May/June 2000

Listen Closely

It’s a different world when it comes to hiring and retaining workers. Today’s job seekers are shoot-from-the-hip, lay-it-on-the-line applicants. Instead of asking routine questions in job interviews, they openly ask employers how many hours they will be expected to work and what the organization’s policy is on work/life balance. It’s not that they are lazy; it’s just that their priorities are different. They are more concerned with how people work together and how the organization treats its associates than they are with the actual job.

In a recent survey of 2,500 college students, 57 percent said “attaining a balance between personal life and career” was their primary career goal. So if you want to hang on to these straight-talking workers, the Duck® recommends you take a close look at your organization’s culture and work/life benefits, and be prepared to answer job applicants’ questions regarding the two.

While offering work/life benefits are important these days, providing a caring, positive work environment where employees are heard still comes first. Without that, the latest and greatest benefits wouldn’t go very far to retaining employees. That said, let’s take a gander at the work/life benefits situation.

Will It Ever Work?
American workers are desperate to balance work and family, but less than a quarter of workers believe their employers give work/family issues the attention they deserve. Those were among the recent findings of a survey of 1,000 adult employees. Of the respondents, 97 percent said balancing work and family was the most important part of their job. Yet 95 percent feel the time they have for their families is inadequate. In addition, a quarter of those surveyed said their employers didn’t have benefits in place to help them establish this balance.

What can employers do to address this ongoing problem? Old Manco Duck® sees the following components as essential for a successful work/life program:

Be visionaries. An organization’s culture says it all. If senior management truly thinks of work and family in a holistic sense, the appropriate programs are bound to follow. A company’s core values must be aligned with work/family issues.
Take a pulse. Organizations must complete comprehensive needs assessments to address the entire range of work/family issues. All employees must be given a voice in the types of programs that would most affect their lives.
Be competitive. Work/life programs were once an option, but are now essential in attracting and retaining employees. Organizations must look at their positions in relation to other businesses to determine best practices.
Be adaptable. Issues regarding family life are continually changing. A successful work/family initiative must be structured to evolve with these constant changes.

Building a Community
Workers today are hungry for a sense of community, a sense of belonging. Companies that build an atmosphere of community into the workplace enjoy greater loyalty, productivity, and cooperation. The way the Wise Winged One sees it, there are three fundamental steps for creating a community within an organization:

(1) Keep it equal. Pay less attention to rank and status, like executive parking spaces. The more open an organization is to receiving everyone’s contributions, the greater the sense of community.
(2) Create a shared environment. A shared environment can be as simple as a companywide profit-sharing plan that allows everyone to share in an organization’s success. Try to create an environment where everyone sees the value of each employee’s contribution.
(3) Show them you care. Every member of a community needs to feel cared for and appreciated. In good times and bad, find ways to boost community spirit by offering a safe, supportive environment.

Time Out
Income and benefits are certainly concerns of today’s employees, but they now value one commodity more than ever—time. According to one survey, employees rank paid vacation time and holidays as the fourth most important benefit, up from number 10 four years ago. The increased attention to time means workers are rethinking which jobs they want to take, leave, and stay with.

Savvy managers are making a number of adjustments in the workplace to deal with this new priority. About 27 percent of employers now offer paid time-off banks. The banks consolidate sick, vacation, and personal days, which workers can use whenever they like. Workers in high-performance jobs particularly like this system, because it allocates equal time off to all employees. Organizations that use paid time-off banks say the system empowers workers, allowing them to decide when and how they will use their time off.

Other businesses offer incentive programs to reward performance with time off. A survey by the American Management Association finds employees respect their employers more for “giving them a life” than for offering cash rewards. In essence, the organizations most successful in providing employees with more time are those that keep the rules simple. Their approach: Do the work well and take time when you need it.

How Flexible?
Offering employees a flexible work arrangement goes a long way toward get their work done. Employees must submit a proposal that outlines, among other things, how helping them balance work and family. And it’s a highly appreciated benefit. Want to know how to set up flexible work for employees? Ask them. Rather than a one-size-fits-all plan, a flexible arrangement determined by employees is often the best solution for everyone. Two primary objectives, however, must be met for the arrangement to work. First, the arrangement must meet the business objectives of the company. Second, the arrangement must indeed offer flexibility to the employee.

At a division of United Technologies Corp., for example, management simply asks employees who request flextime to explain how they will customer needs will be met and how the arrangement will be beneficial to all parties involved. While flex arrangements are increasing in popularity, organizations need not worry that all employees will be demanding flexible schedules. Currently, 8 to 15 percent of the workforce uses flexible work arrangements.

Once companies obtain support from senior management for flexible working arrangements, most of the challenges have been met. Management is often supportive of flexible work arrangements once they know they have senior-level support and that a plan is in place outlining the agreement between the employee and the organization. In fact, morale often improves with flexible arrangements, making the manager’s job easier and the work environment more productive.

Winning at Retention
How can a company best retain employees? As we’ve seen, work/life benefits can be a tremendous retention tool. But one consultant found these practices to be the most important when it comes to keeping employees:

Focus on people. Create an atmosphere that supports people by focusing on the work environment—the systems, policies, practices, and culture. Emphasize values and create people-friendly systems like open-door policies, opportunities for advancement, and recognition for quality performance.
Create a culture of caring. High-retention organizations value integrity and ethical behavior and make no exceptions. They treat everyone well and receive the same in return.
Have in place a conflict-resolution process. Conflict does occur, especially between manager and employee. Rather than risk losing a good employee over it, the savvy company offers a way for employees to get the problem solved, even circumventing the supervisor, if necessary.
Take stock. Compare your turnover rate with that of your competitor. Find out who’s leaving. Is it your star performers or your low performers? The old-timers or the “whiz kids”? Retention leaders track turnover data by age, sex, education, performance, race, job, length of service, unit, and department. Specific information can point to hidden problems that you can then work to fix.
Watch the high performers. They set the tone and offer the biggest payback. If star performers are unhappy, respond quickly. Recognize their efforts and reward them with pay and perks tied to performance.
Seek continuous improvement. Retention leaders see their relationships with employees as a work in progress. They continually seek feedback by asking questions and by distributing employee attitude surveys. They then take action to keep employees happy and satisfied.

Sincerely, Your Friend
Manco T. Duck