New Work+Life Flex Normal by Cali Yost

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Get Started Tips to Navigate Post-Recession, Pre-Recovery Flexible Downsizing

Last week we heard from Scott Jones, a senior executive who is grappling with how to respond to an uneven recovery in his business.  A year ago in the heat of the economic downturn, Jones’ company used organization wide salary cuts and furloughs to reduce operating and labor costs in order to minimize layoffs.  Now as the recession sputters, and the recovery struggles to begin, the company faces hard choices. 

How does he reset the organization’s flexible downsizing strategy to reflect post-recession, pre-recovery realities? What’s the best approach when the recovery isn’t strong enough to return to “business as usual,” but the support for a shared sacrifice seems to be waning?    

To answer these questions, I went to two of the best change and innovation experts I know, Joanne Spigner and Donna Miller, who also happen to be my WLF consulting partners.  Here are our tips for managers to begin charting next steps:

#1: Go back and assess where you are.  Know where you stand in the business. 

What do you really know about the business?  How do people really feel about the specific adjustments in salary and/or schedule that were implemented?  Is the shared sacrifice being questioned by a majority in all businesses, or is it coming from pockets of loud voices?  Get the facts on paper.  You do this by:

• Not owning and solving the issue yourself.  Expand the circle of discovery.  Bring other leaders and high potentials across the organization along for the ride.  Compare notes and problem solve together. 
  
  
• Going wide and deep—Interview all business leaders, talk to a random sample of front line managers and employees, and conduct a survey.

#2: Once you have the facts on paper, reset the organization’s flexible response to match today’s realities. 

• Acknowledge the benefits derived from minimizing job cuts at the start of the downturn.  For example, Jones’ company had enough staff to handle the increased volume of business created by the stimulus package.  That would not have been the case if they had made across the board layoffs.
   
  
• Use resources such as the AWLP/WorldatWork Flexible Rightsizing Tool to help analyze the cost/benefit of continuing to manage costs and productivity flexibly versus layoffs.  In the case of Jones’ company, the inconsistency of the recovery across businesses may require a tailored response.  In the parts that are thriving, continue to be creative with alternative forms of reward.  For groups where opportunity is visible but there’s uncertainty about when the business will actually materialize, consider continuing the flexible approach that keeps job cuts to a minimum.  And in the businesses in which a recovery seems unlikely any time soon, layoffs may be necessary.
  
  
• While there is no crystal ball, determine how long you are willing to make the investment in this round of flexible downsizing.  Set a date for the next review and reset cycle.

• Look beyond the economic crisis to other business applications of flexibility.  Start thinking about ways the same flexibility in how, when and where work is done that you just used to manage costs and productivity can achieve other business goals, such as:

Now that you're more familiar with flexibility, use it as a strategic lever that's an integral part of your operating model. (This involves a broad, business-led change management initiative that I am happy to talk about with anyone who is interested.)  

#3: Reframe and communicate the business case behind either the continuation or discontinuation of any type of flexible downsizing in the post-recession, pre-recovery era.     

• Explain why you’ve either decided to stay the course, or shift gears in the context of what you learned from your review of the business.  Communicate a sense of urgency, especially if the decision is to continue sharing the sacrifice.
  
  
• Drive people to business results you want. Don’t just emphasize what people are losing, tell them where you want them to go in order to return to prosperity. Balance the sacrifice with hope.  Keep their eyes on the prize

What do you think?  Where should a manager begin as he or she considers a flexible approach to managing costs and productivity as we move out of the recession, but haven’t felt the impact of a recovery? 

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One Company Decides When to Say "When" in Next Phase of Flexible Downsizing

As follow-up to last week’s post, “One Year Later: Next Stage of Flexible Downsizing Post-Recession, Pre-Recovery,” I interviewed Scott Jones*, a senior executive at a national architecture, engineering and construction company (he asked not be identified since many of the issues we discussed are not yet public knowledge within his organization). 

In the worst part of the crisis, Jones’ organization took a flexible approach to downsizing that reduced costs and minimized layoffs.  But a year later, the recovery across the firm’s businesses is uneven. And the pressure is building to restore salary and schedule concessions willingly made at the beginning of the downturn.  Here’s the story of how one company is navigating the next phase of its flexible response to the recession.

