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Improving Work-Life Fit in Hourly Jobs
The Center for WorkLife Law
· The Kentucky Orthopedic Rehab Team,
a physical therapy management company
that owns and operates 43 outpatient
clinics and over 250 employees in Kentucky
and Indiana, offers telecommuting to
its marketing department employees.
(Swanberg, Loeffler & Werner 2007)
· The MITRE Corporation, a government
contractor with 7,000 employees, allows
workers at all levels to choose from a variety
of flex options, including telecommuting.
(Giglio n.d.)
· Cisco Systems offers telework; more than 90%
of employees use the residential broadband
services, allowing them to telework at least
part of the time. (Giglio n.d.)
· At Alpine Access, a customer service call
center for a national financial institution,
all staff work from home. (Giglio n.d.)
· At PNC Financial Services Group, telework
in the collections department began as a
pilot due to lack of office space, and in
response to requests from employees with
long commutes. Teleworkers work at the
office once a month to meet with their
supervisor. (Corporate Voices n.d.)
· At Proctor & Gamble, most consumer
relations representatives remotely after four
to six months, using technology provided
by the company. Managers monitor the
quality and volume of calls, emails and
letters answered. Teleworkers usually come
to the Proctor & Gamble offices once
or twice a month, using shared hotelling
spaces. (Corporate Voices n.d.)
· At Proctor & Gamble, administrative
assistants telework. Generally, policy
limits telework to 50% of the employee's
schedule, but entire organizations (e.g.,
Consumer Relations) and remote or field-
based situations allow for increased use of
telework. Admins who are part of a team
coordinate so that at least one person is
in the P & G office on any given day.
Everyone comes in for team meetings.
(Corporate Voices n.d.)
· Kodak offers job telework; all employees are
eligible to apply. (McGuire & Brashler n.d.)
Hold a summit for employers to
explore the business drivers of
work-life fit and share effective
practices
Local groups of employers, human resource
professionals, or NGOs can hold a summit at
which employers learn about today's workforce,
best practices and, most important, can informally
compare their rates of turnover and attrition with
those attained by their competitors. Employers with
sky-high turnover rates often now believe those
rates are unavoidable--whereas often just down the
road, another employer has a sharply lower turnover
rate due to scheduling practices that better match
its workforce. Researchers at the University of
Chicago worked with Leadership Greater Chicago,
a nonprofit organization committed to civic
leadership, to host a working group on Lower-Level
Jobs. The Puget Sound Share the Success initiative
included attention to improving work-life fit for
grocery workers by giving them more advance notice
of schedules: www.sharethesuccess.org. (Lambert
2009a) Appendix D provides a handout that can be
used at the summit.
"Currently there is room at the
Proctor and Gamble office for
[only] about 60% of the consumer
relations representatives."