Leanne Chase, President of Career Life Connection, has contributed this post as a Featured Guest Blogger. This is the third post in a Corporate Voices blog series exploring key themes discussed during the “Focus on Workplace Flexibility” national conference, held on November 29-30. This series aims to continue the dialogue and forward momentum for expanding awareness about the positive business impacts of flexibility, how flexibility improves the lives of working families and about what tools and resources exist to help employers implement flexibility policies and practices. This series also aims to represent the different perspectives on an important issue affecting the lives of working families. The views expressed in this blog series are those of the writers and contributors.
I would love to live in a world where employers did what was right for employees because they were altruistic and cared about them. I’m sure in that world the sun would shine everyday, we would not need to worry about carbon emissions, we could eat as much cake as we like and would only grow fat by eating lettuce. We don’t live in that world.
In the world we live in, employers need to make money. That pays salaries and keeps stockholders happy. And that is the motivation behind providing flexibility at work. While some employers understand that making money and keeping customers happy go hand in hand with a happy workforce…this may have been a secondary realization. And that’s what I learned mostly at the Sloan Foundation’s “Focus on Workplace Flexibility” conference a couple of weeks ago. The path to flexibility may have been different for each employer, but the reason was not…it was strictly good business:
Beat the Competition
At Cardinal Health, Inc they had a problem. When they looked around they realized they were losing workers to their competitors. They realized many of the workers they were losing had recently returned from having children. They realized that with their workers went their competitive advantage. So they listened. They talked. And they asked for volunteers to pilot a flexibility program. It was 100 percent voluntary. Pre and post surveys found that those who were working flexibly had lower stress levels, higher productivity and better morale. That was all the information they needed to go from pilot to company-wide flexibility and what they needed to retain their competitive advantage.
Knowledge is Power and Good Customer Service
While Bon Secours Health System is one of those employers who does believe in treating their employees right, they still had a high turnover rate: 25 percent. When they looked deeper they found that as their employee population was aging, the very physical aspect of a nurse’s job was becoming too much for some. 30 percent of their workforce was over 50 years old. They had great desire to keep working, they had many years’ worth of knowledge about how to do the job…they just couldn’t do some aspects of it. So what to do? Change it up. Bon Secours changed some aspects of the job, allowing older workers to do more of the non-physical aspects of the job while others could do less. They allowed people to do phased retirement…where they retired from their original job, but then came back to work. Employees often returned to a different position and it was often part-time, but the company retained their employees’ vast knowledge and skills while allowing them to live the life they wanted to in their older years. The result? Turnover is now under 9 percent, employee engagement is in the 9oth percentile (according to a Gallup survey) and in their eyes most importantly they scored in the 90th percentile for patient satisfaction.
According to Bonnie Shelor, Sr. Vice President, Human Resources, they felt they needed to change and become more flexible because:
“the generation today as well as the older generation…don’t want the work style that has become, I guess, the norm. And that has been born out in research after research, and we know that from our own employees.”
Happy Employees = Higher Profits
Just ask President and CEO of Solix, Inc John Parry. When he took over, they had a 15-20 percent turnover rate and 5 percent absenteeism. But what most struck him was how unhappy the employees were. Why? Well, they were working under some arcane rules. One was that the office opened at 8am and closed at 6pm. Period. As he met with every of his 200 employees, he heard over and over that in New Jersey where traffic is a major issue, getting to work by 8am and leaving at 6pm was making people very cranky. When asked why Solix was operating this way he was told that workers needed supervision. Period. He looked his managers in the eye and told them that if the employees were trusted to make million dollar decisions (which many were), they could certainly be trusted to do their jobs without someone standing over them 8-6. Now employees can work when they want. As for profitability, John says, “Profitability is a good thing, particularly if you’re a CEO and want to sick around for a while.” He’s been around for 6 years and has grown the company from 200 to 850 employees.
Attracting & Keeping Top Talent
John Deere wanted a workforce that was results-oriented and creative. In order to get and keep them they felt they needed to provide a mutually beneficial workplace where people and results were valued and sitting in a chair was not. Their biggest challenge was changing the perception that those who wanted more flexibility at work were not “lazy.” In fact, those workers were innovative thinkers. They could see beyond the “this is how we do it,” to the “this is how it can be done.” John Deere has accomplished that now with their salaried workers. They are now challenging their line workers and managers to think creatively and empowering them to create their own version of flexibility. And they continue to be an employer of choice in a business that many think cannot possibly be flexible.
