We also outlined  four key business strategies that can be supported by flexibility in the organization.  These are:  

1-Employee Attraction and Retention

2-Improved Productivity

3- Improved Customer Service and Satisfaction

4- Effective Operational Management

This second posting will cover the first two strategies.   Why are these strategies key to a business case for building a flexible work culture?…….or said another way…… How will flexible work cultures actually help to accomplish these business strategies?

Employee Attraction & Retention

As stated above there are very few employees that go thru their entire career without the need for flexibility at some juncture.  In addition we know that there are many groups within our talent pools that require flexibility as part of a desired career package.   Dual income families are the first group that comes to mind.  [1]Eighty percent of all couples in the United States are dual income.  This means that both members of the household work in jobs outside of the home.  Many of us can remember a time when all those we worked with were from single income families.   Many of us may still be members of a single income family; however this is far from the norm.  Only 20% of the population have an adult at home full time managing household tasks .   This percentage is shrinking as we move forward.  Our organizations are still in many ways structured as if everyone has an adult family member at home managing the many things that must be done to run a household.  As a result we may not even be aware of all that it takes to keep a household chaos free.  Most individuals in the U.S. do not have this luxury.  Simple things such as car repairs or maintenance, doctor appointments, home maintenance, financial management, and last but not least child or elder care responsibilities require time to manage effectively.  Dual income families are under tremendous pressure not only to make ends meet but to stay organized and accomplish household and family related tasks in a timely and effective manner.  This pressure often causes significant stress.  In addition, we know from research that the reduction of this pressure can result in a powerful barrier to exit in employees.  For many of our employees, it is high on their list of priorities to establish flexibility that works well for their family unit.  Once this flexibility is in place, it is a very strong and low cost employee benefit and barrier to exit.  

Not only dual income family members are looking for flexibility.  Other groups that are demanding flexibility in their career package are generation x & y, those moving toward retirement, those with increasing outside interests such as hobbies or educational goals, and those serving in the military and working in reserve units.  There are more and more reasons why individuals require flexibility and our competitors are providing it.   The size of the talent pool that will periodically require flexibility in their career is growing rapidly.  The organization with a flexible work culture will be well prepared for the future.   Flexibility is a competitive advantage in today’s marketplace.

In addition to the competitive need to provide flexibility, the bottom line is best served by preparation for flexibility as well.   The loss and recruitment of replacement staff conservatively costs a Firm 150% to 200% of annual salary.  By contrast, a full one year parental leave, or elder care leave costs only 32% of annual salary.    Multiply the savings noted above by the number of employees likely to require flexibility in the future and bottom line impact is evident.                                                                                                                                  

 Increased Productivity

Flexibility, when well executed, will improve productivity within an organization in a variety of ways.   Well executed flexibility requires improved communication regarding roles and expectations.  Flexibility often reduces stress dramatically which can result in increased concentration, improved attendance, morale and improved performance.  Each of these elements is a building block to improved productivity.

A 2007 CCH Survey shows that 66% of absence from work is related to other than personal illness.   In addition, 35% of absence from work is related to stress and family needs with another 18% related to personal needs. [2]   Similar surveys have shown that individuals will often not actually take the day off, but will come into work with these distractions pulling them away from work during the day.  This lack of concentration directly impacts productivity because many individuals cannot use all of their vacation time for these needs yet the issues must still be dealt with using work hours to make calls, and keep appointments. Catalyst cites 76% of managers and 87% of employees reported that flexibility had a positive impact on productivity.

