Flexibility Yields Loyalty
Featured Guest Blogger March 2nd, 2009
Elise Jones is president and founder of E Jones Consulting, a firm dedicated to building employer-employee synergy through work/life integration, workplace flexibility, and workforce diversity. A former Diversity Program Manager for Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business, Elise integrates her professional interests with her own commitment to family, faith, and community. Please note that the views of our guest bloggers do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sloan Work and Family Research Network.
The newscast during the morning school dropoff included, alongside the usual list of layoffs, word of yet another major company discontinuing its 401K matching program. With the array of employee benefits shrinking daily, it’s a good time to revisit the value of workplace flexibility as a driver of employee loyalty. (See here a related commentary on flexible downsizing.)
Juliet Bourke of Aequus Partners recently pointed to the most prominent employer benefit of flexible work practices in an economic downturn: reducing overhead and boosting productivity. While Bourke highlighted these arguments for their one-sided ring, flexible work need not be touted solely as an employer-serving approach even in the current climate. Effectively implemented flexibility can bear very few financial costs while yielding some of the most enduring returns, when framed as a benefit to both employer and employee.
Case in point: the husband of a friend spent several years at a small start-up. While the position had initially promised more responsibility and greater creative license than his previous job, in the end it was the flexibility that kept him there. His employer didn’t think twice about his arriving after the preschool run on some days and leaving in time to meet the school bus on others. Their primary concern was that he get the job done and do it well. This flexibility enabled his wife to work two days a week with minimal impact to their family.
Over time the company’s results didn’t meet expectations and financing ran low. What began as exciting and optimistic slowly lost steam as the company struggled to stay afloat. But even as the end became imminent, my friend’s husband refused to look for another job. As long as he had a stimulating position that provided the flexibility he and his family needed, he was staying put, even when it meant reducing his schedule so his employer could meet payroll.
While not everyone is as single-minded in their need for flexibility, time and time again the ability to control when and where we work proves to be a powerful driver of employee loyalty. As part of a long-term employee retention and engagement strategy–even under the bleak economic conditions we face today–employers would do well to consider their approach to workplace flexibility alongside the list of potential cutbacks to employee benefits.
In my opinion I Think that flexibility in the workplace is key. It seems as though it is difficult to have a single income
family so as two work, the flexibility to juggle household becomes more important.
Thanks for this article.