CY: Welcome. Talk more about your company’s flexible response to managing labor and operating costs since the downturn began.

SJ:  When the recession began to really affect our business about a year ago, we started by cutting the pay of all of our principals.  When that wasn’t enough, we made pay cuts in specific offices and business units that were struggling the most.  Then, about eight months ago we reduced pay by an average of 5-10% firm-wide.  In slower units, the pay cuts were deeper than 10% and we instituted some temporary layoffs (or furloughs) of varying lengths, but generally more than 30 days.

When we started the process of making the cuts, we really weren’t sure how long the need for sacrifice was going to last.  But there was a real sense that we are all in this together.  Even the people within offices and business units that continued to be busy were willing to cover those that weren’t as active in order to limit our need to lay people off. 

CY: What are you hearing and seeing now?

SJ: Well, we’re beginning to see that sense of shared sacrifice starting to strain.  Some of those busier individuals, groups and businesses are lobbying to have their pay and schedules restored to 100%.  We do have certain businesses that are benefiting from stimulus money and are very active.  And there are other businesses where, quite frankly, the momentum hasn’t come back as quickly as we’d hoped.  And it may not come back for years. 

I’m not sure what’s caused the shift in attitude.  Maybe people are struggling too much financially and can’t keep it up. 

CY:  I also think we are hearing rumblings in the media about signs of a recovery.  While things were obviously bad, sacrifice is understandable.  Now that the economy is showing signs that the recession is over, for some concessions are harder to justify.  How are you responding to these calls to return to business as usual?

SJ: We’re being as surgical and creative as possible.  For example, with the group that’s benefiting more directly from the stimulus money, we haven’t restored their salaries. But we are giving them additional hourly pay.  And we are offering as much additional bonus money as we can to offset what they’ve lost in salary reductions.  The problem is that we can only do so much.  We just don’t have the extra money to do more unless we make some hard choices elsewhere in other businesses and regions.

CY:  Do you see having to make some layoffs in the future?

SJ:  I’m not sure yet, but let’s just say that we are very seriously reading the tea leaves for next year.  If you’d asked me a couple of months ago if we’d be back where we were in 2007 any time soon, I would have said “no.” But there has been more chatter in the market in terms of opportunity, but not concrete business.  Our line managers are arguing that they don’t want to lose people because if business does come through then they are in trouble.  I understand that, but we’ve been holding on for almost a year and we are going to have to make some potentially tough decisions.  Even if those business opportunities materialize, they won’t take us back to 2007 levels in 2009.  So some changes will undoubtedly be required.

CY:  Will those potential layoffs occur across the board or will they be targeted in specific areas and businesses?

SJ:  If we do decide we need to make cuts, they will be surgical.  Certain geographic regions have been harder hit.  We’ll pare back and take a defensive position in those markets.  Some businesses are doing better, but in others, the reality is that the business is not going to return.  

CY: So where are you right now?

SJ: We’re assessing the situation, reading the marketing, determining which areas might require some cuts.  I am really lobbying for us to get back to normal operating procedures in terms of pay and schedules as soon as possible. 

Next week:  How to Tips for Managing the Next Phase of Flexible Downsizing.   Let me know if you have any to add to the list…I would love to include them.

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One Year Later--Flexible Downsizing and Hard Choices Post-Recession, Pre-Recovery

A year ago, the economic downturn was in full gear.   As layoffs gained momentum, I loudly promoted a more flexible approach to downsizing as an alternative to knee jerk job cuts.  If executed correctly and strategically, compressed workweeks, telecommuting, reduced schedules, furloughs and sabbaticals improve productivity and reduce costs in numerous areas (e.g labor costs, real estate overheads, operating costs), therefore, limiting or avoiding layoffs.  Additionally, this very same flexibility simultaneously achieves other business objectives, such as disaster preparedness in response to the H1N1 virus, or expanded global client coverage to generate new business.

Over the past 12 months many people have said, “Thank you.  You made me think of other options and as a result we were more creative and flexible in how we managed through the crisis.”   But about three months ago, I noticed a shift.