Breakdowns are Bad for Business
Just ask Rich Sheriden, the founder of Menlo Innovations. When he realized he was not the manager he wanted to be he decided he could leave or he could change things. He admits he chose the more difficult task. Turning his company into one that spreads joy among employees, customers and himself. He subscribes strongly to Peter Drucker’s management philosophy that companies need to be flexible to succeed and he also follows the lean manufacturing philosophy which says never to operate at 100 percent.
“If I require a flexible workforce, then I have to create a flexible business that accomodates the needs of human beings…And if you need to be flexible, then you cannot operate at 100 percent…because if something breaks down, where do you find the capacity to fix it? Not to mention if you work people many hours for too long on software projects…it actually creates more work…to fix all the bugs that are created when your workforce is tired.”
At Menlo, no one person is responsible for any project. And they get moved to work with different partners on different projects regularly. So when an employee wanted to hike in Columbia for 6 months…no problem once the project he was on was over. When he returned from his trip he was put on a new project. In 10 years Rich Sheriden has never had to deny a vacation request. He should also be proud of his sick leave policy…”If you’re sick don’t come in.” And as Menlo has an open office plan with shared computers, that policy just makes good business sense.
Some of the other things I learned from employers at the “Focus on Flexibility” conference:
- Flexibility comes in all size companies–the companies featured in this post range from 50 to 50,000 employees.
- Listening is key– most of Solix’s change has come from the CEO listening to employees. They can ask the CEO a question anonymously anytime and he will answer them within 48 hours.
- Family flexibility does not mean dependent children only – at Bon Secours grandchildren are also eligible for on-site daycare.
- Telecommuting does not work for everyone – Solix piloted a telecommuting program where people worked from home and came in the office once a month. It failed miserably. Workers wanted to be in the office more. So they changed the program so people can work 2-3 days from home and 2-3 days in the office. And it is now very successful.
- Flexibility isn’t only about women…even after child birth. It was fun to see Menlo’s CEO beaming with pride over the two awards his company has won for encouraging and accommodating breastfeeding in the workplace.
The New York Times had an interesting and informative editorial this week, “College, Jobs and Inequality.” It highlights several important issues facing our nation: the fact that even people with college degrees are having a difficult time finding a job in today’s economy, the urgent need for our economy to create and sustain good-paying jobs and the need for a skilled workforce in today’s competitive global economy.
Here’s from the editorial:
Searching for solace in bleak unemployment numbers, policy makers and commentators often cite the relatively low joblessness among college graduates, which is currently 5.1 percent compared with 10 percent for high school graduates and an overall jobless rate of 9.8 percent. Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, cited the data recently on “60 Minutes” to make the point that “educational differences” are a root cause of income inequality.
A college education is better than no college education and correlates with higher pay. But as a cure for unemployment or as a way to narrow the chasm between the rich and everyone else, “more college” is a too-easy answer. Over the past year, for example, the unemployment rate for college grads under age 25 has averaged 9.2 percent, up from 8.8 percent a year earlier and 5.8 percent in the first year of the recession that began in December 2007. That means recent grads have about the same level of unemployment as the general population. It also suggests that many employed recent grads may be doing work that doesn’t require a college degree.
And more:
Even more disturbing, there is no guarantee that unemployed or underemployed college grads will move into much better jobs as conditions improve. Early bouts of joblessness, or starting in a lower-level job with lower pay, can mean lower levels of career attainment and earnings over a lifetime.Graduates who have been out of work or underemployed in the downturn may also find themselves at a competitive disadvantage with freshly minted college graduates as the economy improves.
When it comes to income inequality, college-educated workers make more than noncollege-educated ones. But higher pay for college grads cannot explain the profound inequality in the United States. The latest installment of the groundbreaking work on income inequality by the economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez shows that the richest 1 percent of American households — those making more than $370,000 a year — received 21 percent of total income in 2008. That was slightly below the highs of the bubble years but still among the highest percentages since the Roaring Twenties.
The top 10 percent — those making more than $110,000 — received 48 percent of total income, leaving 52 percent for the bottom 90 percent. Where are college-educated workers? Their median pay has basically stagnated for the past 10 years, at roughly $72,000 a year for men and $52,000 a year for women.
Several major issues and challenges in all of this. Here are two:
- We are not creating and sustaining enough jobs — especially those that pay well and offer career opportunities.
- Baby Boomers are not exiting the workforce en masse as predicted. Here’s from an article in USA Today, “American workforce growing grayer“:
The number of people 55 and older holding jobs is on track to hit a record 28 million in 2010 while young people increasingly are squeezed out of the labor market, a USA TODAY analysis finds.
