It pays you back, double.  The more you care about people’s lives, the more they give to you.

— Pat Welch, founder and owner of Boly:Welch

What is really unique about the way Boly:Welch does business?

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.

One employee was dying from cancer but needed to work. Boly:Welch kept her on, allowing her to work however many hours she could – but not reducing her pay – until the day she died. This level of emotional and financial support sent a message to other employees as well that they were valued and safe in their jobs.  Another unique policy is profit-sharing, whereby a chunk of each year’s profit is distributed to staff.  And because Boly:Welch tends to promote from within, people feel a real sense of job security and long-term commitment.

What family-friendly work/life policies does Boly:Welch provide?

Employees are able to adjust their schedule to meet their personal needs. Some people have flexible full-time schedules, while others work part-time.  Part-time workers receive comparable pay and benefits and have access to managerial positions.  In some cases, people have kept their full-time salaries but reduced their hours.

At Boly:Welch, 28% of employees are hourly. Hourly employees in the U.S. generally experience constantly challenging schedules, making it hard to plan for child care and other family commitments. Here, hourly employees know their schedule at least four weeks in advance and most have control over which shifts they work.

Everybody gets access to paid sick and vacation time right away when they start working for Boly:Welch, except the temporary workers (whom they place with clients) who have to work for a certain period before they can take paid time off from their posts.  When it comes to long-term family and medical leaves, employees have access to 12 weeks of unpaid family and medical leave. They can use their accumulated PTO days on top of the unpaid time off.  They also have short-term disability which can help people access more pay during medical leaves.  Everyone is included in these time off policies, except temporary folks who are in short-term temporary assignments – but they will go to bat for the temp if they’re having issues with the employer.  They make sure the temp doesn’t lose his/her job when something comes up with their families.

The post Boly:Welch | Spotlight on Flexibility appeared first on Family Forward Oregon.

Flexibility is how the market is evolving.  It’s how you keep the best people on your team.

— Katrina Yuen, the Director of Human Resources and Operations

FMYI’s product itself is all about workplace flexibility – a web-based private networking tool that allows people to work collaboratively from anywhere. It has a social networking site interface, built in workflow tools for things like managing projects and posting files, and free technical support.  In other words, they create an online tool that helps people create successful virtual offices – so it only seems fitting that they would foster flexibility and telecommuting in their own business operations.

At FMYI, their goal is to build a business with minimum environmental impact and maximum societal value.  They are a certified B Corporation and have a strong commitment to the environment, community, sustainability and corporate responsibility

What family-friendly work/life policies does FMYI provide?

There are two key components to flexibility at FMYI:  flexibility of location and flexibility of timing.

Telecommuting allows FMYI’s local employees to work from home instead of at the office when they choose.  It also allows them to retain employees who have relocated away from the home office in Portland. Over half of their staff live outside Oregon.  Some of the Portland staff have moved away temporarily for family reasons and later moved back – and kept their job at FMYI throughout, which is good for FMYI and good for employees’ economic security and career advancement.  Importantly, staff at all levels of the organization are able to telecommute.

How do they make it work, with half their staff living in other states?  For one thing, they use their own product – an online collaboration tool — to stay on top of software development work, client progress and support, marketing campaigns, operational tasks, etc. They also use iChat (or other computer-based instant messaging) frequently to go through quick questions. Calls, of course, also happen frequently especially within groups that work together. One way or another, team members speak with each other almost every day. If they don’t, they’re probably texting or instant messaging. They also hold quarterly all-team meetings using Go To Meetings with video functionality.  In the end, they use many tools to stay connected virtually everyday – and they say that it works the majority of the time.

In terms of flexible timing, FMYI recently adopted an unlimited paid time off policy.  As long as people are getting their work done, they can take as much paid sick and vacation time as they want to.  Employees at FMYI don’t report hours, and they don’t feel pressure to work extra hours.

How do these Policies Benefit FMYI?

Employees say that the unlimited PTO policy makes them feel trusted and loyal.  The owners believe that most people want to be productive, and that unlimited PTO seems to help decrease presenteeism – a situation in which employees are physically present at work, but distracted and unfocused.

The owners note as well that it eliminates the administrative burden of tracking hours, and helps make FMYI an attractive employer.  They have very little turnover, which enables them to keep their strong employees.  In today’s world, in which talented people are often wooed to other jobs or are forced to relocate for family reasons, retaining employees can be extremely challenging.  Yet it is crucial to overall success — especially for small companies.

