11 posts tagged human resources

Do you have a solid understanding of the legal ramifications of flexible work? 

Are you armed with the right information to avoid putting your organization at risk?

With legislation changing, you may be surprised to find that, right now, you’re not. 

A great way to test your knowledge of the legal implications and challenges of flexible work is to take our challenge.

After you take the challenge, let us know how many of the challenge questions you got right and what surprised you the most.

Also, don’t forget: If you want to have access to a resource that will help to ensure legal compliance as it relates to your flexible work practices and updates you every time there’s a change in legislation, we’ve got a solution for you.  Just contact Kelly Gouteixm kelly.gouteix(at)flexpaths(dot)com or Beth Starr, beth.starr(at)flexpaths(dot)com.

Flex Legal Challenge from FlexPaths & Littler View more documents from FlexPaths

Formerly a fund manager and President of Beauchamp Financial Technology Ltd. (now a subsidiary of Linedata Services SA), Clare is now focused on helping companies improve financial returns and individuals improve quality of life by embracing flexible work practices. As Managing Director of FlexPaths, Clare drives new product development and UK sales of the company’s software products, including FlexPaths Educate (a configurable portal for centralizing and communicating consistent, legally-compliant flexible working policies, tools and resources) and FlexPaths Enroll (a system for tracking utilisation of different workstyles in order to measure ROI).
Clare is the founder of the Equilibrant Network for senior executives interested in flexible work (see LinkedIn group). She also consults for Elsworthy Associates and is Non-Executive Chairman of Grasshopper Porridge.

Why is it that, so often, HR teams “see the light” when it comes to encouraging flexible work practices, but CEOs don’t?  Most companies today are engaging in flexible work, whether their leaders fully recognize it or not.  Some have formal policies in place.  Most consider it to be an employee benefit that they may be required to offer, by law or in order to attract talent.  Few actually embrace it as an actual competitive advantage in business.  As a former CEO myself, and someone who deals with senior leaders regularly, I’d like to use this opportunity to dispel some common myths that I know hold CEOs and other senior executives back from making flexible work a strategic business imperative:

Myth #1:  Flexible Work Means Less Work

People often confuse flexible work with “flexi-time,” a term that commonly refers to part-time work.  Flexibility around HOW MUCH work that gets done is one type, sure, but there are several others:  
Flexibility around WHERE work gets done:  Telework and other forms of remote work are becoming more and more common, having been spurred on by technology as well as by the economic downturn, which has made many companies re-think their spend on corporate real estate.  No one is saying that face-to-face interaction is not important, but do you really need to be paying for all of your employees to be sitting at desks in your offices 8 or more hours a day, 5 days a week?  On average 60% of corporate desks are unoccupied at any given time.  Not surprising, then, to see what was once called “hot-desking” on the rise again, under more palatable names like “agile workplace”.  From a CEO’s point of view, getting your employees to pay the bulk of your rent for you is genius.

Flexibility around WHEN works gets done:  ”When” is different to “how much” - it’s an important distinction.  For many workers, their ability to do a good job does not necessarily depend on them doing their work between 9am and 5pm.  Given the choice, many would choose to start earlier and end earlier.  Or start later and end later.  Or start at the standard time, take a few hours in the middle of the day to deal with other things, and then work again at night.  Most senior leaders do that anyway.  So why not proactively make it part of your company culture?  As long as you are getting your work done well and your customers are satisfied, and your job doesn’t literally rely on something that happens during certain hours (like store operation, or equity trading), why should the company care when you do it?

Flexibility around HOW work gets done:  Most people don’t think about flexibility in terms of the contractual relationship between companies and their workers.  Using freelancers or contractors instead of employing the resource is a form of flexible work, and a very useful one, for many companies.  There are pros and cons that go with it, like with anything else, but in a lot of ways, this is the purest form of flexible work - it allows the company to flex its cost base alongside its revenue base.

Myth #2:  ”If I Can’t See You, You’re Not Working”

Seriously?  More CEOs and senior managers feel this way than would admit it - it’s a by-product of how the last 2 generations have been raised in industry and it takes some cultural adjustment to get over.  I liken it to how a toddler thinks that if he covers his eyes, you can’t see him.  If whether you can see an employee or not is the only thing that controls whether he or she is working, you’ve got bigger problems.  Studies show that flexible workers are actually more productive than workers without flexibility:  when we have more control over our time, we are less stressed and hit our “breaking points” later.  Meanwhile, just because you can see your employees does not mean they are working.  A friend of mind who runs a large online recruitment website and I were chatting on the night of the last big snowstorm.  I asked him whether many of his staff had stayed home due to the appalling inability of the UK’s infrastructure to handle snowfall.  He said no, that most of them were set up for telework, but that they’d seen a major drop-off in online job applications on the snow days.  ”How odd,” I said, “you’d think that people who had time off work would apply for more jobs, not fewer.”  ”Exactly the opposite,” he replied.  ”Most people only apply for new jobs from the office.”  So now you know, just because you can see your employees, doesn’t mean they’re working.  Some of them are looking for another job - on your dime.