A recent study out of Cranfield School of Management suggests that workers given flexible hours by their employers tend to work more intensely than their counterparts who are keeping more rigid office hours.   The researchers suggest that the reason for this phenomenon is a “kind of payment” to the employer from the worker in exchange for the freedom to choose where and when to work. [3]

Flexibility is not always about personal needs, often flexibility is requested for business reasons that directly increase productivity.  Flexibility requests are increasingly about setting aside uninterrupted time to complete certain tasks , to accommodate urgent work requests and to address the business needs such as the following:

 - To be available to colleagues and customers in other time zones

  -To extend total hours of availability of a team

  -To match uneven and/or seasonal workflows with proper resources

 - To address needs put aside during periods of heavy workload

 - To avoid long commutes of unproductive time[4]

In companies working on building flexible work cultures  there are often questions about how to structure a pro-rata compensation and benefits package for those who have requested some type of flexibility.  The main concern is often the protection of accepted organizational metrics and fairness.  The mechanics of this effort are not the most challenging aspect of the implementation.   Organizational cultures and unwritten rules about what is “normal”often  increase the resistance to mainstream acceptance.   However,as stated previously, many flexibility arrangements do not even involve an overall reduction in hours but involve other types of flexibility that do not impact compensation.  However, complexities seem to remain when implementation is attempted.  The only solution is solid communication of the business benefits to the organization.

Organizations  should avoid removing individuals from advancement and promotion tracks as a result of flexibility.  First and foremost the number of individuals who desire flexibility is increasing and these numbers suggest it is prohibitive to exclude the significant number of individuals from maximizing their potential.  In addition, the lost of talent from reducing the growth of this talent pool is short sighted.  It is critical that outcomes, experience requirements, and role responsibilities are not confused directly with hours worked or departure from cultural norms .  There are positions that are very difficult to execute with less than a full time plus level of hours.  In reality,however, many of these roles can be split or shared if viewed in a new light.  In addition, as has been stated previously, many types of flexibility do not require a reduction of overall hours .   Therefore there is no impact preventing access to full time plus executive roles.   If the team perceives lack of advancement as a consequence of flexibility the competitive advantage and business case is lost.

Stay tuned for Part III in the series on The Business Case for Building Flexible Work Cultures

[2] CCH Absence Survey – 2007

[3] Discovery News, Feb 2010                 

[4] Building a Flexible Workplace, Catalyst July 2009

Most women are hesitant, you can translate that to compliant; to be pleasers rather than truth tellers. In “Don’t Bring It to Work” more women than men claim the pleaser pattern, and for good reason.

It is a pattern handed from generation to generation, mother to daughter. In the past women learned that to speak out could mean abandonment; in some societies, even death. So, we learned to preserve relationships by being quiet and accepting what we were given.

Even the changes since Betty Freidan’s groundbreaking “The Feminine Mystique” have only taken us so far. There is still reticence in speaking out for what we want. Those of us who do speak out are seen as adversarial, nasty, angry individuals who are grabbers by nature.

What will it take to change this image? I believe we, as women, know how to ask, know how to negotiate, and especially know how to be fair. We value relationships and collaboration and often we give in to “keep the peace“.

There is a middle way between the “eye for an eye” way of asking, or rather telling and the shoulder shrug of “whatever you say” way. This middle way is where women have amazing skill; we just need the confidence to follow through and not crumble when we are stared down by our male counterparts.

Here are some quick tips on how to ask and get what you want without selling yourself down the river of argument and finger pointing.

Acknowledge: the other before you state your position: we can almost always see the other side. This is not manipulative; it really is at the heart of the art of asking. Everyone wants to be acknowledged, so you stand a better chance of getting what you want by offering an olive branch, or at least a statement that they are in this with you too.

Listen and hear: say “I hear you“; these three words are super powerful. Along with acknowledgement we all have a natural desire to be heard. Women for the most part are great listeners. When you use these words,yes, say them out loud to the other person it creates a human bond. If they do not know enough to return the favor, merely ask, “Can you tell me what you are hearing me saying?” It really helps.

Connect: no matter how tough the art of the ask is, know that we are all connected and no one wins unless we all do. With this as a backdrop find a place where you can connect and share something with the other; do you both have lots of direct reports, do you live on the far side of town, do you both have flyaway hair? Even something minuscule will find its way to the heart.

