Twelve months ago, when Eileen McGoldrick took over a 106-year-old insurance company with a dozen employees, she knew she had to invigorate its traditionally conservative culture.
"We had a very bad morale problem," McGoldrick says. "In our industry, that''s very pervasive."
Her agency, Wright and Kimbrough, based in Sacramento, Calif., was suffering from low margins, high stress, understaffing and a debilitating turnover rate of 200 percent. "I knew there had to be a better way."
Her solution: Flexible work arrangements.
McGoldrick''s employees now name their own work schedules - primarily flextime and telecommuting - with McGoldrick as the final decision maker. Since incorporating the new arrangements, she hasn''t lost a single employee, and business is booming.
Corporate Culture Shock
Adding flexible work arrangements to a company''s culture can shake up traditional work styles, but an increasing number of employers are relying on these arrangements to better balance work and life obligations.
According to Anne Pauker, president of The Pauker Consulting Group in Princeton Junction, N.J., employers seek out flexible work arrangements for three reasons: employees demand accommodating schedules; it improves recruitment and retention; and employers need properly designed policies to replace the informal procedures that have circulated in their workplaces for years.
"People want flexibility, and they''re willing to change jobs if they don''t get it," Pauker says.
Many employers harbor preconceived notions about alternative scheduling, such as telecommuting, which Pauker describes as "working remotely," rather than the image of working at home in a bath robe and slippers. "The acceptance of [telecommuting] by management is greatly enhanced when they realize they''re doing it every time they work from a client''s office or any remote location," she says.
Technical Difficulties
McGoldrick admits she didn''t do everything right. She said some employees initially stumbled over the new policies. "In hindsight, I would have been a lot more verbal and on hand during the first ninety days" after announcing the benefits. She says telecommuters ran into technical difficulties trying to do everything at home without a proper home office.
Pauker says that''s common. "Very often the biggest downfall is that employers don''t have the technology to support these flexible arrangements." She advises employers to carefully estimate equipment and service needs to make sure employees have everything they need to work away from the office.
Since adding flexible scheduling, McGoldrick''s biggest problem is figuring out how to tackle more business. "I plan on expanding and growing, while reducing workspace and overhead."
Check out our Related Tool, Checklist: Flexible Work Arrangements, to see which types of flexible schedules may support your employees'' work-life balance while improving your company''s bottom line.
