Welcome to our Summer 2014 Great Ideas @ Work Newsletter! From our national partners to our local colleagues, there is lots to share and learn about workplace flexibility right now. Enjoy — and pass on to your friends and co-workers! Happy Summer.
- National Study of Employers | How are we doing on workplace flexibility?
- Sloan Award | Twenty Oregon employers named finalists
- Spotlight on Oregon Employers | Boly:Welch and Rose City Mortgage
- Ask Family Forward | Why is training for managers so important for flexible organizations?
- Awesome Articles | The hidden value of workplace flexibility + Why we need paid leave for all (including dads)
- We’re on Linked In | Join our group for conversation with other flexible employers
1 | NATIONAL STUDY OF EMPLOYERS
2014 National Study of Employers: Every two years, the Families and Work Institute releases a report on current trends in flexibility. This year’s report showed that while some things are getting better, other things are getting worse. Check it out here.
2 | SLOAN AWARD for FLEXIBLE WORKPLACES
Go Oregon employers! We are honored to share that twenty of our local employers have become finalists for the 2014 Sloan Award for Workplace Effectiveness and Flexibility.
The Sloan Award recognizes employers that are successfully integrating flexibility into their workplaces. At Family Forward, we know that creating a flexible, family-friendly workplace takes courage and leadership, and we are committed to inspiring more family-friendly workplaces in our state. Partnering with the folks who run the Sloan Award is one way we work to change the conversation about work and celebrate the Oregon employers who are making work work for their employees.
Coming soon: information about this year’s recognition event where we will celebrate winning employers and celebrate the power of workplace flexibility in general.
3 | SPOTLIGHT ON OREGON EMPLOYERS
Changemakers are employers who are changing the way work works so that it works better — for their employees and their families, for their business, and for our economy. Today, we are featuring two outstanding local leaders who “get” that flexible work is the future of work. We invite you to learn from them!
Boly:Welch was founded by two working moms who have created an extremely caring and community-oriented workplace culture. As one employee said, “the word FAMILY comes up a lot in our office.” There are many, many stories of times that the company has supported its employees in profound ways. Click here to download the PDF.
Rose City Mortgage is a Portland-based mortgage company with 13 employees – all loan officers – who specialize in residential loans. They’ve been in business since 1999 and close around 300 loans each year. Click here to download the PDF.
4 | ASK FAMILY FORWARD
Why is training for managers so important for flexible organizations?
Ask Family Forward is a space where Family Forward will provide thoughtful, researched answers to some of your most pressing questions about workplace flexibility. This edition’s topic is flexibility training for managers. If you have a question you would like us to address in a future newsletter, please email your question to Sharon at Sharon@familyforwardoregon.org.
Now, for our current topic….
Why is training for managers so important for flexible organizations?
Formal policies like alternative scheduling, part-time positions or family leave, unfortunately, don’t mean much unless you also have a supportive culture in your workplace. You can have a telecommuting policy in your handbook – but if people who telecommute are seen as less committed, lazy, and probably not really working then it’s not actually a viable alternative for people. In a supportive culture, management will ask employees what their needs are and proactively find ways to address those needs. Managers will be expected to manage flexibly because there is a workplace understanding that treating people well is not only a nice thing to do but yields business results. Workers will be proactively informed of their flexible work options.
Most managers are used to managing for face-time and for short-term profits. It’s a paradigm shift to ask them to manage for results and for a positive workplace culture. So it only makes sense that they would need training and support in new ways of managing teams, leading projects, and communicating with colleagues.
Where to Learn More:
There are lots of articles on this important topic as well as some resources for training.
Articles:
- Getting Workplace Flexibility to Work
- Family-friendly Workplaces Go Beyond Policy
- The Flexibility Bias
- Is Your Manager Becoming Less Committed to Telework?
- How Do I Communicate With Virtual Employees?
Training:
- Life Meets Work
- Work Life Help (GREAT book from these folks, “Who Works Where (And Who Cares?): A Manager’s Guide to the New World of Work“)
Remember, change is possible! And your managers are key.
5 | AWESOME ARTICLES
Every day, we come across new articles about flexibility and family-friendly policies at work. Some are more valuable than others, so we’ve picked out a couple that we think are most useful.
- The Hidden Value of Workplace Flexibility – In a world that is changing at frightening speed, it is strange that many of the ways we work are so entrenched in 20th century thinking.
- Why We Need paid Leave For All (including dads) – Workplace flexibility for both parents isn’t an indulgence. It’s necessary for a gender-equal society.
Webinars from Life Meets Work: These short 15-minute webinars serve as an introduction to Kyra Cavenaugh’s new book Who Works Where (and Who Cares). The emphasis is less on flexibility itself, and more on how teams can work effectively – regardless of when and where individuals are working. Sound intriguing? These webinars are worth a look!
- Webinar #1: Who Works Where [and Who Cares?]
- Webinar #2: Communication Tips for Virtual Teams
- Webinar #3: Manage Resiliency and Reduce Overwork in a Whole New Way
- Webinar #4: Start Your Team Alignment Plan Today
6 | JOIN US ON LINKED IN
Family Forward is on Linked In, and our group is a great place to foster conversation with each other about flexibility. Looking for articles, research, news, opinions? Join our group! We’re right here.
See you there!