How are the Flex ible Policies Implemented?

Telecommuting has been part of who FMYI is from the beginning.  When they started the company, one of their key people lived in Florida.  Since then, as people on their staff have relocated, they’ve always said “yes” to keeping them on and having them work remotely.   Now, they see telecommuting as part of their “DNA,” and staff at all levels of the organization are accommodated this way.

A few things help build a culture of flexibility at FMYI.  One thing is practice.  Over time, they all get better at the mechanics of it.  Another is communication – they keep communicating to their managers why flexibility is important, and encouraging people to work with their team members to manage the workload so that everyone can get time off.  It helps that they know each other well, and they play together outside work.  They refer to their team as a family – and once a year, when all the employees from around the country come together for a summit, their families are all invited.

In an Employee’s Words…

“Knowing that people trust you to get your job done makes a huge difference”

—  Sarah White, employee of 4 years

Click to download this Spotlight on Flexibility.

Content provided by Family Forward Education Fund.

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“It’s a conversation, not a policy.”

— JJ Lee Kwai, Loan Officer at Rose City Mortgage for 9 years

Rose City Mortgage is a mortgage company that operates in a fundamentally different way than most mortgage companies. Here, each staff person does BOTH the closing of the deal, AND all the follow-up paperwork.  In most mortgage companies, one person closes the deal (and earns a lot of money) and another does the follow-up paperwork (and earns much less).  At this company, one person does all of it. Employees at Rose City Mortgage say this system is much more equitable and much more efficient because people “own” their own work.

Pay is based on commissions – but not in the way we generally think of commissions.  At Rose City Mortgage, “leads” – which ultimately lead to commissions – are distributed evenly.  Everyone has days that they pick up the leads.

And here’s the really unusual part: if an employee is sick or on maternity leave or on vacation, other people cover her/his clients for her/him – but that employee still receives the commission.  So even though it’s a commission-based business, employees don’t lose their commissions when they take paid time off.

What family-friendly work/life policies does Rose City Mortgage provide?

Every employee has certain days each month that they are scheduled to be in the office, in order ensure basic office coverage and availability for clients.  They have a standing schedule, so they know exactly when they have office duty in the next year or more.  This is for workers with family responsibilities, so they can arrange things like child care and elder care. Other than that, people work when and where they want.

Another key defining work/life policy at Rose City Mortgage is unlimited paid time off.  This is available to all employees and includes short-term paid time off for things like sickness and vacation as well as long-term paid time off if someone has a baby or ill family member. While it is highly unusual for a company in this country to offer paid family leave at all, Rose City Mortgage has paid for up to 20 weeks of leave.

Folks at Rose City Mortgage report that there are no problems with employees abusing this policy.  They cover for each other in times of absence, knowing that at some point it will be their turn to take a vacation or take maternity leave.

At Rose City Mortgage, each employee decides whether to work full- or part-time. For many of them, this changes as they move through different stages in their lives.  This allows people to manage their work,-life fit over time, without fear of losing benefits or long-term economic security.

How do these Policies Benefit Rose City Mortgage?

Put simply: the staff at Rose City Mortgage are incredibly productive and loyal. This is a place people want to work and give their best. As a result, Rose City Mortgage has remained profitable even during the “great recession” and housing market crash.

Why Flexibility @ Rose City Mortgage?

Nine years ago, the team at Rose City Mortgage found that they were each successful financially, but they felt like they were failing when it came to balancing work and the rest of their lives.  They were stressed and tired.  They talked it through, and agreed together on a reciprocity-based approach in which they would cover for each other and allow each other the space to make their own decisions about time off and workload.

Handling Challenges

Communication is key. People need to be able to ask for help and communicate about what they need.  Also, people who are covering for fellow employees need to be able to communicate if and when they are feeling overloaded so they can work together to distribute the temporarily additional workload. Flexibility and teamwork are sustaining elements of the workplace culture at Rose City Mortgage.

In an Employee’s Words…

Even though my pay is commission-based, I took 3 months maternity leave when my daughter was born – and received 100% pay.  More recently, my mother-in-law died of cancer.  I took a week off and other people took care of my clients.  It was a gift. The entire system is based on reciprocity and trust.

— JJ  Lee Kwai , employee of nine years

Click the Download button for a PDF of our Spotlight on Rose City Mortgage.

 Content provided by Family Forward Education Fund.

