Stop Watching the Clock

 Anne-Marie Slaughter bursts our collective bubble by telling us “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All.”  Melissa Mayer puts a stop to telecommuting at Yahoo, and Best Buy follows Mayer's lead. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, goes on the talk show circuit to hawk her book “Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead.” Suddenly, the Twitter stream is, well, atwitter, with comments about the American workplace—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Not only are we focused on attracting, hiring and training employees, we are engaging in more meaningful conversation about what workers want and need to be successful, and how employers can retain valuable employees, many of whom are reportedly on the watch for the next best thing. Businesses of course focus on the bottom line, but also strive to be coveted “Best Places to Work.”

Statistics show that nearly 70 percent of employees at all levels are either looking for a new job or are at least open to a new opportunity. In surveys, even greater numbers describe themselves as disengaged from their jobs and company culture. New Hampshire is currently the fourth-oldest state, with a median age of over 40. Companies are struggling with the prospect of finding employees with the skills to replace  retiring baby boomers, and young families are leaving the state. 

The economy, rebounding more slowly than anyone would like, is a global one that needs employees at all levels to be available 24/7, and requires they be connected electronically as never before.

At the same time, the savvy employer is asking what employees want. Closely following behind fair and adequate compensation are flexible hours and telecommuting, the opportunity to use their skills and a sense of purpose at work. The 2012 National Study of Employers, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, shows that employers have increased flexibility measures such as flex time and extended caregiving and personal leave considerably since 2005.

Making the Case for Flexibility

So, what is the business case for flexibility? What are employers expecting a flexible workplace to accomplish?

• Attract and retain committed employees and great talent; 

• Increase employee morale and job satisfaction;

• Increase productivity;

• Reduce turnover and costs of recruiting and training;

• Increase availability to overseas customers and other important stakeholders, which requires moving away from normal business hours;

• And reduce fixed costs for office space and other infrastructure.

Making it Work

The next question is why a company like Yahoo apparently could not make telecommuting and flexibility work. How does a company succeed with a workplace strategy that depends on people doing their jobs autonomously and delivering results? Failures are usually the result of poor employee selection and bad or non-existent management. Try this:

• Start with a few of your best performers and test the waters. 

• Hire well. Put your effort into recruiting the right person for the right job. Pay competitive salaries, offer good benefits and attract the best.

• Stress the importance of communication. When people are on different schedules and in different places, it takes superb technology and a lot of work to exchange ideas and complete projects successfully.

• Set the ground rules in advance. Employees and managers should collaborate to set expectations of one another. Make sure these expectations align with your workplace policies and business strategy.

• Make sure the manager is on board. It does no good to give an employee  top of the line technology if the employee’s manager can’t use it. Assigning a telecommuting or flex time employee to a manager who believes that “face time” is critical is a recipe for disaster.

• Be open and upfront about your expectations of the employee, and address problem performance or behavior quickly. Out of sight, out of mind is not an option.

• Evaluate employees based on clearly established expectations and outcomes. Determine what the measure of success is in your business (sales, client encounters, billable hours, project completion, customer service survey results) and evaluate the success of the employee relationship based on that.

The world has changed, as Gen Y constantly reminds us, and the business community is working hard to keep up. One of the major initiatives of the Society for Human Resource Management, in partnership with the Families and Work Institute, has been to educate employers on how best to find a flexible workplace solution that fits the needs of the company and its employees without a one-size-fits-all
legislative mandate. 

There are many ways flexibility can enhance the NH Advantage by keeping young families who are clamoring for flexibility and older workers who would like to work differently, but remain engaged in their workplaces. Flexibility and telecommuting do not work for all jobs at all times, but it is a discussion companies should continue to remain competitive. 

Charla Bizios Stevens is a shareholder and director in the Employment Practice Group of the McLane Law Firm. She is also the state director for the HR State Council of NH. She can be reached at 603-628-1363 or at charla.stevens@mclane.com.