Flextime, telework, and other perks: Are they feel-good frippery or the path to profits? In today’s Advisor, we’ll take a look at two companies that have reaped substantial rewards from employee-based thinking and flexible scheduling.
First, let’s take a look at Robert W. Baird & Company, an employee-owned, international wealth management, capital markets, private equity, and asset management firm with 2,000 associates serving individual, corporate, institutional, and municipal clients.
Baird’s headquarters are in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where approximately half of its employees are located, with the other half distributed throughout more than 80 locations in the United States and internationally.
Named to the FORTUNE "100 Best Companies to Work For" for 5 consecutive years, including 2010, Baird (www.rwbaird.com) receives about 75 job applicants for every job opening, and the average tenure for an employee is about 8 years, explains Lori Lorenz, senior vice president and Human Resources director.
The Baird employee turnover rate is lower than the national average for this industry; in 2007, it was 9 percent as opposed to 13 percent nationally.
Lorenz explains that the company’s sense of community, culture, and the importance it places on work/life balance convey a genuine concern for the company’s associates (employees) and keep the employees engaged and dedicated to their work.
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Work Schedules Offer Flexibility
Most work schedules for staff not on commission flex around “core hours” based on department needs. Some Baird associates telecommute part or most of the time; some work part-time schedules; and others job-share.
Lorenz is a good example. In the mid-1990s, she was one of the first employees to telecommute 1 day a week, a practice she continues today. Her team works diverse schedules that meet their internal clients’ needs as well as their own. Two members of her staff also job-share.
Care and Compassion
In addition to providing associates with schedule flexibility, "The care and compassion that this organization provides to associates in time of need is truly remarkable, both from a peer level and also from HR and the leadership," Lorenz explains.
And she experienced this herself when she suddenly lost her father, and then her mother became very ill and died. Lorenz says that people rallied to cover her work when she needed time off to care for her mother, and she received an outpouring of calls, e-mails, and cards.
Some of the other perks Baird offers are:
- Highly competitive compensation and benefits
- Associate assistance program for resources and referral
- Health benefits including:
- Annual health risk appraisals
- Personal wellness profiles and incentives
- Free flu shots
- An on-site physician’s assistant at the company’s headquarters to handle routine medical problems
- Concierge benefits including:
- Ordering and delivery of precooked meals
- On-site shoe care
- Dry cleaning
- Photographic services
- Employee discounts from vendors in the area
"We take significant time putting into place the ‘what’ [benefits, services, policies, and guidelines] of our human resources/human capital practices, but even more time and energy into the ‘how.’"
"How" means taking each employee’s individual needs into consideration and helping that person balance his or her life needs with client and organizational needs.
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Tips Tuning Up Your Work Culture
How can you tune up your work culture? Lorenz says that HR executives should remember that no two employee situations are alike.
"When you’re talking about the employees of your organization, the flexibility and nimbleness to adapt and manage under that kind of environment becomes even more critical going forward [to attract the employee talent you’re seeking]."
Lorenz stresses that the other important key is aligning benefits with managers and the differing needs of each business unit.
"You must understand their human capital issues and then partner with the leaders from an HR perspective in trying to resolve and anticipate their needs going forward while keeping an eye on the global HR perspective, too," says Lorenz.
These needs may range from discovering what attracts prospective job applicants to offering the work schedules, environment, and support that the associates need to be productive and successful.
Meanwhile at George Mason University, telework and flextime are winning awards. In tomorrow’s Advisor, GMU’s approach, and a look at why job descriptions are the starting point for flexible approaches.
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