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Cascade Employers Association is a membership-based association that provides resources and consulting on human resources issues.  Based in Salem, Cascade Employers Association has 16 employees and over 400 members.  They have an additional office in Portland and employees that live and work in other cities as well.

I started at Cascade 37 years ago when I was right out of high school. I worked here while I raised my children. Later, I worked here while I was the primary caregiver for my father.  I have always known I could take the time I needed for my family. — Gayle Klampe, President

What family-friendly work/life policies does cascade employers association provide?

Flexible scheduling is common at Cascade Employers Association.  And how it works is different for each person. Schedules are tailored to people’s individual needs and can change over time as people’s life circumstances change.  For some, it’s about occasionally coming into the office late or leaving early or being able to work at home if a child is home sick from school.  For others, it’s about working remotely most of the time and only coming into the office for meetings one day a week.  Folks at Cascade Employers Association stress that there is no magic formula – it has to be figured out on a case-by-case basis.

Cascade Employers Association offers generous paid time off, which employees find they are more able to use for vacations because flexibility allows them to deal with things like doctor’s appointments or staying home with sick children without having to use accrued vacation time off.  Children are welcome at the office and are often there when there are school closures – again, allowing parents to care for their kids without losing work or vacation hours.  After they’ve accumulated 160 hours of PTO, it goes into a catastrophic leave bank that they can use for longer-term leaves due to illness or to care for a family member.  They also have short-term and long-term disability, which can help employees access some pay during longer-term leaves. They also allow people to take additional unpaid time off if they need it to take care of a new child, an aging relative, deal with an illness, or other family leave situation.

Part-time schedules are allowed, and part-time workers earn comparable pay and benefits, as well as access to managerial positions.  (By comparison, nationally part-timers earn 20% less per hour than their full-time counterparts.)  Over time, some employees move back and forth between part-time and full-time as their family responsibilities change.

Phased-in retirement has become the typical retirement process at Cascade Employers Association.  It means that older employees reduce their work hours over a period of time, rather than stopping work all at once -This has turned out to be helpful to employees who are ready to reduce hours but still need some income and still have the desire to be working.  They’ve found that it also helps the organization, because they don’t lose that person’s expertise and organizational knowledge all at once.

Most of Cascade Employers Association employees are salaried. They have two hourly administrative support employees They work together so they can have flexibility.  They also know their schedule at least four weeks in advance, which is critical for people who need to arrange for child care or elder care.

How do These Policies Benefit Cascade Employers Association?

Flexibility benefits their organization by building productivity, engagement, and loyalty.  Remote access allows people to work from home on days when they need to stay home with a sick child, or are sick themselves and can’t make it to the office but do feel up to working.  It also helps efficiency when people have off-site meetings and they can work in between without having to drive to the office.   Employees appreciate the flexibility and in turn are able to give more energy and focus when they are working.

Why Flexibility @ Cascade Employers Association?

Flexibility evolved partly organically and partly as a result of some intentional decisions. As better technology was becoming available, they hit a critical step of deciding whether or not to invest money in the infrastructure to give everyone remote access.  They decided to do it, giving all employees a laptop and reimbursement for cell phones so that they could work from anywhere.  Once they had invested in this infrastructure, it got easier and easier to allow people to create alternate schedules.  They shifted more and more toward a  management style in which the key is that the work gets done — when people do the work is less important.

How are the Flexible Policies Implemented?

People at Cascade Employers Association say that making flexibility work requires a culture of trust and respect.  It also requires a great deal of communication.  Even when they aren’t working in the office, others know their schedule and can contact them. People see each other as equals and know that anyone can talk to anyone.

Supervisors are empowered to handle issues of flexibility, and Cascade makes sure that the “family first” expectation is engrained in all of the supervisors.  They stress that employees’ need for time off should be a priority.  They encourage working from home when that saves time, encourage people to take comp time off within the week when they’ve worked extra hours, and make sure their supervisors are in tune with this approach.  They trust people to do their work. They also expect that if someone is overworking, s/he will call on team members for support.

In An Employee’s Words…

Flexibility gives me more time with my family, and in turn I have more to give to my work.  I have had such tremendous benefit from it.  It keeps me loyal and I work harder because I know how special a situation this is.

Jenna Reed, Cascade Employers Association employee of 8 ½ years

Click the Download button for a PDF of our Spotlight on Cascade Employers Association, winner of the 2013 Family Forward Leadership Award.

Content provided by Family Forward Education Fund.

The post Cascade Employers Association | Spotlight on Flexibility appeared first on Family Forward Oregon.