Employers Offer Flexible Scheduling

CU360
October 5, 2009 | COMMENTS

For the most part, men and women express few differences in the value they assign to work-life balance, according to a recent Accenture survey. The only area of surprise was the number of men (68%) who said they want to be available for their families. This number is higher than the 46% of women who said the same.

"We're seeing a culture shift among men who are changing their belief system and want to interact more with their families," Sharon Klun, manager of Accenture's retain talent team, tells the American Society for Training and Developments T&D magazine.

Regardless of which segments of the workforce most value time away from work, the workplace is adapting to the demands of the current and incoming generations—albeit slowly. Large organizations employing 1,000 or more workers typically have to be consistent and focus on policy, whereas smaller organizations have the ability to tailor policies to individual needs.

The days of one-size-fits-all HR policies are fading as employees view their situations as unique, says Klun. They want the ability to miss a meeting if they have a pressing personal need at home. Spending a full eight hours at the office is no longer seen as a badge of honor.

Some scheduling benefits that were unthinkable a generation ago are now commonplace, such as compressed work weeks, flexible schedules, and work-from-home options. Accenture, for example, offers its employees a self-funded sabbatical whereby individuals can take up to 90 days of unpaid leave for any reason and return to their jobs. It allows employees to pursue another career or personal interests.

Thanks to the speed of e-mail and Internet resources, cumbersome administrative tasks can be handled remotely. The days of early arrival and late departure from the office are gone for many professions. There's no performance measurement tool to grade an individual's productivity away from the office, but some workplace analysts predicted it will appear in the near future.

"How intently someone is working is a subjective measure," Klun says. "It doesn't matter if you are engaged for four hours at a time or not. What's important is being able to meet expectations."