The portion of people ages 16-24 in the labor market is at the lowest level since the government began keeping track in 1948, falling from 66% in 2000 to 55% this year. There are 17 million in that age group who are employed, the fewest since 1971 when the population was much smaller.
Yet despite these statistics, having a postsecondary degree or other credential with market value is important today and will be even more so in the years ahead.
In fact, as Sara Toland wrote in a recent Corporate Voices’ blog post, many employers have jobs that they are trying to fill. According to a recent NPR segment Employers Pickier About Job Applicants Skills, employers want their future employees to be educated, trained and ready to work.
Glenn Cook, director of staffing, at Boeing, says,
What we really want to do is hire people with experience so they can hit the ground running and help us out immediately.
Potential workers are getting rejected because, despite their extensive experience, they do not have a college degree or a postsecondary credential. Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce reported the demand for new college degrees will fall short by 3 million postsecondary degrees by 2018.
This education skills gap is a crisis affecting individuals, families, communities, businesses and the national economy.
Learn and earn initiatives are one crucial strategy for addressing the skills gaps that are hindering workers and businesses.
Through the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Corporate Voices for Working Families has compiled a series of micro-business case studies highlighting employers who are establishing learn and earn partnerships. These employers, who include Expeditors, CVS Caremark, and Bison Gear and Engineering Corporation, are collaborating to provide working learners with the opportunity to pursue postsecondary credentials while simultaneously working and earning a living.
Corporate Voices believes that when business and industry partner with education to create opportunities for individuals to advance academically and along career pathways, business, education and students can all reach their goals. As reported in the recently released “From an “Ill-Prepared” to a Well-Prepared Workforce: The Shared Imperatives for Employers and Community Colleges to Collaborate,” through collaboration:
- Individuals will be supported and encouraged to complete postsecondary credentials essential to obtaining or growing into employment with family-sustaining wages.
- Businesses will gain skilled, work-ready talent.
- Education will be more closely matched to labor market demands, and businesses will support the college completion agenda.
Partnerships between business and education are essential to improving the lives of working families. Corporate Voices, through its workforce readiness platform, will continue to highlight industry leaders, to participate in research design and to educate policy makers, all in an effort to help explain the challenges and opportunities around the education and skills gap facing our country today. Corporate Voices invites employers who might have a learn and earn model to be highlighted and/or would like to join the Learn and Earn Business Leader Team to explore peer to peer learning of promising practices, to contact us.
The future of American business competitiveness is directly tied to the quality and skills of the current and incoming workforce. But many entry level employees are transitioning from school to the workforce without the skills needed to succeed at work. Corporate Voices for Working Families conducted a series of surveys and focus groups to gain a better understanding of business leaders’ current level of engagement and interest in supporting the work readiness of their future employees. These surveys were analyzed and compiled into the “What Are Business Leaders Saying About Workforce Readiness?” brief released today.
According to these survey results, 97 percent of the 150 surveyed business leaders agree that their organization considers workforce readiness a critical business imperative. These leaders are deeply concerned about their future workforce and the cost of providing training to a generation of workers they view as ill-prepared for the demands on the job. As a result, these leaders report it is imperative that the top decision makers in their organization focus on workforce readiness and the talent development pipeline as a critical investment in their future productivity – not an additional expanse.
To help prepare their future workers, many businesses reported that they are involved in a variety of community-wide partnerships. Business leaders believe they can bring important private sector expertise to community partnerships and can offer valuable assets, including leadership, advocacy, infrastructure support and financial contributions, but reported frequent challenges and frustrations in engaging and sustaining community partnerships, including:
- Lack of data delivered in a way to show the story of investments and the direct impact on youth and families;
- Frequency of duplicate conversations with community partners;
- Lack of transparency in the partnership from the community organization; and
- Lack of firm and measurable outcomes.
Through the work of Ready by 21 National Partnership, Corporate Voices works to build a bridge between private and public sector leaders to establish and sustain partnerships focused on preparing future workers. These cross-sector leaders must work together to strengthen the talent development pipeline by creating comprehensive, coordinated and integrated system of learning and development that provides a range of opportunities for youth to succeed throughout school and into their working lives. Corporate Voices, along with Ready by 21 national partners, have created a variety of tools and briefs for both community and business leaders to utilize in order to build and sustain relationships to create a stronger pool of workers. These tools include the release of the Business Engagement Toolkit for Community-Based Organizations which will assist community leaders in creating beneficial and sustainable partnerships with business by providing lessons on how to identify potential partners, set realistic goals and how to establish partnerships for long-term success.
