Furthermore, many companies are now expanding their notions of family-friendly policies to include investing in community-based service providers, such as childcare or eldercare, reports the Families and Work Institute. These companies reason that they are not doing enough by referring employees to service providers in the community if there isn't enough care, or the quality of care is insufficient. Therefore, employers have begun making investments in the long-term process of building the supply and increasing the quality of local services. In the realm of childcare, for example, some companies are investing in their communities' capacity to provide parents with affordable, high-quality early education and care.
Finally, after investing the time and money to get work-life initiatives off the ground, you'll want convey to your employees that taking advantages of such programs will not negatively effect their careers. And dispelling that myth starts from the top of your organization. One way to help send that message is to train your supervisors in how to respond to the work-family needs of your staff, and hold managers accountable for issues that arise as a result of employees utilizing such services.
If you need an incentive to get going, McFerrin Peters offers this thought, "There's no limit to what you can do with creative thinking. Companies can't do without these policies; those that do will get lost in the dust."
Copyright © 2000 by Virtual Advisor, Inc. All rights reserved.