balanced workload: the benefits of being a flexible employer

Nadia McKay, VP Sales

October 1, 2008

Balanced Workload:The Benefits of Being a

Flexible Employer

Mom Corps’ Niche ExpertiseMom Corps is an innovative staffing solution

We provide corporations access to top-tier, experienced talent unavailable through tradition employment channels, while providing resources and training to professionals seeking non-traditional work arrangements

With over 30,000+ candidates nationwide, and a client base of hundreds, including many Fortune 500 companies, Mom Corps is the expert and market leader in the field of non-traditional employment

Mom Corps’ expertise and innovative philosophy has been sought and featured by a number of nationally recognized media outlets:

AgendaEvolution of Today’s Workplace

Benefits of Integrating Flexible Work Arrangements

Social and EnvironmentalProductivity and EffectivenessProfits and Bottom Line

Developing Flexible Work Arrangements

Case Studies

Workplace Evolution

The concept of 9 to 5 has changed dramatically over the past decade. Workplace flexibility is more than

an inevitable trend – it is becoming a business imperative to stay competitive.

Increasing corporate social responsibilityTop talent demands it Technology allows it

Profile of Today’s Work EnvironmentIncreased labor force

participation rates for working familiesAn additional 25% of workers also have eldercare responsibilities

Longer work hours24/7 work – 21% of high-end workers have “extreme” jobs which entail 60 + hours a week and intense time demands outside of work

Longer commutesAmericans spend well over 100 hours per year commuting to work

Profile of Today’s WorkforceIntergenerational – Current workforce is the first-ever to face the demands of four unique generations their attitudes, management styles, and expectations

Shifting Demographics – In the United States, between 8-10,000 Boomers turn 60 everyday… they are being replaced by a younger workforce creating profound changes in the employment pool

Younger Mentality – Gen Y will constitute 45% of the workforce in a few years

The Gen Y Worker: - Entrepreneurial - Tech-savvy - Value communication - “Emergent Workers”

Less job loyalty < More balance

Dramatic Changes In the workforce…

More ethnically diverse and agingWomen are in the workforce in almost equal numbers as menWomen have achieved higher educational levels than menYounger employees are more family-centricMen are more involved in the care of their children than in the pastSignificant numbers of both men and women provide elder care

In the workplace…The economy is global and 24/7Work hours have increasedJobs have become more demanding and hecticTechnology, voicemail, cellphones, BlackBerries, etc. are blurring the lines between when people are at work and when they are notThe job for life has been replaced with growing job mobility and job insecurity

Where We Are TodayToday in the U.S. among all employees:

39% of employees are not fully engaged in their jobs*54% are less than fully satisfied with their jobs*39% are somewhat or very likely to make a concerted effort to find a new job with another employer in the coming year*

We are transitioning:

From a manufacturing-based economy to a knowledge-based and service economy with a greater gap between more skilled and less skilled jobs

*Boston College Center for Work and Family

Shrinking Talent Pool

The U.S. Bureau of LaborStatistics estimates ashortfall of

10 Million Workers

within the next six years –due to retiring babyboomers.

% Percent workers 45 and older leaving occupation between

1998-2008

Accountants 46.4%Lawyers 27.7%Operations Analysts 74.2%Technical Writers59.0%Public Relations 56.8%

Flexibility is Inevitable

As the workplace becomes a virtual, 24/7 environmentAs demographics in the workplace shift and increase demand for more life/work balanceAnd as the professional talent shortage becomes a reality for hiring managers and corporations

Flexibility is the new way for businesses to maintain a competitive advantage.

Defining Flexible Work ArrangementsFlexible Work Arrangements

Interim Employees and ExecutivesContingency workers provide labor flexibility to meet demand fluctuations, to attract specialized talent and to achieve higher productivity

Virtual EmployeesThe Work Design Collaborative estimates that five years from now, some 40 million workers will telecommute at least part-time, up from between 20 to 24 million now

Non-Traditional ScheduledFrom millennials graduating from college and retirees pursing personal interests to women who are returning to work after starting families… life/work balance is achieved through part-time, job-sharing, phased-retirement, compressed work week, and full-time flex schedules

Growth of the Contingent Workforce

The Human Capital Institute estimates that the contingent

work force is expected to grow at

three- to -four times the rate of the traditional work

force and will make up approximately

25 % of the global work force by 2012.

25% Contingent

75% Traditional

The Business Case for Flexibility

Work-LifePerspective

TalentManagement

TotalRewards

CorporateCitizenship

Health/Wellness

Diversity/Inclusion

Benefits of Being a Flexible EmployerThe benefits of being a flexible employer abound – from social and environmental, to productivity and the bottom line.

