Dr. Brad Harrington, ©2011 Why Leading Companies Are Implementing Flexible Work and Flexible Careers Prof. Brad Harrington Boston College Center for Work

Dr. Brad Harrington, ©2011

Why Leading Companies Are Implementing Flexible Work and

Flexible Careers

Prof. Brad Harrington

Boston College Center for Work & FamilyJohnson & Johnson, March 2012


CWF MissionThe Boston College Center for Work & Family is the country's leading university-based center that assists employers in their efforts to improve the lives of working people and their families.

Key differentiators: - Bridge research & practice- Cultural change perspective


CWF Members include … Johnson & Johnson Sodexo Proctor & Gamble Chevron PwC KPMG Eli-Lilly Kraft Foods Deloitte-Touche Intel

IBM Marriott John Deere Prudential Securities UPS Abbott Laboratories Bristol-Myers Squib Dell Computers Merck Raytheon


Some Critical US Workforce Trends Demographics: Aging Boomers and Millennials Changing family structures Dramatic rise in women’s prospects and the

changing roles for men / fathers Explosive growth & impact of technology Increased workload, pace, stress, &

dramatic increase in health care costs Globalization, working across cultures,

the 24x7 workplace Changing nature of “careers”


Generational Diversity in U.S.Generation Birth Years % WF Work Perspectives

Veterans / Traditionalists

Ages: 67-90 born 1922-1945

7% Company loyalty – Believed they’d work for the same company their entire career

Baby-Boomers

Ages: 48-66 born 1946-1964

36% “Live to work” – Believed in face-time at the office. Women enter workforce in large numbers

Gen Xers Ages: 32-47 born 1965-1980

31% “Work to live” – Believed that work should not define their lives. Dual-earner couples became norm

Millennials / Gen Y

Ages: 12-31 born 1981-2000

26% “Work my way” – Devoted to their careers, not their companies. Strong desire for meaningful work


Challenge from Millennials In four years, Millennials will account nearly half the

employees in the world… Millennials view work as a key part of life, not a separate activity that needs to be balanced by it. For that reason they put a strong emphasis on finding work that’s personally fulfilling. They want work to connect them to a larger purpose. That sense of purpose is a key factor in their job satisfaction. According to our research they are the most socially conscious generation since the1960’s.

Meister and Willyard, Mentoring Millennials Harvard Business Review, May 2010


Millennial Differences Perspectives on Work & Careers

Do not believe that loyalty to single employer is sound or profitable strategy

Do not assume they will be in single-earner couple, assume spouse will want and need to work

Pervasive Technology: A means for working, communicating, connecting. It is pervasive and makes time, place, distance irrelevant (workplace)

The world is diverse and small Meaningful work … and a life: Millennials have

always known prosperity and downsizing. They want to succeed and have a life.


Family Changes

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics


Changes in working families… 75% married couples with children <15 are dual-

career couples (US Census, 2008) 25% of women in dual-career couples earn

more than their spouse Today, 29% of families are headed by a

single parent (US Census, 2008) Women are primary breadwinners in 38%

of American households (BLS, 2007) Men experienced ¾ of job losses in US

in recession (6 of 8 million US jobs)


What’s happening with women... Women nearly 50% of US workforce In the United States, women earn:

62% of associates degrees 57% of bachelor’s degrees 60% of master’s degrees ~50% of professional degrees and PhD’s

In 1970 women earned <10% of professional degrees & PhD’s

Of 15 jobs with greatest growth rate in next decade, 12 are dominated by women

So gender roles are changing in the workplace…


80%

61%

66% 67%72%

54% 56%

66%

50%

70%

90%

1992 1997 2002 2008

Men under 29 (Millennials in 2008) Women under 29 (Millennials in 2008)

Young Women / Men Don’t Differ in Desire for Jobs with More Responsibility (1992 – 2008)

Sources: 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce (NSCW), Families and Work Institute (FWI)


Men feel more w-f conflict than women

(National Study of the Changing Workforce by Galinsky, Aumann, and Bond, 2008)


Fatherhood Study: Our sample 963 respondents, 4 large companies, national sample “White collar” group: 60% were managers, 37%

salaried workers, 3% were paid hourly Virtually all work full-time and well educated:

87% held at least an Associates-level degree, 77% at least bachelor’s, 35% master’s degree or more.

76% earned more than $75,000, 44% over $100,000. 87% were married or living with partner, 69% worked Average age: 42.6, range from 25-65. 81% White, 7% Black, 5% Hispanic, 4% Asian, 1% NA


Comparison of Education Levels


Time off after most recent child

By contrast, most professionalmothers take 2-6 months leave


Comparison of Workweeks


Comparison of income levels


How Father’s see their role


How should / is care giving divided?


Fathers flex, but not formally


Understand there is a significant disconnect between corporate policy and implementation when it comes to flexibility

This is known as the “implementation gap” The Center explored how 20 leading

employers overcome this gap Researched how these leaders

implemented one of their best practice flexibilty programs

Objectives of the Flexibility Study


Business Case for Flexibility Global Organizations: Meet 24/7 worldwide demands Technology: Anytime, anywhere workplace attractive

to Gen Y and most others Productivity: Reduces absenteeism, improve morale Branding and Attraction: Enhances reputation as

“employer of choice”, especially for Gen Y Corporate Social Responsibility: Green approach Workload: Greater control over time reduces

employee stress (will discuss later) Cost: Retain employees, reduce real estate

costs, diminish no value commuting time


Types of Flexibility Flexibility of Time (when)

Flexible hours and compressed work weeks Flexibility of Place (where)

Telecommuting, work from home Working from remote sites, virtual workplaces

Flexibility of Work Load (how much) Part-time, phased retirement

Flexibility of Careers More customized approaches to

careers


Flexibility as a Business Strategy:Impact of flextime and flex-place


Workload / OverworkOne of the main issues flexibility is intended to address is workload / overwork which has become an even more pronounced issue since the economic downturn and lay-offs.

