KEY ELEMENTS OF FLEXIBLE WORKPLACES
The elements needed for flexible productive workplaces are the same key elements needed for any successful business. Phenomenal results can be achieved when the following 5 elements come together; whether flexible work options are involved or not:
Right Culture
Right Job
Right Employee
Right Manager
Right Plan
CREATING THE FLEXIBLE WORKPLACE IdentifyThe following 10 steps are designed to incorporate the 5 key elements stated above into a successful flexible workplace program. Through these steps you will identify the right jobs and employees for flexible work options; support the flex options with the right culture and management support; and design the right program to achieve a flexible productive workplace.
IDENTIFY STRONG BUSINESS REASONS
A strong business case is required to ensure success and sustainability of a flexible workplace program. JPMorgan Chase has shared an easy tool and example of how to link flexibility to specific business objectives. Generally, a business case includes some or all of the following:
Linking flexibility to a specific business challenge
As part of disaster preparedness and/or business continuation plan
Increasing productivity (decreased stress, increased satisfaction/morale; less commute time = more productive time)
Increasing customer service hours
Attracting strong candidates
Retaining strong performers
Adopting a performance culture by measuring the work product not the time spent
For additional information on building the business case, see the Supporting Studies section of this document.
ENCOURAGE A STRONG PERFORMANCE CULTURE
Measuring performance is critical to the well being of any organization. By building a strong performance culture it is easier to define work as what you do instead of a place you go. For a quick self-diagnosis of how prepared your organization's culture is to support flexible work arrangements, take the Flexigrid Assessment.
The first step to a performance culture is defining results oriented productivity measures for each job. The Productivity Measures Worksheet is a tool that can be used to identify the performance requirements for each job. (Yes, even those jobs where you can't count widgets can have productivity measures.) The key items to track are: what needs to be done and how you will know when it is "done right" (quality, quantity, and timeliness.) Productivity measures can include:
Time takes to do a task
Number of tasks or proportions of a large task completed within a given time limit
Ratio between tasks that were completed versus not completed
Ratio between tasks that were successful versus those that resulted in errors
"Service level agreements" with customer
Response time to calls and e-mails
Customer satisfaction
Accessibility in emergencies
Relationships between team members and stakeholders
Frequency and level of complaints
Knowledge of what is going on
Communication / status frequency
Value creation
Amount of time spent recovering from errors
Number of work-arounds needed
Revenue generated
Number of new services or products created (Now don't tell me you have a job that can't be measured by at least one of the above measures.)
DEMONSTRATE COMMITMENT FROM THE TOP Commitment for flexible workplace needs to be demonstrated from the top executives of the organization. Their commitment, support and involvement will encourage other managers to build more flexible work arrangements into their operations. Wells Fargo has shared it tips on being a virtual manager to help ensure that managers have the management skills needed in a flexible workplace.
While some employees may hesitate to practice a flexible work option for fear it may signal their lack of interest in advancement, executives can prove them wrong. One sure fire way to show that being on a flexible work arrangement is not a "career limiting move" is to have the top executives practice flexible work arrangements. It can be as an occasional day of teleworking to focus on that complex project.
GATHER DATA
It is always best to know where you are in order to map out the best route to where you want to go. Before designing a flexible work program, it is good to know when and where your employees are currently working. If you don't already know when and where your employees work - gather that data. The kind of data that you might want to gather is identified in the Employer Benchmark Survey. Several methods are available to gather data including:
Counting the number of parking spaces you provide employee
Counting the number of employees subsidized for mass transit/car pooling
Tracking the times employees use their card key in, and out of the building or parking garage
Tracking the times employee log-in to computers
Note: There is the fear that by tracking when employees actually arrive and leave, you are becoming "big brother." You can mitigate this concern by just tracking totals and not individual habits.
IDENTIFY THE APPROPRIATE JOBS AND PARTICIPANTS Unless all your jobs requires employees to be physically in one place at required times, such as a receptionist, it is likely that parts of many jobs can be done from another location or at a variable time. To determine which jobs are conducive to flextime, compressed workweeks or telework, you need to conduct a job analysis.
The amount of telework that employees can do each week depends on the number of tasks that can be done away from the office and whether the equipment needed to accomplish them is readily available. Generally, tasks such as planning, riding, thinking, and report writing can be completed away for the office. Many workers find the opportunity to do these tasks from home, or somewhere quiet, makes them much more productive than they would be in a busy office.
