Few offer what working moms really want: flexible work arrangements

• Only 18% offer flexibility to all employees;
• A mere 2% allow any employee to telecommute
• 27% of companies that permit telecommuting say 75-100% ‘have access’

to this benefit

• At 66 of the 100 companies on the list where ‘working from home’ is permitted,

fewer than half of the employees at those companies avail themselves of the benefit

What do employees say?

Working Mother Magazine’s “100 Best Companies 2009” list is out. Every year many of the companies on the list rightfully use their inclusion as a recruiting tool for top women executives. And many of their policies indeed make life easier for working moms.

But many of the perks offered focus on childcare and paid leave, and there is less focus on what we believe really counts: flexible work arrangements.

By flexible work arrangements, we mean the ability of work both in and out of the office, from home or any remote location, judging the employee’s performance on results instead of face-time.

Real flexibility reflects the modern, global economy in tune with our technology-driven workplace that allows anyone to work anywhere, anytime. But many companies, even many on the Working Mother list, continue to confine most executives to their cubicles, placing the largest value on face-time.

Flexible Resources, Inc. a staffing and consulting firm based in Stamford, CT that creates flexible work arrangements at both large and small companies for professionals, says the list does not offer a total picture of what’s going on in the workplace. We would benefit from hearing what the employees think. Additionally, the list focuses solely on large companies where often the emphasis is on policy over practice.

Key points :

· While most companies have flexible and telecommuting options “on the books” at most companies fewer than half of the employees (and you can’t tell from the list whether it’s 1% or 49%) actually are able to avail themselves of the benefit – because the benefit is still at the discretion of the manager;

· Many companies are willing to offer costly work-life options such as paid leave for new moms, childcare during school holidays and even health-care benefits for part-timers (very good news!) but they continue to drag their feet about offering the no-cost option of flexibility.

· While 100 percent of the companies on the list report that “flexibility requests are granted on a reason-neutral basis,” we suspect that means there’s no real flexible work option.

“Rather an employee needs to make special requests for every excused absence, and cross their fingers that their boss will say yes,” says Flexible Resources co-founder Nadine Mocker. “That puts undue putting pressure on any professional who is seen as making too many requests. “Real flexibility means employees are trusted to get their work done, on time. That’s when flexibility really works for both employee and employer. Results, not face-time, are what count.”

The Flexible Resources, Inc. report:

· The companies that freely permit telecommuting and flexibility report the highest retention, morale, and productivity.

· Many women who work for some of the companies on this list tell us the real story of flexibility is quite different – there is no real flexibility and often perks that are part of company policy are not put into practice;

· Gen X Moms we meet everyday say the lack of an ability to work remotely is a deal-breaker; this is a generation raised on the Internet and sees no need to be chained to a cubicle.

· Many small businesses are friendly to flexible work options because they enable them to hire top talent well within budget and compete against big companies

Tags: 100 Best List: Policy over Practice?

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 1st, 2009 at 10:50 am by Flexible Resources and is filed under Why flexible work arrangements are good for business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.