workplace policies to drive change
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WORKPLACE POLICIES TO DRIVE
CHANGE
KATHLEEN CHRISTENSENSister Republics: Building Bridges Committing to a
Stronger Economy with Women’s LeadershipApril 23, 2013
Three Questions
WHAT DO WE KNOW?
WHAT DON’T WE KNOW?
WHAT MIGHT BE UNKNOWABLE – AND DOES IT MATTER?
Trends in Availability: Overall, by Firm Size
Trends in Use: by Industry, Education, Occupation
Work Force Needs
Differential Effects of Flexibility
Workforce Segments
Business Outcomes
What Do We Know?
Day-to-Day SchedulingWhen, Where, How to
Work
Short Term, Episodic, & Extended Time Off
Career Flexibility
•Flexibility in scheduling of hours
•Flexibility in the amount of hours worked
•Flexibility in place of work
•Essential: control and predictability over schedules.
•Source: Workplace Flexibility 2010, Georgetown Law Center
•STO : Time taken off in short increments for ordinary life needs
•EPTO: Time off for recurring, predictable needs
•EXTO: Time taken off in long increments (by weeks) for any life need, whether predictable or unpredictable
•Career Exits•Career Maintenance•Career Re-entry
Careers cannot be straight line trajectories. Need built in opportunities for plateauing and leaves
Defining Workplace Flexibility
Availability: Day-to-Day Scheduling Flexibility:2005- 2012
Trends
Availability: Reduced Hours and Time-Off Flexibility:2005- 2012
Caregiving Leaves: 2005-2012
Availability: Percent of Firms Offering Either “Some” Employees or “All or Most” Employees Day-to-Day
Scheduling Flexibility ‘
Source: Work Life Balance and the Economics of Workplace Flexibility. Executive Office of the President, Council of Economic Advisors. March 2010.
Availability: Percent of Firms Offering Either “Some” Employees or “All or Most” Employees Work-At-Home
Flexibility
Source: Work Life Balance and the Economics of Workplace Flexibility. Executive Office of the President, Council of Economic Advisors. March 2010.
Availability: Percent of Firms Offering Either “Some” Employees or “All or Most” Employees
Reduced Hours or Time-Off
Source: Work Life Balance and the Economics of Workplace Flexibility. Executive Office of the President, Council of Economic Advisors. March 2010.
Availability: Percent of Firms Offering Most or All Employees Selected Workplace Flexibility Benefits,
by Firm Size
Source: Work Life Balance and the Economics of Workplace Flexibility. Executive Office of the President, Council of Economic Advisors. March 2010.
Utilization of Flexible Time by Sex, Race, Ethnicity and Work Status
Source: Work Life Balance and the Economics of Workplace Flexibility. Executive Office of the President, Council of Economic Advisors. March 2010.
Utilization: Percent of Workers with Flexible Hours By Industry
Source: Work Life Balance and the Economics of Workplace Flexibility. Executive Office of the President, Council of Economic Advisors. March 2010.
Utilization of Flexible Hours by Occupation and Education
Source: Work Life Balance and the Economics of Workplace Flexibility. Executive Office of the President, Council of Economic Advisors. March 2010.
Millennials
Older Workers
Working Parents
Low-Wage Workers
Faith-Based Communities
Disabilities
Members of the Military and Spouses
Who Wants and Needs Flexibility?
Millennials
Flexibility : one of top three valued dimensions of career success Along with job security and earning the highest pay
possible
Trumping health care and 401k benefits, intellectually interesting work, making a difference in society
Source: Allstate and National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll 2010
Older Workers: Only Workforce Segment Growing Increases to 2018 by those working 55-64 and >65
Source: Toossi, M. (November, 2009). Labor force projections to 2018: older workers staying more active. Monthly Labor Review. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office
Working Parents: 3 Jobs – 2 adults
Ratio 1½Jobs: 1Adult
Working Parents
• Multitasking• Time Famine• Less time for sleep and self• Disruption of family rituals• Intensive parenting
Multitasking Throughout the Day
Source: Shira Offer and Barbara Schneider. “Multitasking Among Working Families: A Strategy for Dealing with the Time Squeeze.” Workplace Flexibility. Ed. Kathleen Christensen and Barbara Schneider, eds. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2010.
Pervasive Sense of “Too Little” Time by Dual-Earner Couples Working Full Time,* 2000
*35+ hours **N = 177 ***N = 175Source: Suzanne M. Bianchi and Vanessa R. Wight. “The Long Reach of the Job: Employment and Time for Family Life.” Workplace Flexibility. Ed. Kathleen Christensen and Barbara Schneider, eds. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2010.
Frequency of sleep problems affecting job performance in last month
Source: 2002, 2008 NSCW; statistically significant differences between sample years are denoted as * (p<.05), ** (p<.01), *** (p<.001), n.s. (not statistically significant)
} n.s.