 
Myth #3: Flexible Work is Women’s/Parents’ Issue

 
Working mothers have led the way on flexible work to date, and flexible work is definitely key to attracting and retaining senior women, but in this day and age, they aren’t the only ones who value it.  Laws in countries like the UK have, to date, mistakenly framed flexible work as a parents’ issue, when really, everyone should have the right to request flexible work - WHY they are requesting it shouldn’t be relevant.  Flexibility is the #3 thing people in general look for in a job in the US, after salary and medical benefits; in the UK, it’s #2 after salary.  Meanwhile, studies show that people who have flexibility would forgo a significant pay increase if it meant giving that flexibility up:  flexibility can, in fact, be more valuable than money.  That should be music to a CEO’s ears!  And with a labor shortage looming in most of the Western world, flexibility is a massive weapon in the war for talent.  Orange, the UK mobile telco, recently did a study of 1,000 people just out of university:  53% said they expected flexible working as standard when they begin their jobs, and 69% said the option to work flexibly was important to them.  They were not disproportionately female, and I’m guessing very few were parents - to Generation Y, flexibility is a way of life. Meanwhile, with mandatory retirement ages being removed and people living longer, Baby Boomers are looking to continue working too, provided they can have flexibility.   Flexible work is an EVERYONE issue.

 
Myth #4:  If I Let One Person Have A Flexible Work Arrangement, They’ll All Want One

 
The fear of setting a precedent is a big one for leaders of smaller companies, in particular.  Here’s the reality: just because a flexible work arrangement is granted to one employee, doesn’t mean other employees have the right to have their requests granted, too. Flexible work is not “one size fits all” thing.  If your process for making decisions to approve or decline requests for flexible work arrangements is reasonably rigorous (eg. If it involves asking questions like:  Is the employee a good performer? Is he or she good at managing time?  Is he or she doing a job that requires a physical presence in the office 5 days a week?  Is it possible for the team to function as well in the context of the employee moving to the requested form of flexible work? and so on) and documented well, you should be able to make the right decisions for your business while mitigating legal risk.  Just because you grant one employee’s flexible work request does NOT mean you have to grant another’s.  Where companies get into trouble is when managers make clumsy decisions, aren’t transparent or communicative, don’t manage the manager-employee relationship well throughout the process, and don’t document their thoughts and actions.

Myth #5:  Giving All Employees the Right to Request Flexible Work Will Create an Insurmountable Admin Burden

We live in the age of technology, do we not?  You don’t need a large HR team to manage flexible work well, and a flexible work initiative can pay for itself immediately, by stopping even one high-performer from leaving in search of more flexibility elsewhere.  Both employees and managers can be educated to make optimal requests and objective decisions, respectively, using online tools and resources. Workflow can be automated, and records can be stored electronically at very low cost. Yes, this making all of that happen is FlexPaths’ business, but there are plenty of ways to skin a cat.  Technology is the catalyst for and the lifeblood of flexible work - if you’re trying to use paper-based systems, or even just email, to run a flexible work initiative, you’re missing the point.  Don’t be surprised when it fails.

So, dear CEOs, you have a choice:  stick with the myths and bury your head in the sand, or be proactive and embrace flexible work to attract talent, get more productivity for less money, reduce real estate costs, and have everyone (including your shareholders) thanking you.  It’s a no-brainer, really.

Jodi works as a part time attorney in child abuse and family violence.  She started 10 years ago full time and has also worked from home as a contractor.  Now she works in house, part-time, 20 hours a week.  She also blogs about anything and everything at jodifur. 

A lot of our featured flex workers here at the work. smart. blog work remotely or telecommute the majority of the time.  This week, we are featuring Jodi, a working mom who works part-time on a flexible schedule.  If you would like to be a featured flex worker, we make it really easy, just answer our interview questions here.

Tell us more about your flexible work arrangement, what does a typical workweek look like?

I work 20 hours a week, and split them over three days, typically Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  My boss is fairly flexible but because I am an attorney and need to be in court, it is hard for me to work from home.

Was your job flexible to begin with, or was it something you negotiated with your employer?

