The stock market is booming and consumer confidence is high. The economy is strong, but to stay competitive in the 21st century, businesses will need to recruit and retain quality employees. Surprisingly, employee satisfaction today has less to do with just increasing salaries and more to do with providing family-friendly policies which help employees deal with the demands of home life.
In a recent survey of over 800 companies with a combined seven million employees, the William Mercer Company, the noted personnel corporation, found 86 percent of the surveyed companies agreed that they cannot remain competitive in the 1990s without addressing family issues with policies such as flex-time and parental leave. But there is good news for business: being family-friendly not only makes your employees happy, it also makes them more productive and may even save you money. The survey found that of those companies that offered these policies, 69 percent concluded that the family-friendly policies they had in place brought benefits that met or exceeded the cost of the programs. Only 4 percent noticed a negative effect.
The Mercer company noted in a summary of the survey: "Employers are interested in work/life programs because they are popular with employees, relatively inexpensive to provide and seem to enhance employee productivity." Indeed, the survey found that more than 50 percent of respondents believe family-friendly policies had a positive impact on productivity, attendance, and morale.
These findings coincide with what the Families and Work Institute has found in its research. In an August 1990 study they discovered that mothers who worked for bosses who offered some flexible hours were seven times less likely to want to quit, and were less stressed both at home and work. And when a company had four or more family-friendly policies, no one in the survey reported wanting to quit.
A study by Johnson & Johnson found that "absenteeism among employees who used flexible time and family-leave policies was on average 50 percent less than for the work force as a whole." And they found that 71 percent of the employees who used the benefits rated them as "very important" in their decision to stay at J&J.
Florida's companies interested in keeping their competitive edge should consider these popular family-friendly policies which have been introduced in companies around the U.S.:
Allow at-home work or telecommuting. Much of today's office work can be done at home with a computer and a telephone. This may even save the company money by reducing demands for office space. Telecommuting keeps parents productive but at home.
Adopt flexible work schedules for employees. Allow workers flexible start and finish times on a day-to-day basis or adjust work hours. Give employees an extra day off by compressing the work week (i.e. allow them to work four, 10-hour days). While some professions are not suited to flexible working arrangements, many are. This policy can lead your business to an outcome-based approach by re-focusing employee performance evaluation on results, not just time spent in the office.
Begin a daughter/son-at-work day. By allowing parents to bring their son or daughter to work for an occasional special day, a closer bond will be built between parents and their children as youngsters learn what their mom and dad do at the office.
Establish a resource library for employees. Stock a variety of books, videos, and pamphlets on both parenting and marriage issues for employees to borrow and use at home. Employees with good marriage and family skills will be more productive on the job and function better in work teams.
Organize family seminars and discussion groups. Bring in lunchtime speakers to discuss family and parenting issues with your employees. Establish lunchtime or break-time discussion groups to tackle issues that will provide support and relieve stress for employees. They will return to work refreshed and rejuvenated.
Consider unique parenting benefits such as paternity and adoption-leave policies. Offer both maternity and paternity leave. Mothers and families would benefit greatly from the opportunity to have the husband at home during the early months after childbirth. Also, consider leave for employees who have new children through adoption. The needs and benefits for these parents are every bit as great.
Not all of these policies may be right for your company. But by implementing some or all of them, employers will give their employees the opportunity to choose the schedules that will enable them to handle work-family conflicts with greater ease and participate in programs that will strengthen their home. And, business executives take note- when it comes to your employees, a rich home life can enrich your company and your bottom line.