With glimmers of a recovery finally on the horizon, flexible downsizing entered a new post-crisis, pre-recovery phase.  In this gray zone, a flexible approach to managing productivity and costs in all areas remains critical but involves a new set of choices:

• What about businesses that did use flexible downsizing strategies, but a year later, aren’t starting to recover and may never recover?  Are more layoffs necessary?  If yes, how do you make those cuts without undoing the benefits realized from having taken a more flexible approach in the heat of the downturn?
• How do you compensate and retain top performers who were willing to sacrifice in the thick of the crisis, but now see a recovery and want to be rewarded at pre-recession levels, even if the business hasn’t recovered and the money isn’t there?

Before we address the “how to” in this next phase, let’s take stock of where we actually are a year later:

Flexibility survived the downturn

Lisa Belkin recently wrote about Eli Lily’s decision to discontinue some of its flexibility offerings in her The New York Times Motherlode blog.  The post implied that work life flexibility has been a casualty of the recession.  On the contrary, the facts show just the opposite.
  
In March 2009, the nationally representative Work+Life Fit Reality Check survey found that 66% of full-time employees said work life flexibility in their organization stayed the same, and 19% said it actually increased.  Only 13% said it had decreased.  A couple of months later, Families and Work Institute released a nationally representative study of employers that reported an even more positive picture.  FWI found that 81% of employers reported maintaining the workplace flexibility they had, and 13% were increasing what they offered.

While the experience at Eli Lily does not represent a national turn away from flexibility, it is a cautionary tale.  It illustrates what happens when employees think that flexibility is a benefit or entitlement.  Unless flexibility is a process-based part of a business’ operating model, it can’t adapt when circumstances change.  It can only disappear.  And many aspects of the pharmaceutical industry’s business model are under pressure.  That is why, as I wrote back in May, the question is no longer “if” flexibility, but “how” flexibility, or how to finally integrate it into the business operating model and do it in a way that works for all parties. 

Great! The recession is over, BUT…

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, “the economic recovery is likely to be more moderate than those typically experienced following steep declines.”   This slow-burning recovery is causing trouble for employers who have taken a flexible approach to managing costs and minimizing layoffs.  First, employees hear the recovery has started so are beginning to question the need for ongoing sacrifice.  But within many businesses it’s an uneven recovery at best.  Some divisions are growing and profitable while others are showing less promise, even long-term.   This is creating a new set of challenges to manage through.
  
Another real issue is “fee compression.”  The work has returned and requires the same number of headcount to complete, but is generating less revenue.   This means tough choices still need to be made, and creative, low-cost means of reward and engagement pursued.
   
Yes, it looks like a (really) jobless recovery

The Business Roundtable reports that CEOs are not expected to increase their hiring or capital spending even though “a majority expects sales to rise in the next six months.”  In addition, numerous unofficial recalculations already put the jobless or underemployed rate above 10%.
  
This scenario requires carefully weighing the impact of more layoffs from an individual, corporate, national and global level.  As I blogged last year, valid arguments can be made that trying to limit layoffs as much as possible doesn’t violate a corporate leader’s fiduciary responsibility to maximize shareholder return.  The post is worth rereading, “Managers Uphold Fiduciary Responsibility with Alternatives to Layoffs—Expanding the Cost/Benefit Analysis.”

Furloughs have emerged as the flex downsizing option of choice, but..

This is especially true for state governments, but also for the private sector and higher education.  In the recent issue of HR Magazine, “Avoiding the Furlough Fallout,” author Adrienne Fox reports that according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “The number of people furloughed, or working part time for slack work or business conditions shot to 6.5 million in June, up from 3.7 million the prior year…In June, Watson Wyatt reported that of 179 HR executives surveyed, 13% had imposed mandatory furloughs and another 6% expected to do so in the next 12 months.”

As we think about the role of flexible downsizing as a strategic lever in this post-recession, pre-recovery moment, it’s important to remember that furloughs are not the only option.   Sabbaticals, compressed workweeks, telecommuting, reduced schedules also achieve cost containment and productivity goals when part of an organized, strategic plan.
 
But concerns about furloughs—effective implementation, and real payoffs—have emerged.  Some are well founded, others specifically related to the cost/benefit versus layoffs, in my opinion, are not.
 
A number of valid concerns related to the implementation of furloughs (as well as the other flex downsizing strategies) have emerged over the past year.  These issues include compliance with employment laws especially related to exempt employees and ongoing effective communication strategies so everyone is on the same page.
 