When I started I was a typical 40 hour a week employee.  And then I left when I had my son and worked as a contractor.  When the one part-time attorney in my office left, my boss asked me to come back in the part-time role.

What have been the most notable benefits of your flexible work arrangement?

My boss does not care how I do my 20 hours, as long as I do them.  So if I need to switch my days because my son is sick or to go on a field trip that is fine.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced working flexibly?

Even though I work 20 hours, sometimes emergencies come up on the days I am not there.  And the judges don’t like to hear me say: “I don’t work on Fridays.”

What advice would you offer those who would like to negotiate a flexible work arrangement with their employer?

Employers don’t want to lose your institutional knowledge.  They will want to keep you.  It never hurts to ask.

Tell us about your “office” space….

It’s in a traditional office building, my flexible work arrangement is about when I do my work, not where I do it.

If you could describe your “workstyle” in one-two words, what would it be?

Productive - in limited time.

While Jodi’s career as an attorney thrives, she doesn’t have to give up seeing her son do the same.

Image Source: WhiteHouse.gov

The White House recently released the report “Women in America: Indicators of Social & Economic Well-being” and on March 30, The White House is hosting a live chat with Shine to discuss women in the workplace, education, and workplace flexibility.

Who will be there?

Well, senior White House administration including Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama and Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls, and Preeta Bansal, General Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, to start. 

And you better believe that we’re going to be participating as well.  Workplace flexibility is what we, here at FlexPaths, live and breathe with our clients everyday.  Also, because we’re a certified women owned business, we’re especially passionate about supporting the White House Council on Women & Girls.

It’s our hope that you will want to attend this exciting event too, whether you’re a woman or girl…or a man that supports the career advancement and education of one you care about.

How easy is it to participate?  You can attend via Facebook, or if you’re not on Facebook, you can follow along with the live chat directly on the White House live chat page.

When it comes to the White House promoting workplace flexibility, their initiatives are not limited to this live chat.  The White House Council on Women and Girls also provides a work flex kit with ideas for initiating and fostering your own workplace flexibility conversations.

So let’s recap.

On March 30, please make your voice heard when it comes to workplace flexibility, education, and women in workplace by attending the White House live chat by submitting your questions to Shine in advance.

Then on March 30 at 4:45pm EDT, attend the live chat.

Also, make sure you’re following FlexPaths on Twitter, as we will be live tweeting the event and continuing the conversation there.

Chances are, if you live in the United States, you’re thinking about basketball brackets right about now or know someone who is.  Since a lot of the games take place during the traditional workday, we were curious about how managers are handling the “madness”.  Does our passion for spectator sports impact workplace flexibility?

Read on…

Photo by big swift

Today’s guest post is by Vince Capps.  He is a self-employed IT Consultant located in Little Rock, Arkansas, with ten years of  extensive experience in the engineering, administration and support of information technology systems, websites, and databases.  He’s also a part-time online student at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, in his senior year of pursuit in obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology.  Vince’s hobbies include being outdoors as much as possible, writing, graphic design, amateur boxing, watching live sporting events, and playing with his White Labrador Retriever friend, Cooper.  Follow Vince on Twitter for information on his soon to be released website, constantv.com, a personal blog and collection of short stories and IT projects.  

*****

Many employers fear that March Madness will drag down their workers’ productivity, that allowing the tournament to be monitored will become an obsession and larger priority than that of the job.  While this might show to be a plausible argument, many employers might want to lessen their apprehension, as doing so could become profitable.

 
Let’s review, for an example, a mid-sized, three hundred employee investment banking company that has consistently grown in value for over thirty years; one where the management likened the tournament to the industry of trade.  After all, the tournament consists of the same gambles, hunts, and chases that create a sort of “madness” for buyers and sellers of stocks and bonds.   Alike, the outcome of investments and games can change so quickly and shape the entire market/tournament by a marginal derivative.  The only difference is that the outcome of March Madness isn’t as serious as that of the trading markets..  Well, for some anyhow. 

 Most employees in such a company will likely agree that “eating” what they “kill”, “living on the deal”, is fun but full of stress.  Over time, this causes investors to be gun shy by the lack of fluidity in their deals.  The tournament is an appealing way for management to lessen this tension, as they believe that games are therapeutic, reinventing or recharging the wheels that employees use to make optimal decisions.  Not only that, but it strengthens the foundation of communication between those who have difference of interests in particular markets.  

Sure, management is conscientious about the possibility of deterioration of workflow (and they should be for the welfare of the company).  But the increased morale of the workplace is of far more importance.  
Given the overall status of today’s economy, it is important that employees have a way to brighten their scope and play well as a team.  

A company that has confidence in their team is one that has confidence in the future. 

