Workplace Flexibility Persists Despite Economic Woes

In the late 90s, companies fought hard to retain scarce employees. But with more job seekers for every available job, are companies less likely to invest in their employees with workplace flexibility?

“No” is the answer, according to a report by the Families and Work Institute—it set out to study how the current recession affected US employers and employees. Indeed, their nationally representative study of 400 US employers, conducted in May of 2009, found that 77% of employers reduced costs in the past year. But despite this grim news, 81% of employers are maintaining the workplace flexibility they offer and 13% are increasing it during the recession.¹

Indeed, support does not fluctuate with revenues at General Mills, says Scott Weisberg, V.P., Human Resources of General Mills’ United States Retail Organization and a member of the Work, Family & Health Network’s Employer advisory group. “In terms of work-life programs, we always want to be competitive and frugal, but we also retain our distinctive culture. We want to be an employer of choice,” says Scott of their overall approach. Scott likes to look at how an employee will value each dollar the company spends. He says, “for some [benefits], the actual outlay of dollars is perceived as much greater to an employee. Work-life policies are a good example of that—time off and flexibility offer huge benefits to employees.”

Indeed, research has shown that workplace flexibility, in particular, can be a way of retaining employees that costs less than other more expensive benefits. Employees with schedule flexibility were healthier and less stressed, and in a win for companies, they were more productive and less likely to look for a new job in the next year.²

It might seem counter-intuitive for companies to care about retention in the current economic climate. The national unemployment rate rose to 9.7 percent in August 2009, or about 14.9 million unemployed persons.2 According to the US Department of Labor, layoffs of 50 people or more in a single company were at their highest point in May since 1995.³  But some companies actually used schedule flexibility to deal with the recession, such as winners of the Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility, a national program recognizing innovative workplace practices. A few of these award-winning employers offered employees reduced hours to avoid layoffs or more days off in lieu of raises.⁴ In fact, 26% of employers in the Families and Work Institute study used flexibility to minimize layoffs.

Scott provides the insight that “you can’t change the work challenge—the demands of a job are driven by the work itself. But you can at least help employees feel like they have things under control.” In a publication released last spring, Network researchers Moen and Kelly exposed the difference between simply having flexibility policies on the books and giving employees real control over their work.  Low-income workers are perhaps the most vulnerable. “When you talk about hourly or shift work, there are going to be more barriers related to the nature of work. Then we have to start looking at ways we can support or empower employees, whether it be work rules, how they get the work done, breaks, or scheduling, to reduce some of those stressors.”

This thinking is progressive. Many companies still lag behind these trend-setters—and that is where legislators need to step in. “It’s essential to think about changing policy in the coming years—both public sector and private sector policies,” says Lisa Berkman, a Network researcher whose focus is low-wage earners. “The US ranks at the bottom of industrialized countries in work-family policies,” she says. Congress has discussed possible changes to FMLA, so it remains to be seen whether that coverage expands despite the economic climate. In addition to federal activity, a number of state-level legislation addressed flexible work schedules for employees.

Supporting these efforts, a Georgetown Law think tank released a public policy recommendation this summer, called Workplace Flexibility 2010, promoting flexible work arrangements for hourly workers. The Network research will also inform these legislative efforts as we measure the health effects of positive work-family corporate changes. In October, Network researchers shared its Phase I results with members of Congress to emphasize the need for more research in this area. Lisa sums it up nicely. “The good news is this is an instance where what’s good for employee health is also good for the bottom line.”

Citations
1. Families and Work Institute. 2009. The Impact of the Recession on Employers.  http://www.familiesandwork.org/ Accessed 9/15/09.
2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Division of Current Employment Statistics. Economic News Release. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm Last Modified Date: September 04, 2009.
3. Turner and Irons. Mass layoffs at highest level since at least 1995. Economic Policy Institute.  http://www.epi.org/economic_snapshots/entry/snapshot_20090701/
4. Families and Work Institute. 2009 Guide to Bold New Ideas for Making Work Work; New York, NY: 2009. http://www.familiesandwork.org/site/research/reports/2009boldideas.pdf

A Better Way to Work: Findings from a pilot study

If you give employees more flexibility and listen to their concerns you will have happier employees, but you can also improve their health. Those are the findings of a Network pilot study conducted in a mid-west grocery store chain. Learn more by watching this video.

Dr. Lisa Berkman
Director, Harvard Center  for Population and Development Studies and Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and Epidemiology

As a social epidemiologist, Lisa Berkman studies how social conditions affect health. The Network’s research combines her two areas of interest. “First, I look at social networks and support, both social ties and exclusions, and how they influence health,“ says Lisa. “I also want to know how socioeconomic conditions impact health—why disadvantaged people are at increased risk for so many more chronic diseases.”

The Harvard center of the Network has been involved with how work organization impacts the physical health and well being of low-wage workers. “We’re hoping that by understanding better how work is organized, we can improve the health for people in those least flexible positions,” says Lisa. She cites health care as one of the fastest growing industries in the US, with a large number of low-wage workers with little workplace flexibility.

“There’s nothing like it,” Lisa says of the latest Network research. “Almost all health interventions are designed to make individuals change. We don’t see things this way—it’s not up to individuals to balance work and family, but instead, it has to happen at the level of an organization or a work site. That is hugely innovative—that level of thinking.”

Dr. Orfeu Buxton
Instructor, Harvard Medical School and Associate Neuroscientist, Division of Sleep Medicine at Brigham & Women’s Hospital

Dr. Orfeu Buxton, also at the Network’s Harvard center, is a neuroscientist who is interested in systems of physiology and behavior. Dr. Buxton’s research looks at insufficient sleep and sleep disruptions—both the causes and health consequences. “What fascinates me about the Work, Family & Health Network is its study of physiologic outcomes really important to everyone’s daily life, like sleep,” says Orfeu. The Harvard center conducted a pilot study that found that the level of work-friendly practices of managers was associated with a wide range of health outcomes, including sleep levels and quality. Network research also looks at “outcomes relevant to longevity, like cardiovascular disease risk,” he notes.  “Refreshingly, we examine these interrelationships in a social context including both work and home life.”

• Workplace Flexibility Persists Despite Economic Woes
• Video on Supervisory Support
• Meet our Researchers
  • Dr. Lisa Berkman
  • Dr. Orfeu Buxton

Rosalind Barnett and colleagues are presenting their work on work-family conflict at the International Conference on Occupational Stress and Health. Their latest study findings discuss multiple roles of work and family using the Conservation of Resource Theory, a theoretical framework for the psychological stress of losing resources.

Notable Publications

Published by the Urban Institute Press this spring, Work-Life Policies explores how job structure or attitudes on the job can undermine even the most family-friendly formal company policies. Edited by Network member Ann Crouter and Alan Booth, the book takes an interdisciplinary view of the issues. Network members Ellen Kossek, Phyllis Moen, Erin Kelly, and Dave Almeida all contributed in their areas of expertise.

Dave Almeida and Ann Crouter are co-authors on a paper in the Journal of Vocational Behavior that examines how turnover intent relate to organizational climate and leadership.

Ellen Kossek and J. Michel co-authored a chapter about Flexible Work Schedules in the most recent APA Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, currently in press.

Network members Rosalind Barnett and Lisa Berkman are co-authors on a recent publication that describes which models of work-family conflict and enrichment best predict the well-being of employees.