Less valid, in my opinion, are the concerns related to state government furloughs, as discussed recently on NPR.  The argument being that the associated declines in tax revenue from lower salaries and spending offset any savings state governments received from furloughs.   Also there are objections to service disruptions due to fewer employees working at a given time.
 
These arguments seem to assume that the alternative to furloughs would have been that everyone kept his or her job at pre-recession pay levels.  The truth is that the alternative would have been layoffs.  This would have resulted not only in less tax revenue but also in a greater number of individuals drawing unemployment.  Service disruptions would still have occurred, on a more permanent basis, due to the lower head count handling the same amount of work.  

Furloughs are not optimal.  It would be optimal for everyone to keep his or her job as is.  But there is a clear cost/benefit analysis supporting a flexible approach to downsizing versus cutting jobs.  Studies of past recessions have shown that the long-term benefits of layoffs are largely mythical.  Conversely, there are valuable cost and productivity benefits from a more flexible approach. 

For example, research has shown that savings from layoffs related to benefits like health care require not hiring someone back into that position for at least a year.  Studies of past recessions prove that rehiring often happens within a year of layoffs effectively cancelling out any savings.  Well, sure enough, a recent article in USNews and World Report found that 40% of employers expect to hire back some of the workers they laid off earlier in this recession.  It would have been more cost-effective to have figured out a way to keep at least some of that talent employed in the first place.
 
There are rising concerns about how to handle high performers and other employees who were supportive of flexible downsizing in the crisis but now see a recovery and are questioning the shared sacrifice.
 
In our March Work+Life Fit Reality Check survey, we found that 9 out of 10 full-time employees would be willing to adjust their schedule and/or salary to avoid layoffs in their organization.   But six months later two factors have changed:

• Again, employees are hearing more about a recovery in the media even if the reality in their own job might be that there is no recovery in sight at all.  Still, to some employees signs of a recovery increase expectations of going back to the way things were.  But many businesses are still struggling.  Leaders are faced with whether to cuts more jobs in order to have the cash to give others back their pre-recession schedules and salary?    Or is there another approach?

The interesting phenomenon I’m hearing from managers, and confirmed in the HR Magazine article “Avoiding Furlough Fallout,” is that no one thinks the layoffs are going to affect them!  This next stage in the flexible downsizing process could include some unexpected reality checks for people.  Those who might have benefited from tolerating an adjusted schedule and/or salary for a while could find themselves out of a job. 

• A majority of workers lack of a financial cushion to absorb a pay cut for more than a brief period of time.  A recent Career Builder survey confirmed that three out of five workers said they are living paycheck to paycheck.  This could explain the push to get things back to “normal,” and understandably so.  A poignant article in The New York Times about a former airline captain who now works for the same airline at 50% salary showcases how tough this circumstance can be.    

With a clearer sense of where we are a year later, what does this post-recession, pre-recovery period mean for managers and employees?  What role does flexible downsizing play in this next phase and what does it look like? These are the questions I’ll address next week when I:

• Interview with a senior executive from a company that did execute a flexible strategy for managing costs to avoid layoffs over a year ago, and is now facing tough choices as they rethink that approach for many of the reasons listed above.
• Share some “how tos” for the next phase of strategic flexible downsizing post-recession, pre-recovery. 

But I also want to hear from you so start thinking…get ready to brainstorm! 

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Gen Y Entrepreneurs Transform Work, Life, and Business--Interview with Upstarts! Author, Donna Fenn

Striking out on your own, either voluntarily or involuntarily, is becoming a more common experience along an increasingly flexible career path.  And, it turns out entrepreneurship is especially appealing for members of Generation Y.   In her terrific new book, Upstarts – How Gen Y Entrepreneurs Are Rocking the World of Business and 8 Ways You Can Profit from Their Success (McGraw/Hill), Donna Fenn says we all need to pay attention,

“They were born between 1977 and 1997, and you can call them what you like; I call them entrepreneur generation.  There are approximately 77 million of them, and their sheer numbers, combined with the rate at which they’re starting businesses, will make them a force to be reckoned with…these “Upstarts” are destined to have a profound effect on the economy and specifically on the small-business landscape.”

