The Benefits of Flexible Work Programs
by Jim Ware
I’ve just gotten off a stimulating and (for me, at least) informative conference call with my fellow AppGap bloggers. Among other things we talked about how to collaborate more effectively with each other. One common area of interest is the economic and “green” benefits of virtual collaboration – when we stay off the roads and highways and get our work done remotely and virtually, we’re saving money as well as reducing greenhouse gasses.
That’s such an important opportunity that I thought I’d reprint here a post from my own Future of Work blog that I composed only yesterday – it’s about how flexible/virtual work can actually be a job-saver; and in the current economic crisis that can be really important (both for individuals and for companies).
So here goes:
I’ve just read an engaging blog post by Jennifer Swanberg, an Associate Professor at the University of Kentucky’s Colleges of Social Work and Business. She suggests (no, virtually proves) that adopting a flexible work program can be an effective substitute for laying off employees (“Flexibility Can Offer Alternatives to Downsizing“).
Bay Jordan argued something very similar in our January Future of Work Agenda newsletter (“Rethinking Redundancy“), and Charlie and I have been suggesting for years that most senior executives don’t have any idea just how valuable their human resources (read, “employees”) are.
I particularly liked this comment from Ms. Swanberg’s article:
These are tough times. None of us wants to take a pay cut. But earning less may be better than earning nothing.
Locally and around the state [ of Kentucky], employers are choosing alternative work arrangements in response to budget shortfalls and to save jobs. State prosecutors in Fayette County are among the 95 county commonwealth attorneys who began two weeks of staggered unpaid leave at the end of January to accommodate the $2.4 million cuts ordered by the governor. The Courier-Journal is requiring employees to take one week off from work without pay between now and March. And Governor Beshear has proposed requiring all nonessential merit and nonmerit executive branch workers to take three days of unpaid leave by the end of June 30. According to the Governor’s budget office, this job- and cost-saving strategy would reduce the state’s projected $456 million shortfall by $8 million.
I’ve got to believe that other states and companies would find this alternative worth considering – especially when they think of the challenges they’ll face when the economy comes back (and it will ) and good talent will once again be hard to find.
Keep this in mind: if your organization develops a reputation for growing and shrinking the workforce with the economic ups and downs, you’re going to find it a lot harder to attract and retain talent in the future.
A more thoughtful response to the downturn now could well save you some real headaches in the future. I know times are tough, and you’re trying to cut costs wherever you can, but don’t forget that it costs a heck of a lot of hire someone – and it’s not all that cheap to pay severance costs, either.
Thought...