Social and Environmental ImpactCorporate wellness, employee morale, differentiation from competition, going green

Productivity and EfficiencyRecruiting, retention, productivity

Profits and ExpensesTurnover costs, healthcare, vacation and overhead

Business Goals Through FlexibilityAccording to the 2008 CFO Perspectives on Work Life Flexibility, CFO’s rate impact of work life flexibility as “high” or “moderate” in the following areas:

Improve employee retentions 90%

Improve recruitment efforts 88%

Improve productivity 75%

Differentiate company from competition 72%

Reduce environmental impact 68%

Reduce healthcare costs 53%

Reduce real estate costs 34%

Enhance customer satisfaction 34%

Social and Environmental BenefitsGood for employee wellness, morale, and the environment

Better HealthParents with more access to flexible work schedules report fewer physical and mental health problems*Employees with access to flexible work schedules report high life satisfaction and low levels of negative spillover from work to home *

Increased MoraleAccording to a recent SHRM survey, half of employees cited ‘flexibility to balance life and work issues’ as very important to their overall job satisfaction

*The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation – Work-Family Information for State Legislators

Social and Environmental BenefitsEnvironmental Benefits

23% of companies are now offering some form of flexible work arrangements in order to combat rising gas prices*

Compressed work week – 4 day work weekTelecommuting – Ease traffic and air congestion during prime commuting times and counteract effects of gas prices on paychecks

20% of companies provide employees a subsidy for public transportation costs - another 8% plan to offer it in the next 6 months*

Making the most of creative alternatives is good management practices, supports attraction and retention concerns, and cost-effective

*www.WorldAtWork.org

Increases in Productivity and EffectivenessIncrease in Productivity

Employees with more access to flexible work arrangements are more willing to work harder than required to help their companies succeed*

Utilizing non-traditional or contract employees during peak times, frees up managers and full-time employees to focus on core, revenue-generating responsibilities

Employees feel valued and rewarded for their time and unique contribution to the workplace or a specific project

According to the Center for Work & Family, 70% of managers and 87% of employees reported that working a flexible work arrangement had a positive or very positive impact on productivity


Benefits to the Bottom LineIncrease in Bottom Line

Great Place to Work Institute and FORTUNE Magazine’s ‘100 Best

Companies’ consistently outperform the S & P 500 – 99 of these companies

have flexible work polices, and 84 allow employees to telecommute.

Benefits to the Bottom Line

Decreases in Recruiting and Retention CostsFlexibility is becoming a more effective hiring and retention tool than above-market salaries, stock options, or training

In Mom Corps’ 2008 Database Survey, 72% of top candidates consider flexibility ‘Extremely Important’ when considering employment – more so than compensation (44%)

Turnover is expensive – especially when accounting for lost productivity, lost sales and lost human capital. Studies have shown that the cost to replace an exempt employee can be up to 200% of annual compensation*

Flexibility increases commitment. Over 80% of employees using flexible work arrangements report that such arrangements have a ‘very positive’ impact on their decision to stay with their employer*


Benefits to the Bottom Line

ProductivityProfitsEffectivenessEmployee MoraleRetentionCorporate wellness

Health care CostsReal estate CostsRetention CostsRecruiting CostsUnscheduled absences

Steps to Implement Flexibility

Conduct needed research

Gain commitment and make a business case for flexibility

Design the program and revise performance measures

Implement the flexible work arrangements program

Developing Flexible Initiatives

Conduct needed research

Conduct research to understand employees’ needs and what flexible

work arrangements can best meet those needs

Analyze the organizational culture and the level of supportiveness for the

desired flexible work arrangement program

Identify obstacles that may occur and determine how to overcome them

Identify potential downsides to the flexible work arrangements being

considered and think about ways to mitigate them

Boston College Center for Work and Family


Gain commitment for the program – the most critical

Culture needs to be well understood - crucial to the program’s success

Make a clear and compelling business case for the program: Find out the business needs, what leaders are striving toward, what is driving the need for the program

Position the arrangement as a solution to a business problem

Connect the dots from the business need to the program

Try to calculate the cost of not implementing flexibility (e.g., turnover costs)

Be creative. Use terminology that will work for the audience (e.g., how effective people will be as opposed to work-life balance)



Design the program

Adopt fairly flexible policies and guidelines that would meet a variety of

situational needs

The flexible work arrangement itself must be flexible

Make the new way of working the expected way of working by

integrating new work arrangements into the existing systems and

encouraging use

Revise performance management systems so that objective goals are

rewarded instead of face time



Implement the program

Establish the needed infrastructure to put the program in place and begin to manage it

Pilot the effort before implementing it more widely and rolling it

Use teams or work units within the organization to facilitate implementationGet support from IT and other departments, develop management models, provide training for managers and employees, and develop comprehensive and well-organized communication strategies to increase effectiveness of programsMeasure results and improve!


Case Study: Best Buy


Case Study: Eli Lilly


A Growing Trend

At IBM, 40% of the workforce has no official office

At AT&T, a third of managers are untethered

At Sun Microsystems Inc., an estimated $400 million over six years in real estate costs has been saved through allowing employees to work where they choose.

A recent Boston Consulting Group study found that 85% of executives expect a rise in the number of unleashed workers over the next 5 years

The most innovative new product on the market may be the structure of the workplace itself.


Q & A

Non-traditional work affects a number of areas within business – from financials, to human capital, to

corporate responsibility. Mom Corps hopes to give corporations and managers the insights and strategies to

better understand this imminent workforce trend.

balanced workload: the benefits of being a flexible employer

Documents

job insecuritywhere

new job

notthe job

younger workforce

growing job mobility

workplacethe economy

service economy

menyounger employees