In a recent interview, I asked Fenn to talk about some of the ways Gen Y entrepreneurs were transforming the future of work, life and career… for all of us:

CY: Welcome, Donna Fenn!  One of the reasons I love your book is that I want business leaders to expand their understanding of work+life flexibility, or flexibility in how, when and where work is done and life is managed.  Flexibility, in all of its forms, is a strategic lever that has broad application as a way to run your business.  The Gen Y entrepreneurs in your book seem to fundamentally see flexibility as a way of operating.  Here are some examples from the stories in the book:

• Cost Saving: Having all or part of your workforce work remotely to save overhead costs, such as real estate.
• Talent Resourcing: Using a combination of full-time, part-time, and “as needed” employees.
• Productivity/Engagement: Letting people flexibly manage their lives and work as long as they produce.  This boosts morale and productivity.
• Marketing/Brand Development: Devoting a certain number of hours a month to community service to promote their brand and motivate employees.

Do you think these Gen Y entrepreneurs are applying strategic work+life flexibility consciously or intuitively?  What do they “get” that many business leaders over 30 years old struggle to understand?

DF:  This generation is going to have enormous impact on the future of work for all of us, as employers of their own business but also as employees.  They are hardwired for this more flexible and innovative way of operating we know is very important.

Gen Y entrepreneurs are creating the places they want to work. I don’t think they are sitting down and thinking about it.  They are doing it completely intuitively.  It gives you a huge advantage when an approach that is so strategic, important and gives you a competitive advantage in the workplace is something you don’t even have to think twice about.  It’s like the air you breathe.

The things that are important to Gen Y entrepreneurs—again, you have to be so careful when characterizing a whole group, because there are people to whom obviously this doesn’t apply—but by and large they crave flexibility.  For them, work+life is a 24/7 mash up.  There is no clear dividing line. They are the first generation that expects work to be fun and meaningful.  When you say that to a member of Gen Y, their response is, “Duh!”  But to anyone else and the response is “What a concept that I should actually want to go to my job in the morning.”

They want to work with their friends. They want to have relationships at work, and they want to play and have fun.  People might shake their heads, “What a spoiled bunch of kids,” but think about it.  What’s it like when you play games in the middle of the day?  You find out a whole lot about people that you otherwise might not know.  Like who’s trustworthy, or super competitive.   There is value to game playing and it’s a stress reliever at a time when we are working really hard.  To the older generations, there is still this dividing line, “When I am working I’m working.  When I’m playing, I’m playing.”  This generation doesn’t see it that way.

CY:  From the book, it is clear that Gen Y entrepreneurs aren’t rigid about where they work.

DF: They are used to communicating virtually.  If you have teenage kids, then you know that they are constantly connected and communicating all day long without being face to face.  And, for some miraculous reason, it doesn’t seem to impact the intimacy or productiveness of their relationships.   It’s not that they don’t want to be in the same room or that they don’t crave that interaction, but they don’t need to be in the same room.  They are very comfortable operating virtually.

Many companies in the book have virtual offices, including Mental Floss.  One person is in New York, another is in Atlanta and another in Cleveland.  While this situation has its challenges, there are ways to stay connected such as Facebook Chat, iChat, AIM, and Skype.  You can feel like you are present, and you don’t have all of the distractions of the office.

Gen Y entrepreneurs are also very good if they want to take a day off and go to the beach. They will come in on Saturday to finish the project that needs to be done on Monday.

CY: Why don’t Gen Y entrepreneurs have the same fears about flexibility that seem to paralyze others such as, “Someone will abuse it,” and, “The work won’t get done”?

DF:  There is trust involved here.  From an employer perspective, we have to get over the notion that if I can’t see you then you must be goofing off.   Everybody knows if you don’t get results then your job is in jeopardy.  The key here is a clear set of expectations.  What are your goals for this quarter?  What happens if you meet them?  What happens if you don’t?

For Gen Y employees who are working flexibly and virtually, the bias is that they are independent, self-starters.   Just let them go.  Well no.  You can’t expect anyone to thrive in chaos.  They need clear deadlines.  Short term rewards. They need to check in frequently.  They do need feedback.   This is a generation that was over-supervised and that is a valid observation about Gen Y.   And they are social.  They want to work in teams and groups.