Does your company encourage March Madness at your workplace?

Have you read our most recent white paper we released in collaboration with Littler Mendelson? 

Mitigate or Litigate: Flexible Working & Legal Exposure View more documents from FlexPaths

We participated in Littler’s 2010 Executive Employer® conference — one of the most innovative gatherings around employment law information held in the US, where flexible work was noted as the leading edge of how work will be done.  

Garry Mathiason, Chairman of the Board at Littler, introduced FlexPaths as he presented “10 Workplace Trends” in employment law for the next decade.  It was striking that 2 of 10 ten future trends involved a shift to flexible work:

1. The Digitalization of Work, and
   
2. The newest type of discrimination that protects ‘caregivers’ in the workforce.

That’s noteworthy to say the least in the vast and complicated world of employment law — that flexible work is garnering that much attention in the legal community.

The convergence of Littler’s legal expertise and FlexPaths’ knowledge of the practical application of flexible work fills a major gap.  It’s clear there is great synergy with our combined talents and perspectives — to help leaders and line managers who worry about the legal issues related to flexible work embrace a trend that is growing virally and to protect themselves legally.

Sandy Burud of FlexPaths gleaned further insight into legislation and what it means for the future of flexible work:

I’m struck with the span of legislation in the works promoting flexible work – from the ‘green’ legislation geared to reducing commutes, FSLA changes, telework legislation, and sick time and leave legislation.  When you put all the pieces together, a meta-trend is clearly at work.  And, like the bunch of sticks being harder to break than a single stick,  together they underscore how systemic this change is and how fast it is accelerating. 

The white paper also points out some common stereotypes that managers make about flexible work arrangements that may result in unlawful conduct. 

The most common – and the one with the greatest legal exposure – is the stereotype that people working flexibly are poor performers and so can be treated differently.  Besides the fact that research substantiates the reverse – that employees who have more options about when and where they work tend to be more efficient and productive – the assumption can lead to discriminatory behavior. 

This white paper underscores the importance of having flexible work polices and procedures in place as well as the provision of methods and mechanisms to hold flexible workers and their managers accountable.  

It also illustrates the importance of human resources and legal working together to make sure everything is compliant and modifications are made as needed when laws change or are amended.  FlexPaths, in collaboration with Littler, offers solutions for these with products and services can add immediate value to an organization that wants to create a flexible working culture.

FlexPaths’ focus is to help companies create and leverage a flexible working culture. 

Evolving a culture is never immediate, it is a journey. 

With that said, FlexPaths is about putting flexible working software solutions in the hands of key company stakeholders - HR, employees and managers – for easy, quick access and benefit.  Once our global technology platforms are in place at a company, they can be quickly phased in for access by a department or division, or at the enterprise level. 

Our ability to scale and move flexible working value across an organization systemically through technology, is a differentiator and accelerator to move on the culture change front.

Furthermore, by supplementing the legally compliant content and work flow in our product offerings through our collaboration with Littler Mendelson, we help companies step back to understand, monitor and evaluate the legal challenges associated with flexible work.  As a result, our solution helps companies respond accordingly and expeditiously.

Click here to find out more information about our for legal compliance and/or a demo of our software solutions.

Every week, “Ask the Founders” features our founders Meryl Rosenthal, President & CEO and Robin Roschke CTO & COO.  They’ll be providing answers to your burning questions about flexible work best practices, telecommuting policies, the legalities related to the flexible workplace, and workforce productivity.

This week’s question drills down on how our products integrate with existing legacy systems.

We’ve recently started offering flexible work arrangements to every member of our staff.  We already use a software system to manage our human capital including time sheets, payroll, forecasting, etc.  How does FlexPaths software fit in with what we are already using?

MERYL:

Congratulations on making flexible work arrangements available to your company and furthermore, leveraging technology to do so.  It sounds like the software you reference addresses the basic tracking of these arrangements which is a great foundational step.  For companies who want to take this to the next level, we recommend our Enroll system.  Not only does it identify these workers for administrative purposes, it automates the work flow around filing and approving these arrangements in real time with involvement from employees, managers and HR.  This system is highly customizable for work flow, reports, etc.  Because of this we can add dimension to how you use this system so that it can provide a powerful audit trail for compliance purposes, showcase productivity and ROI of your flex workers to prove the bottom line benefits of having flexible working in place, and further lever this data for external use – e.g., submit to top lists – for employer of choice distinction.  Given that you’ve just started offering these arrangements, having a system that proves out the ROI couldn’t be more timely.