Respect: No matter who went to the fancy school, or who drives the hottest car, you need to give respect to expect respect. Positions mean less when you are in the heart of the “art of the ask” than you would believe. See you and the other as equals, two individuals swimming through the waves of life, each with personal skills, talents, burdens, and weaknesses.

Believe: in what you want and need. Be clear and concise, yet come prepared with your arsenal of points on why you should have want you ask for. Intention is at least 75% of the issue. When you feel certain, don’t waver. It’s okay to ask, and it’s okay to do it from the understanding of relationships that is foundational knowledge for most women.

Here is the overriding idea: we can break through barriers in the workplace using the same skills and tools we have in our back pockets for resolving issues in the family. Using logic and intuition is an unbeatable combination.

This is our time to do the final push to change the model for giving and getting and find the freedom that comes when we move from pleaser to truth teller, and let the old, out-moded cultural patterns rest in the history books.

The majority of our employees require flexibility at some point in their careers. Research increasingly points to flexibility as one of the most important career considerations of staff, emerging leaders and even our seasoned leaders. If we do not offer this flexibility in our organizations we will lose productivity in our top talent pool and we may lose this top talent completely to our competitors. In addition to flexibility as a requirement for top talent, consider the possibility that flexibility can actually improve your organizational results.

There are many definitions of flexibility. For the purposes of this discussion we are talking about any type of flexibility that allows team members to depart from the standard schedule of an early morning start time to an early evening departure, with all hours served as face time, either at a client/customer site or at the office location. There are many articles and books written regarding the types of flexible work arrangements available.  This posting will not focus on the mechanics of the arrangements but the business case behind them.

Flexibility is not exclusively about part time work. Many types of flexibility involve no reduction in the amount of hours worked. In fact, many types of flexibility involve only one dimension of work structure, such as location, amount of travel or timeframe of the hours worked. There are many dimensions to work structure. Each of these dimensions can be considered when offering flexibility options to team members which in turn gives organizations many options.

The days of flexibility centered on “flex-time” programs and individual “accommodation” has past. Organizations that are making flexible work cultures a success are doing so by using flexibility and the building of a “flexible work culture” as a business strategy that supports business goals directly. Each organization will have a slightly different emphasis in their business case for flexibility. The business case should be directly tied to the strategic plan of the organization which will drive the prioritization of the flexibility business case components specific to each organization.

The list below includes many common business goals .  Flexibility can assist in the accomplishment of these business goals. These business goals should be prioritized based on applicability to the organization and customized with actual organizational data when formulating the business case for specific organizational flexibility.  The upcoming posts in this series will focus on each of these business goals and how flexibility can assist an organization accomplishing these goals.

Employee Attraction and Retention ; Improved Productivity; Improved Customer Service and Satisfaction; Effective Operational Management

Stay tuned for Part II of this series….

Mary L Bennett, mlbennettconsulting.com

In our Total Leadership Connections program we spend time discussing this and over the years several themes have emerged. Many are the same for all leadership programs around the world. Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Mohammed, Gandhi, Mandela, MLK, JFK, FDR are on most lists.

When it gets more personal folks mention a parent, sibling, teacher, business mentor. Last week I was in Manhattan and took the subway to speed my trip. Some noisy kids took me back to a story about my mother I would like to share; it’s leadership in action.

Rebecca, or Reba (she thought that was more modern) stood 5’1″ tall; a wisp of a woman with a feisty no nonsense manner. I was to pick her up from her suburban apartment and drive her to a doctor in center city Philadelphia. At 78 she had been in good health, except….. That was the reason for the appointment.

I had an emergency meeting and my mother decided to take the circuitous bus ride into town. That’s the back story. The leadership story is about to unfold.

A group of six bright-eyes boys, around 14 years of age or so got on the bus with their boom box blaring. They were taking over the bus, horsing around, yelling; nothing bad, just all over the place.

