Behind the Scenes of a Flexible Culture
Featured Guest Blogger August 17th, 2009
Sandy Burud, Ph.D., is a researcher, consultant and author on human capital and work-life. She is the Chief Strategy Officer for FlexPaths, a flexibility-focused software platform for employers and employment portal for individuals. Please note that the views of our guest bloggers do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sloan Work and Family Research Network.
What makes it legitimate for people to work flexibly isn’t whether their company has a policy allowing it, but whether there is a subtle (or not-so-subtle) penalty for doing so. Below are four examples of characteristics of a flexible culture, which although rarely focused on, have everything to do with whether the culture supports flexibility.
- Are people who request flexibility or who already work flexibly considered equal in terms of their access to advancement, status, integration into the business, or quality of assignments?
Are those who work a reduced work schedule, for example, considered on an equal par for professional development, as future management material, as ‘high potentials’? Or by definition are ‘high potentials’ the individuals who always put work first and work long hours? Are the best clients, projects, challenging work opportunities given to the people who work from the office, rather then remotely – because subtly, the manager thinks they are easier to reach?
- Are people valued who–although accomplishing their work well– set boundaries on their time and/or accessibility?
How okay is it to say ‘no’? When someone consistently leaves ‘early’ (because they may have started earlier than others), or says they cannot do a client meeting when they are on vacation, or isn’t available for spur-of-the-moment overtime, or doesn’t answer email at all hours — do they subtly lose points? Or is their commitment, engagement, and responsiveness determined by whether they ultimately deliver on their core responsibilities?
- Does the organizational climate recognize and respect that employees have lives outside of work?
Where once the core workforce had an ‘invisible’ support system at home (otherwise known as a wife) that allowed workers to focus exclusively on work when they were at work, those days are long gone. The typical worker now has a dual focus (navigating work and personal responsibilities at the same time). But most organizational cultures haven’t quite adapted. So when an employee cannot take on business travel easily, or attend business social events, or needs to take time off in the middle of the day to take children to the dentist – it requires a shift in mindset. Attendance policies are a good example. Once they were a key factor in measuring performance – missing 3 days in a quarter was a slippery slope to dismissal. Now even the best performers must adjust their schedules occasionally. Attendance alone is no longer a good indicator of job performance or commitment.
- Do cultural norms assume people are not always available to attend to work beyond work hours?
There is an unrelenting tug-of-war between the blessing and curse of 24/7 electronic access. Do leaders make a point to say, “I don’t expect an instant reply on weekends or holidays”? What practices do individuals who are considered to be the ‘best’ follow? Or is there a Jack Welch-like pride in scheduling last-minute Saturday morning meetings that weed out the so-called non-serious team members? The question is – are long hours and constant availability equated with high performance? In a human capital environment where the ability to do reflective thinking — be rested and clear-headed, the ability to set your own limits and manage your own attention lead to the best performance.
These ideas, brought to our attention by Lotte Bailyn and her colleagues, rarely receive the attention they deserve. There is much that must change in a transition from a 9-to-5 culture to a fluid culture that takes advantage of what’s possible now in flexible work (call it ‘anytime, anywhere work’). Underlying elements like these are among the most important in making it a reality.