28% of the American Workforce Have Sleep Problems at Least Sometimes
Differential Effects of Flexibility
Low Wage Workers (Corporate Voices and WFD)
MBA’s in Challenging Careers(Bain & Company)
Women and Earnings (Harvard & Beyond Study 1969-1992 classes)
On Health and Well Being (Harvard School of Public Health and Wake Forest Medical School)
Average Stress and Burnout Index for Low Wage Employees by Their Perceived
Flexibility
Source: WFD Consulting. Workplace Flexibility for Lower Wage Workers. Corporate Voices for Working Families. October 2006.
Average Engagement Index for Low Wage
Employees by Their Perceived Flexibility
Source: WFD Consulting. Workplace Flexibility for Lower Wage Workers. Corporate Voices for Working Families. October 2006.
Percent of Low Wage Employees Who Predict They Will Leave Within Two Years by Their
Perceived Flexibility
Source: WFD Consulting. Workplace Flexibility for Lower Wage Workers. Corporate Voices for Working Families. October 2006.
Dimensions of Flexibility by Family Income
Source: WFD Consulting. Workplace Flexibility for Lower Wage Workers. Corporate Voices for Working Families. October 2006 and Shelly MacDermid, Purdue University 20062002 NCSW Dataset
MBAs in Challenging Careers >5
Unpredictable workflow
Fast paced work under tight deadlines
Inordinate scope of responsibility that exceeds more than 1 job
Work-related events outside regular work hours
Expected to be available to clients or customers 24/7
Responsibility for profit and loss
Responsibility for mentoring and recruiting
Large amount of travel
Large numbers of direct reports
Physical presence at workplace at least 10 hours a day
As Women Age, They Tend to Opt Out at Higher Rate
Source: J Coffman, R Hagey. Flexible work models: How to Bring sustainability To a 24/7 world. Bain & Company
Customer Loyalty Tool – Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Flexibility
NPS How likely are you to recommend your organization to a friend or colleague?
Results:
Responses to NPS question showed that employees in companies who have used workplace flexibility tend to be strong promoters of the company and are more satisfied with their jobs.
Employees who use flex, regardless of type, rate it positively: 4.2 out of 5
Viable flex jobs – those that fit firm culture and employee- could increase retention in men by 25% and in women by 40%
Gap: Interest High – Use Low
Source: J Coffman, R Hagey. Flexible work models: How to Bring sustainability To a 24/7 world. Bain & Company
Earnings Penalties of Job Interruptions: Harvard & Beyond
Highest MBAs, Lowest MD’s
In between Ph.D.s and J.D.s
Technology industries penalize women less than other industries-
Newer and work organizations better understand changing workforce
Needs
Women have responded to costs by gravitating to certain specialities or professions – voting with their feet.
On Health and Well Being
Access leads to better health behaviors (exercise, cooking) (Wake Forest)
Use leads to better sleep (Harvard School of Public Health)
Use leads to more regular family rituals (UCLA)
Less stress reactivity (Pennsylvania State University)
Ingredients for Successful Flex
Organizationally house it so has leverage - within health and well being?
Provide range of options that fit culture, job, and employee
Ensure supervisor support – training/coaching
Leveled playing field in terms of process – right to ask, manager initiated
Drive flexibility into line operation as a strategic business tool and just the way work is done – not as a perk or benefit
Find the right language – e.g., ‘smart work’
Work to remove implicit stigma or penalty
Is the business case enough?
How could it be strengthened?
How to minimize stigma/penalty?
The relative costs and benefits of pursuing alternate organizational paths for flexibility
What Don’t We Know
Shortens cycle times (same work, less time)
Increases productivity Improves employee engagement &
commitment Lowers turnover and absenteeism (and
reduces related costs) Enables many workers to stay employed
who otherwise might not Helps win war for talent-Economist/SHRM
Is the Business Case Enough?
Average Absence Rates With and Without Flexible Work Scheduling
Source: Work Life Balance and the Economics of Workplace Flexibility. Executive Office of the President, Council of Economic Advisors. March 2010.
Customer Retention Rates at First Tennessee Bank and Across the Banking
Industry
Source: Work Life Balance and the Economics of Workplace Flexibility. Executive Office of the President, Council of Economic Advisors. March 2010.
Other Controlled Experiments
Telecommuting, Nicholas Bloom, Stanford
Multiple matched interventions, Boston College Center on Aging and Work
How to Minimize Stigma?
Eliminate work-family requests or framing? (University of Minnesota)
Many Paths to Flexibility: Best?
What will make workplace flexibility the standard?
Policy?
Pressure from outside – Campaign?
Enlightened Self Interest
Changing Ways Work is Done – Global, Virtual
What is Unknowable?