As my mother reported the story later, she looked around and the “elderly folk looked uncomfortable, intimidated“. She continued her report. She watched for a while and had a hunch who the leader was. And in her words “I motioned to him to come to the front where I was sitting. It took a few moments and he came over saying “Yeh lady what’d ya want?”

I decided to see how he would take some deeper talk, not just an admonishment. So I told him I thought he had leadership skills, I had watched and that was my estimate. I also said that leadership is both a privilege and a responsibility. He sat down next to me and said “Yeh, so?” Not in a nasty manner, more curious. I asked him to look at the older folks on the bus. They were frightened and afraid you kids would get out of hand. I suggested he tell his friends to quiet down and save all that energy for the park.

He went back and had a pow-wow with the other boys and they did sit quietly till it was their stop. Then she said, to me “Wait the best it yet to come. When they got off the bus they yelled ‘bye lady’ and the leader, came to the front, shook my hand and said “Hey lady, do you ride this bus often? I hope I see you again.” And with that he jumped down the steps and continued to wave and when we were just about out of sight he blew me a kiss and one last wave. Best kiss from a young man I’d had in years!”

Many try to get by answering in as few words as possible, but in a world where relationships are a key to success, I’m not sure this approach is really helping.

A critical question we so often shy away from giving a powerful answer to, one that can open doors to a world of opportunity, is: What do you do?

I have heard even the most seasoned professionals use the old standard, black and white description of their business. As an example: “I am a financial advisor.” Although you are concisely stating exactly what you do for the person that asked, you are also opening the door for all of the stereotypes and preconceived notions they associate with that title or profession. For many, you would be tossed into the broad category of salesmen and forgotten in their minds. Simply said – the real benefits are being left open to hope (I sure hope they know what a financial advisor does). But in order for action, they must WANT what you have (and it’s your job to make them want it).

However, talking about yourself and your products often come across as sales-y or boastful. For example, if a financial advisor says, “I have a special expertise in building portfolios through my CFA designation.” Ok, so what does that really mean to the person you are talking to? Instead, try using a phrase that I have heard some of the top advisors we work with use. Follow the black and white feature statement with an absolute home run sentence that gives you the right to talk about your expertise or other benefits of your services: Follow: “I have a CFA designation” with “And let me tell you why I think that’s important.”

The statement gives you the right to share why something may be important to them. It will still be a factual description of what you do – but this time with meaning directly for the person you’re talking with. And it may be just the opportunity you have given yourself to put preconceived notions to rest and build your value – without coming across “sales-y.”

How are your voicemail messages? How about your email communications? Are you communicating something compelling that is short and concise? Does it give anything of value? Or are you becoming a victim of “light listening” as you fail to get to any point in a timely manner?

A serial entrepreneur I’ve worked with, who seems to turn most everything he touches into gold, told me his secret to communicating well on the phone. He told me he writes out the voicemail message before he makes a phone call. And he does it before just about every call he makes. Then, if he has to leave a voicemail, he is ready. And, if he speaks live to the person that he’s calling, he is much more prepared. It is especially important when talking with a prospect, a strategic alliance connection, or a networking contact. Because if you don’t give them your best, you have left them with a lasting message that may have them questioning you and your abilities (it happens)!

These days I text my husband and get right to the point with information like… “Can you please pick up Shane at 6pm or he will be stranded at hockey practice?” Best to get the important messages delivered without the fluff. And, it’s hard to be that boring in 160 characters.

The reply was instantaneous.

“We’re very busy helping some other people right now so it is going to be a while before we can get to you.”

Ouch!

Can you say “deal breaker”?

Can you be any clearer about how unimportant my friend was made to feel?

Or how explicitly the salesperson conveyed, more than anything else, that a sale to Julia was a very, very low priority?

Which, in turn, left us thinking –earrings or no earrings — that other shops were beckoning pretty strongly pretty darn quick.

All that from one careless response?

Yes, all that.

You know its true.

You get exactly one chance to make a first impression.

The words you say convey only a very small portion of your message – tone of voice, inflection, facial expressions and body language speak the rest for you.