ROBIN:

Like many organizations, your IT division has invested in key components of HRIS to ensure day to day operations are handled efficiently.  These systems have typically been configured for the permanent, exempt, non-exempt and/or contingent labor segments.  The flex worker could be part of any one of these categories and the nature of the “employee contract” with the organization can vary significantly.  Our systems allow for the following: alignment of individual preferences with company offerings, an automated/transparent/compliance request process and the ability to manage innovative workforce programs from flex recruitment to phased retirement to resource teams.  Therefore, companies can implement new workforce practices without being confined by traditional HR systems.  To that end our databases are designed to interface with key HRIS and are essentially a module within the information architecture.

Have a question you want to ask Robin and Meryl? Email it to jessica (dot) smith (AT) flexpaths (dot) com, send a Direct Message via Twitter to @FlexPaths, or write on our FlexPaths® Facebook wall.

Every week, “Ask the Founders” features our founders Meryl Rosenthal, President & CEO and Robin Roschke CTO & COO.  They’ll be providing answers to your burning questions about flexible work best practices, telecommuting policies, the legalities related to the flexible workplace, and workforce productivity.

This week’s Ask the Founders question at first sounds like it’s about approach…but you’ll find it goes deeper than that.

One person on my team has a flexible work schedule because she has to take care of her ailing relative.  I know there’s a few people, including me, that would also like a flexible work arrangement, however, our need is not as urgent.  How do we approach our manager?  

ROBIN:

Your request for flexibility has nothing to do with whether or not your associate does.  Furthermore, why your associate has flex does not make their arrangement more or less important than yours.  Elder care is not more important than adoption or a sabbatical or just a need for a compressed work week.  Your manager has already shown a readiness towards managing flexible teams so approaching your manager should be fairly straightforward.  While you may be informed of company policies, it is more important to take into consideration the business impact of your “flex-ing” and address that in your discussion with your manager.  Each member of the team should prepare their “flex request” and allow time for your manager to work with each team member one-on-one. 

One special consideration – given that  multiple colleagues are requesting flex schedules – perhaps give your manager time to readjust workflow and schedules so that everyone’s efforts are synchronized and the entire team’s efforts are optimized.  Consider how you will work together, share information and conduct meetings.  Assuming your manager says yes, it is important to think about how you will be successful at working flexibly.

MERYL:

Teeing up a flexible work request should not be about ‘Why do I need it?’ or ‘Why is it important for me?’. Rather it should be about ‘Why it is important for the business I am in?’.  The answer should hold true for the company, the team, the manager, and the individual making the request. 

Flexible working is about shared responsibility. 

Framing it this way from the beginning changes the whole discussion. So while you may deem your colleague’s request as urgent, that isn’t the point.  What is urgent to the individual isn’t necessarily urgent to the business.  It is more about having a compelling business dialogue about why flexible working would be effective in your situation, in other words, your role and/or working environment.  So take a moment to step back and ask yourself some important questions and prepare yourself for a solid business dialogue. 

These questions will involve your company culture, manager style/work environment and your own capabilities/realities. 

With regard to company - Does it stand for and promote flexible ways of working?  Is there an openness and appetite for it or did your colleague get approved as more of an accommodation or quite frankly due to legal reasons given she is a caregiver and has rights as a result? 

If there is openness, how has the company messaged or strategically aligned flexibly working?  Is it discussed as a health/wellness stress reduction measure?  Does it talk about it as it relates to cost savings?  Does it integrate it with retention and engagement of diverse talent?  Is it teed up on your company’s recruitment website as a reason why the company is a  best place to work? 

Having this perspective is important as it helps frame your having a smart, aligned business dialogue with your manager or HR.

Second, size up your manager.  Do they work flexibly?  Are they comfortable with the topic, have others approached them successfully?  What do they respond to?  Are they more of a ‘dip your toe in the water’ – let’s try this out first?  Or, are they more innovative and apt to stand behind this publicly?  Are you both operating from the same definition of what is possible?   Are you being emotional, telling stories, making it personal or are you have a business dialogue?  Steer clear from the former.

Third, think about your world and its realities.  Does your job truly allow for flexible working?  Can you successfully perform your role independently mixing up where, when, how and how much you work?  Do you have the discipline, wherewithal, capabilities and confidence to work this way?  Do you really want to work flexibly?  Or is it out of need? You need to really consider this.

Approaching your manager in a way that is relevant, tied to business, objective, when they see this can be a triple win -the trifecta of company, team, individual- ultimately gives you the best probability of success. 

Have a question you want to ask Robin and Meryl? Email it to jessica (dot) smith (AT) flexpaths (dot) com, send a Direct Message via Twitter to @FlexPaths, or write on our FlexPaths® Facebook wall.