Corporate Voices for Working Families

Best Practices in HR, in its Sept. 5 issue,  features a recent study conducted by Corporate Voices for Working Families regarding workplace flexibility for hourly workers. The publication is produced by Business & Legal Reports.

The study, Innovative Workplace Flexibility Options for Hourly Workers, finds that flexibility arrangements for hourly workers are just as beneficial as those for salaried workers. Furthermore, employers who present this flexibility to hourly employees find that this option enhances recruitment, retention, engagement, productivity and cost control.

In the article, John Wilcox, Vice President of Operations for Corporate Voices, says that although flextime is practical for most hourly positions, it is not always possible. Therefore, employers use other alternatives to provide flexibility such as a compressed workweek, taking vacation or sick time in hourly or partial-day increments, or trading shifts with a co-worker.

Another key finding of the study is the benefit of allowing hourly workers to set their own hours — an option that is not only valuable to employees but managers as well. Ultimately, “managers and employees both report that flexibility positively impacts productivity, customer service, work/life effectiveness, stress levels and well being”.

Also included in the article are Corporate Voices’ recommendations for best practices to follow when applying workplace flexibility for hourly workers. Here are a few examples:

• Empower employees in the design and ongoing management of flexible work practices
• Give employees some choice and control over their work hours
• Train managers on flexible work practices
• Effectively communicate schedules and business information throughout the organization
• Use flexibility as a business tool to help the organization recruit, develop and retain high-performers.

The complete text of the study, as well as other research and information about flexible work options, is available on the Corporate Voices for Working Families Web site.

By Ellie Smeallie

Corporate Voices for Working Families is featured in a recent article on healthleadersmedia.com titled “Human Resources: Targeted Workers Create Opportunity.”

The article focuses on the Work Opportunity Tax Credit that was expanded as part of the economic stimulus package to include “disabled veterans and disconnected youth.”

Corporate Voices for Working Families played a key role in ensuring that disconnected youth were included in the economic stimulus package. And we did this work in concert with several of our partner companies including Marriott International, TJX, CVS Caremark, and KPMG, and in coalition with strategic outreach partners including the Community Service Society of New York, Jobs for the Future, Year-Up and STRIVE.

Here’s a section of the article, with perspective from Elyse Rosenblum, Corporate Voices Vice President of Workforce Readiness, Research and Policy.

Employers looking at WOTC candidates must understand that they are a work in progress. Though enthusiastic, WOTC candidates often have either been out of the workforce for a long time, or have never been in the workforce. They often lack the specific skills, work experience and the educational attainment of other applicants in the general workforce, says Elyse Rosenblum, vice president of workforce readiness, research, and policy at Corporate Voices for Working Families, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit advocacy group.

Rosenblum says WOTC candidates have to fight stereotypes that they are unmotivated, untrainable, and unreliable. “That is really at the heart of the issue, that there are perceptions around this population that are quite negative,” she says. “You have to anticipate that they will bring with them some additional training and support needs. That is why this tax credit is in place. It is a recognition both of the risk that employers are taking and that it takes some extra effort to help them be successful.”

Additional information, publications and research studies on a host of workforce readiness issues are available on the Corporate Voices Web site.

And we expect to prepare and distribute soon a resource guide to help employers take full advantage of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit as it applies to disconnected youth.

Congratulations to 23 of our corporate partners who have made Working Mother Magazine’s “100 Best Companies 2009.”

The rigorous selection process involves an assessment of each company’s policies on benefits, woman’s issues and advancement, child care, workplace flexibility and parental leave among others.

Here’s some background:

“The 2009 Working Mother 100 Best Companies application includes some 500 questions on workforce, compensation, child care, flexibility programs, leave policies and more. It also surveys usage, availability and tracking of programs, as well as the accountability of managers who oversee them…With the help of an independent research firm, we validated the applications for completeness and tabulated the scores, which then determined the winners. This year we gave particular weight to benefits, flexibility and parental leave…”

The Corporate Voices’ partners that were honored on this prestigious list are:
•    Abbott Laboratories
•    Accenture
•    Allstate Insurance Company
•    AOL
•    AstraZeneca
•    Bank of America
•    Booz Allen Hamilton
•    CITI
•    Deloitte & Touche, LLP
•    Eli Lilly and Company
•    Ernst & Young
•    GlaxoSmithKline
•    Goldman, Sachs & Co.
•    Johnson & Johnson
•    JPMorgan Chase
•    KPMG LLP
•    Marriott International, Inc.
•    MassMutual Financial Group
•    Merck & Co., Inc.
•    Morgan Stanley
•    PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.
•    RSM McGladrey
•    The Phoenix Companies, Inc.

Corporate Voices has recently partnered with Working Mother Media to recognize the Best Companies for Hourly Workers and to highlight best practices throughout the American business community. Those companies that are selected for the Best Companies for Hourly Workers list will be featured in the May 2010 issue of Working Mother magazine and honored at a celebration in New York City.

The application and additional information can be found online.

By Ellie Smeallie