Once the jobs that are suitable for flexible work arrangements have been identified, an employee assessment will help determine which employees have the attributes, means and desire for a flexible work option. The more successful flex workers tend to be employees who:
Are self-disciplined
Are able to complete tasks within the given deadlines
Are independent and resourceful, and can make good decisions on their own
Enjoy working alone and are socially self-sufficient
Have good written and oral communication skills
Have earned the trust of colleagues, managers and customers
Keep manager and colleagues informed about their work
Don't need constant recognition to feel good about their work
Can comfortably use technology they need to do their work
Do what they say they are going to do
Have the flexibility to adapt to flexible working
DESIGN THE PROGRAM WITH STATED RESULTS
Now it is time to design the program. The power in the program will be with identifying the desired results and methods that will used to measure their achievements. What are the goals and objectives of the program and how will its success be measured. These items should be determined by the business plan and can include success measures such as participation rates, productivity improvements, and retention rates - both customer and employee.
To help ensure your program design has considered all the questions necessary, use the Policy Checklist.
Sample programs are available to see how other organizations have designed their policies.
There are also many state and federal laws and regulations need to be considered in the program design including:
COMMUNICATE THE PROGRAM, GOALS AND MEASURES Once the program has been designed, its success may depend on how well it is communicated. A well thought out communication plan will help establish the right expectations and understanding of the program's purpose, goals and objectives. JPMorgan Chase has shared an example of a successful communication plan
MEASURE RESULTS
One of the key of a flexible workplace program is how well it achieved its goals and objectives (participation rates, productivity improvements, retention rates). Refer back to the goals and objectives of the program and measure its success. Stakeholder surveys may also be a valuable tool - ask them about the satisfaction with the service being provided.
COMMON MISPERCEPTIONS OF FLEXIBILITY One of the most difficult things to overcome with of flexible workplace program is to believe the misperceptions of flexibility and design a program that doesn't work. Below are some of the common misperceptions.
If one employee gets it, all must
A job analysis can determine which jobs are successful under different flexible work options. The job analysis along with defined employee criteria (e.g. can work independently), will allow flexible work options to be offered to those employees that qualify for the flexible work option.
Employees currently working 50 - 60 hrs per week will start working 40 - and so can't be as productive
A compressed workweek for individuals routinely working long hours may not be a productive option. Consider an option like 4 9-hour days and 1 4-hour day each week with the 4 hour day a telework day. That eliminates a commute a week and allows the employee an opportunity to use that commute time working from home and they can extend that ½ day longer, if necessary, to finish the work.
Fridays is the only day employees can flex.
This goes hand in hand with the myth that with employees on compressed work schedules, business will not get done on Fridays. For most companies, it is not a good business decision to reduce customer support and productivity one day a week. Consider varying the flex days employees use to spread the coverage and provide customers with extended access to employees instead of reduced access.
If employees are encouraged to use their flex days for personal appointment and commitments, please consider varying the day of the week they can schedule the flex days. How many doctor appointments or parent/teacher conferences can be scheduled on Fridays?
Those not flexing get stuck with all the work
With effective productivity measures, managers can ensure that employees using a flexible work option are maintaining high productivity. If they are not productive, managers can take away an employee's option to flex.
Anyone on a flexible schedule isn't ambitious
Producing, not presence should be what determines promotability. If the culture is supportive of flexible work options, employees and managers won't feel that using a flexible work option is a "career-limiting move."
Flexibility causes coverage problems for managers
Some jobs are not appropriate for flexible work options - for example a receptionist that needs to physically be at a reception desk during normal business hours. But consider that with proper back-up individuals identified and trained, flexible work options may allow companies to extend coverage instead of reducing coverage.
AVOID PITFALLS The following are among the barriers that prevent employees from taking advantage of options they might otherwise use - and that prevents companies from realizing the full benefits that flexibility might bestow.
Different rules for different types
Teleworkers should not be the only employees with performance measures. Nor should they have assignments significantly different in content or method of evaluation from those for in-office workers doing the same function.
Out-of-sight, Out-of-mind syndrome
Telemanagers must avoid the temptation to rely more on in-office staff just because they are physically close.
Poor performance by teleworkers or non-support of co-workers must be confronted early because distance can slow feedback and tempt inaction.
A face time culture/negative career consequences
To avoid a face time culture or employees that are concerned about negative career consequences, make sure that advancement and performance is determined by productivity instead of presence.
Excessive workload
If your organization is experiencing an excessive workload, don't assume that that can be accomplished in a compressed workweek. You may need to look at telework as a better flexible work option.
Not getting customer buy-in
If the flexible work options aren't transparent to the customer, it is important that you get their buy-in early in the process. Some organizations have gotten their buy in by identifying that flexible work options have the benefit of attracting a stronger workforce - thus providing better performance to the customer. Compressed workweeks (when designed correctly) can benefit the customer by extending customer contact opportunities.
DEFINITIONS
Telework- allows employees to work at home or at another satellite location during all or some portion of the workweek
Compressed workweek - allows employees to work the standard workweek in fewer days
Flextime - allows employees to arrive and leave work outside the peak travel times