Are you aware of the message you’re sending?

Can we excuse that clerk who lost the sale because she wasn’t aware of hers?

No one is perfect after all.

And yet . . .

Shouldn’t that salesperson have had a better response at the ready? One that could have sped from her mouth as easily and quickly as that unacceptable response came out?  Sort of an automatic “be right with you.”

My vote is “yes, she should have.”

We frequently think of prepared responses in a negative way – they’re “canned”, “programmed” somehow less sincere.

Most of the time our experience tracks that summary like a foregone conclusion.

We tune out the automatic “thank you Ms. _____” from the grocery clerk, quickly steer away from the department store sales person offering assistance  and rush past the parting comment in the salon.

Like muzak in the elevator they are easy to ignore.

Funny, isn’t it, how in contrast the spontaneous wrong response stands out as clearly as a bell.

Both preparation and presentation make the difference between a successful automatic response and one that is just so much white noise.

You and your team should have a menu of appropriate responses to choose from when regularly repeated situations occur. The goal in composing this menu is to eliminate the thinking step, to relieve the speaker from the challenge of knowing what to say.

This preparation eliminates a poorly chosen word or thought that detonates with the sound of a loud explosion. And frees the customer experience from the dictates of the employee’s mood, challenges or whatever.

Reduce that situation to an if/then proposition:

• If customers are waiting then say “Just a moment I will be right with you.”
• If delivery of an order is late then begin with an apology while you look into the details.

You can create the scripts that will come up in your business dealings.

But preparing the content of the response is not enough. Presentation counts  — and the only way to ensure the right presentation is practice, practice, practice.

Not convinced?

On my last trip to the grocery store the cashier, as usual, said “Uh. What’s your name ma’am” as he handed me my receipt. I responded “Clarke”. To which the clerk replied, again as usual, “Thank you Mrs. Clarke.”

A scripted exchange at least in part.

How much better would it have been with practice?

The right response needs to roll off the tongue automatically.

The same way it should have for that saleswoman in the boutique.

A quick, neutral, “Just a moment, I’ll be right with you” would have made all the difference.

And not just because Julia was looking at a very nice pair of earrings.

__________________

Anne Clarke, is a personal and executive coach and principal of ABClarke Coaching. She helps individuals, professionals and entrepreneurs achieve success – however they define it. Anne is featured in the newly released “CRAVE Boston: An Urban Girl’s Manifesto”; contact her at ABClarke.LDV@gmail.com or on the web at www.setting-and-achieving-goals.com

And, if you look down and there is a candy wrapper lying on the pavement, do you pick it up and throw it in a waste basket? Most likely you would take the moment to help clean up the area.

So, why do we walk past unpleasant situations, unpleasant people and just keep going? And, sadly, there are also times we add to the difficulties with our comments and critiques and more “junk” is left in the room.

It’s time to look emotional pollution in the eye and start a campaign against toxic patterned behavior spills.

Saying “no” to divisiveness, to gossip, to office politics is an important step to cleaning up this invisible environment that pollutes as much as leaving trash on the floor.

Think about it for a moment. When someone tells you a “juicy tidbit” about a colleague how do you respond? Do you simply say “uh huh” and walk on? Do you ask for details and add “I knew she couldn’t be trusted?” Do you go to another colleague and say “Wait till you here this?”

There is old conditioning that had to do with safety and survival, handed from generation to generation, that is the plus side of gossip. We all want to be in the know. Okay, now the big question is what do you do with the information?

Emotional pattern spills happen in every office all the time. They can cause poor morale and lessened productivity; cleaning them up takes work and determination.

Here is the best way I have found to stop the “gotcha games” at work. When sour sentences come your way, simply ask “What is your intention by telling me this?” And then you must be quiet to give the other person ample time to answer.

If still not satisfied, another question “What do you want as an outcome?”

Again wait. And then “What do you expect me to do with this information?”

This is the foundation of the program “OUCH: Handling Conflict at Work” and I have seen positive changes occur quickly and effectively.