“The hot button” resilience issue is managing workload – less than 10% of organizations say that they are doing well at managing workload and close to 50% surveyed rate their organizations low.” Report by WFD Consulting


IBM Flexibility Research Flexibility is “the ability of workers to make

choices influencing, where, when, and how long to engage in work related tasks”

Flex has saved over $ billions in real estate costs Based on 2007 WW W-L survey (N = 24,436)

13% of employees with high scheduling flexibility reported w-l conflict vs. 35% of those with low scheduling flexibility

Employees who worked from home and had scheduling flexibility hit high levels of conflict at 57 hours vs. 38 hours (those with low flex)


Mass Career CustomizationFlexibility and Careers


“The evolution of the Internet, social media, the global economy, the Gen-Y generation coming of age all create a situation where you can no longer just think, that you have an opening and recruit an employee. The company used to be in the drivers seat: ‘Here’s the job I have, here’s how much I want to pay you to do this work. Come work under my terms as the employer.’These days are fading. I think it will evolve almost to the point that you will have a marketplace like eBay where someone will put themselves out to bid.

Greatest Challenge for Leaders


‘Here I am. Here’s what I am willing to do and here’s how much I’m willing to make. And here’s the hours and my location and what I can do for you.’ It’s going to be that person in the driver’s seat.

Employers are going to have to learn how to have an individual work arrangement with each employee. I’m not saying this will be the case for all jobs … but it’s going to be the case for your top talent.”

Libby Sartain, VP of HRSouthwest, Yahoo


Challenges Engaging Top Talent Attributes that define rising stars:

Ability: Intellectual, technical, & emotional skills to handle increasingly complex challenges

Engagement: Level of connection & commitment employee feels toward the firm and its mission

Aspiration: Degree to which employee’s desires align with what the company wants for him or her

Too much emphasis placed on employees’ ability Must engage employees in process to ensure

engagement, align individual & organizational aspirations

Martin and Schmidt, How to Keep Your Top Talent Harvard Business Review, May 2010


What is a Protean Career? Proteus: a Greek God who was able to

change form in order adapt to threats A Protean Career is one that is: Driven by individual’s goals, aspirations Shifts, changes in order to adapt to changing

professional & personal circumstances Sees career in a work-life context Develops career plan based on deep level of self-

knowledge (goals, interests, skills, values, etc.)


Traditional vs. Protean CareerIssue Traditional Career Protean Career

Who’s in charge? Organization Person

Core values Advancement Freedom and growth Work-life integration

Degree of mobility Lower High

Key attitudes Commitment to organization

Commitment to profession Work satisfaction Work to live not live to work

Success criteria Position level and title Salary

Psychological success Meaningful work


Deloitte’s Mass Career Customization


Managing Flexibly Each organization needs to assess how flexibility

will be applied in their situation Each also must determine eligibility criteria and

process for approval (results not reason based) Flexibility requires letting go of rigid definitions of

job design, work schedules, and face-time Flexibility requires an objectives-results approach

to managing – this is critical Organization need to determine if flex is a benefit,

a reward, or simply the way we work


Management concerns on Flexibility Nature of work: “What forms of flexibility will work?” Client issues: “How do we ensure this will not

adversely impact our clients?” Work team issues: “Could it diminish teamwork?” Equity issues: “Are all jobs amenable to FWAs?” “What if everyone wants it?” Are some reasons employees ask for flex more “valid” than

others? Management issues: “Will it be difficult to schedule

meetings, monitor employees, measure output?”


Some potential solutions Tailor appropriate flexible options to fit the jobs Involve team in creatively planning how to mitigate

client and teamwork issues Make approval of FWA “reason blind” – it just

needs to be workable Use outcome-based performance management to

measure contribution Recognize initial fears and complexity will exist -

they will diminish with experience Train managers on how to implement and use flex


Employees also have concerns … Concerns Fear request suggests low

organizational commitment Perception by peers Blurring of lines between

work and home Potential negative

implications for career advancement

In difficult times, fear they will be more dispensable

Solutions Communicate organization’s

stance on flexibility clearly Highlight success cases Train employees on flex:

Assess if it is right for them How to set boundaries Recognize thee positive &

negatives sides to using flex

Understand their contribution to organization is based on their results, not face-time


Flex organizations not business as usual Moving to a flexible culture is challenging Requires organization moves away from status

quo and everyone works in same fashion Relies on managers who think openly about how

and when work gets done Requires thoughtful planning regarding goal

setting, responding to customer needs, performance management, and equity issues

Built on a foundation of mutual honesty & trust


What’s happening at …


Achieving Cultural Change


SummaryChanges in society, organizations,

families, & technology have changed how we work and how we live

These dynamics have caused organizations to strive to be more agile and flexible

Also means employees are looking for greater flexibility and can use flexibility and technology to work where and when they are most productive

Flexibility is not an employee-focused perk, it’s a strategic way to do business

Recognize it is also a major cultural change

Documents

Dr. Brad Harrington, ©2011 Why Leading Companies Are Implementing Flexible Work and Flexible Careers Prof. Brad Harrington Boston College Center for Work