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The Retail Employer

 May 2007

Be the One Encouraging Work/Life Balance and Create a Flexible Workplace

The topic of work/life balance has grown increasingly important to workers. Many cite sky-high stress levels, little personal time and high on-the-job demands as reasons why they left a job for one with more flexibility. As workers continue to press the issue with employers, it’s time for top companies to step up and offer solutions for flexibility.

Organizations that do so may be surprised to find that this increases their recruiting and retention efforts exponentially. In fact, studies show that companies that actively promote work/life balance reduce turnover by 50%. Additionally, companies experience increased revenue, productivity or both by 20%. One of the main ways employers of choice can help promote work/life balance is to establish flexible schedules and other policies that help workers find more time in their days. Check out these examples of top companies that have made the change to flexibility and have reaped the rewards:

  • Genetech—This biotechnology firm has a flextime policy that 90% of their workforce participates in. Their success and growth are linked to their emphasis on work/life balance so much that in 2006, they were No. 1 on Fortune’s 100 Preferred Places to Work list.
  • Hewlett-Packard—In the U.S., 70% of their employees use flexible or part-time work schedules, job sharing or telecommuting. They made Working Mothers’ 100 Best Companies list. In Canada, the company was on MacLean’s Top 100 Best Places to Work list.
  • S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc.—Of their workforce, 50% work outside the office, and voluntary turnover is a mere 2%. They also made Fortune’s top list, coming in at 10. They are also number 20 on the Best Places to Work in Canada list.
  • Best Buy—This company’s corporate office is the poster child for a flexible workforce. They have gone so far as to implement a no mandatory meetings, no schedule workplace. Employees are allowed to come in to the office whenever they want. Employees must simply complete their work, but they face being fired if they don’t. Since the program started, workers participating in the program have increased productivity an incredible 35%, and there is essentially zero voluntary turnover.

So how can your small business implement flexible work options? Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Offer Flexible Schedules

Arrange work schedules so that employees can have the flexibility to decide when they start and end their workdays. For example, you can allow some employees to come to work at 6 a.m. and leave at 3 p.m. and others to arrive at 9 a.m. and leave at 6 p.m. You’ll actually have more hours in the day for customers to interact with your company. This is probably the easiest of flexible work options for small business owners to offer. Not only can you increase productivity by giving workers some non-peak time to accomplish their work, you’ll expand your operating hours and bolster your customer service possibilities. You can also look into a compressed work week program, in which employees work longer hours but fewer days a week.

Consider Telecommuting

For certain jobs, you may be able to allow some workers to telecommute a few days a week. This simply means they’ll complete a portion of their work where it’s most convenient for them. Telecommuting is a great option for jobs that are telephone or computer intensive. Professional, customer service, support and information-based jobs are great candidates for telecommuting. When using telecommuting for a part of your workforce, it’s important to require regular in-person updates with supervisors and work teams to ensure telecommuters still feel like a part of your team.

Use a Flexible Approach

When it’s not possible to implement a schedule change or allow offsite work, you can still create a flexible work environment by simply changing the way you manage your workforce. Showing that you care about your employees and their needs outside of work can go a long way when other options aren’t possible.

Remember that a flexible workplace isn’t merely good for employees, it’s good for employers as well. Promoting work/life balance through flexibility in your workplace can help increase employee engagement and retention with little or no costs. It can even lower stress-related health care costs. Start encouraging work/life balance in your workplace today to reap the rewards of decreased turnover, added productivity and a happier, more fulfilled workforce.

This article is reprinted with permission of www.ExpressPersonnel.com. Contact Mr. Lars Nordin at Lars.Nordin@ExpressPersonnel.com if you would like to be added to their distribution list.

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Never Enough Time?

One of the most frequent issues mentioned is the lack of time to get the important things done. Owners know the things that need to be done but cannot seem to work on them until they become a crisis or at least a more pressing priority. The real question is,” Is my team working on the right things?”

Owners sometimes have a tendency to do the things that make them “feel productive” but are not necessarily the most productive things for their business’s success. At times, we all have found ourselves avoiding doing the right things because they are usually the difficult ones to be done. Easier said than done! Recognize your behavior and change your direction to the activities that will get the most important things accomplished..

Recently I read an article in which the author stressed the importance of the business systems. His point was “your business systems” alleviate the problems and carry your projects through to completion not just your physical effort..

Take some time each week to insure:

  • Your business is focused on the right priorities
  • Your business systems get you the desired results.
  • Your people are well trained on your systems.
  • Look to tweak your systems to solve many mundane time-consuming problems.
  • Evaluate “Am I leveraging my every team member’s time for maximum results?”
Strong systems help manage everyone’s time better, giving you time to work smarter!

This article is reprinted with permission of Mike Dunleavey, mikedunleavey@iib.ws, Executive Associate - Business Support Center - Retail Merchants Association.

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