By irresponsibility, by ignorance, by inconsideration, we all pollute. By communicating, by questioning, by caring, we can keep our environments clean. It’s about you, it’s about me, and it’s about time!

When you started your career what was front and center on your work agenda? I was armed with a master’s degree in psychology and I was going to make the world a happier place.

There was no idea of owning a business, no idea of leading others, no idea of public speaking, and no idea of writing a book. I was focused on learning the ins and outs of being a therapist, working with the invisible forces that make us do what we do.

Interestingly, forty years later the core of my career is the same. I still love to dig down into the hidden world of behavior patterns and how they impact us at home and at work. I also am amazed that instead of a small office with just the right therapeutic setting of chairs, tables and a couch I run a 450 acre retreat center that can sleep 60 people, with an organic vegetable garden, labyrinth, pond large enough for a paddle boat and outdoor dining pavilion.

I also have an office in San Francisco and consultants throughout the country to help with our PatternAware™ programs. So, when someone recently asked me what I am looking for as we hire new consultants and support staff I took time to trace back to the past and bring it into the present.

And I thought about key lessons I have learned. I hope they spark for you some memories and ideas about your own personal lessons. Let me know, I’d love to dialogue with you. Here is my list:

1. Trust the process: what looks awful in the middle of a trauma may just be the fertilizer needed for the next step in career and home.

2. Don’t sell out: even if you are unpopular and feel alone you will find the strength to get to the other side without regret. Pleasers are happier as truth tellers.

3. Give love anyway: even when it is not deserved, don’t push others away, they may well grow and learn also and the love can boomerang back when last expected.

4. Drama can become boring: this addicting pattern can get in the way of real deepening so learn to tell a story that has a purpose and use your dramatic inclination in a more productive way. (I must admit this was the hardest for me to change.)

5. Be committed to being connected: no matter how those who are splitters want to create dichotomies, help to build a bridge, or be a bridge. No one wins unless we all do is a powerful manta.

I am curious to see who comes our way to join our team and how they will take to our basic philosophy that is spelled out in “Don’t Bring It to Work“. Our company is committed to standing on the shoulders of the past rather than to merely repeat it.

I usually re-look at myself at the end of each year. However, with the winds of change blowing gently this is a super time to think about what really matters and welcome new colleagues into my world.

It turns out that the earliest form of this idiom was first recorded in 1581, and the description is to “be upset or irritated, especially when displaced by someone”. Your “nose is out of joint” when the look on your face and the way you act shows other people that you are upset. Although a nose cannot actually be “out of joint”, a person who is upset may have a strange look on their face until they recover.

So that leads me to another question. How do you react when you are upset with something that someone did or said to you? Does your nose get “out of joint” or are you able to clearly communicate verbally why you are upset?

I think we tend to suffer in silence. When someone says something to us that upsets us, we internalize it and don’t verbally respond, at least not right away.  Later when another person asks us why we are upset, we might share what happened and how the particular incident affected us. If we follow this course of action, however, we miss the opportunity to give feedback to the person who caused us pain or irritation. Often they hear it from a third party and you know how that goes. Just like the old game of telephone, the communication gets mixed up and muddled.

This leads me to another question. Why don’t we give immediate direct feedback about how we feel to the person who upsets us? Why do we rely on body language to convey our message when it can be so easily misinterpreted or even overlooked?

I can offer some theories:

• We are fearful of the reaction of the other party.
• We lack the confidence to express our feelings directly.
• We don’t understand how assertive communication can benefit a relationship.
• It’s much easier to be passive aggressive and tell everyone else how upset we are than confront the other person directly.
• A combination of all of the above

What about you? How do you react when someone upsets you? Do you communicate directly to the other person how you feel or do you get your “nose out of joint”, make a little grimace and move on?

If you don’t assert yourself and communicate directly, you miss an opportunity to build or strengthen a personal or professional relationship.

I would love to hear your thoughts.