Find a way to accommodate these factors.  If you do, you will have a very productive group of employees.  If you don’t, then you will grumble about how spoiled, entitled and lazy they are.  I have heard comments like, “Why should we accommodate this generation?”  Here’s why:  the way Gen Y entrepreneurs and employees seem to thrive in work—the circumstance and environment that seems to make them most productive—are what we all need to be thinking about in this brave new world.

Rethinking the way you treat employees, the flexibility you give them and the “fit” between their work and life is really strategic, not a benefit.   There are 70 to 80 million people in Generation Y.  They are a huge part of the workforce—huge!   They can’t be ignored. 

CY: In my work with companies, I do find a pervasive frustration with Gen Y as being a group that “Doesn’t want to work hard, and requires a lot of hand-holding.”  There are always going to be unmotivated, lazy people in every group; however, when I meet with Gen Y employees in these same companies my sense is that it’s not that they don’t want to work hard.  It’s that they don’t understand why people are working the way they are and they have ideas about how it could be done differently.  What do you see after writing this book?

DF: When something doesn’t make sense to them, they will speak up and question it.  And when you are a supervisor trying to meet a deadline or service a client, that can be a real pain in the neck.   As Bruce Tuglan says, companies must do a better job of “onboarding” this generation.  Sit Gen Y employees down and give them a good orientation about your company.  Tell them why things are done at your company a certain way.  What can be changed, and what can’t because you’ve tried to change it in the past and it just didn’t work.   Let them know that you’ve been at this for awhile and have some important insights into how things need to work.  As long as they know, you won’t be up against as much of the “why are things done this way?”

Give Gen Y the information and they get it.  They are information consumers and gatherers.    They are the need-to-know generation.  Address that up front you are setting everyone up for success.

CY:  Often when the generations are discussed it’s from an adversarial perspective.  What I liked about your book were the examples of how the generations worked together and leveraged each others’ strengths.   Do you think this is a trend and what does it require to succeed?

DF: This is so common.  My feeling is what we are going to see more and more of this inter-generational collaboration as Boomers leave more traditional employment and don’t retire fully.   The Boomers have the experience, especially management experience.  The young people have ideas and the pulse on the market.  Many generations can work together.

The neat thing about Gen Y is that they are not a, “Don’t trust anyone over 30” generation.  The reason for that, I think, is that Gen Y and Boomers are much closer than Boomers were to their parents. Boomers differed drastically from their parents in so many areas—their clothes, their music, their politics, civil rights, sexual revolution, and Vietnam.  There was so much more to argue about.  Today, parents and kids are more on the same wave length.  As a result, there’s openness on the part of Gen Y entrepreneurs to seek people out for advice.  An example is Aaron Patzer, the founder of Mint.com.  Everyone on his management team is older.  He gets that he needs people with more experience around him.  I think it’s going to be interesting to see how these kids manage employees older than they are, and how (or if) older employees let themselves be led by those who are younger.

CY: What are the three things you would like people to take away from reading Upstarts?

DF:

1. Change your preconceptions about Generation Y.  I am a huge fan of Gen Y and I am an even bigger fan after writing this book.
2. Entrepreneurs of all ages see and learn from the creative, innovative things these young business owners are doing and begin adopt some of their strategies and approaches.  Do business with this generation because there is such huge potential for inter-generational partnerships.
3. Be inspired by what Gen Y entrepreneurs are doing with social capitalism, and realize how important it is to have the "giving back” mentality from the very start of your business.   It’s good for your employees.  It’s good for your brand. I think it drives revenue, but ultimately it’s about changing the world through business.
   

CF:  Thank you, Donna!  And thanks to all of your Upstarts!  They’ve inspired me.

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Employee Health, Wellness-- No Longer Optional Benefit, but Strategic Imperative

When you develop and implement work+life flexibility strategies that help businesses operate and individuals manage their work+life fit, you run into many often baffling false beliefs.  Since the start of the recession, two of these off-base convictions have stood out as managers and employees struggle to do more with less:

1. Individuals think their health and wellness are “optional” parts of their work+life fit, and
2. Line business leaders don’t connect how employee health and well being directly impact the optimal, effective functioning of their workplace, and they don’t understand (or don’t want to deal with) the role that they play to ensure employees are as healthy as possible.

Families and Work Institute (FWI) just released The State of Health in the American Workforce study.  The numbers are not only disturbing, but they are a real call to action for both individuals and employers.   The research shines a light on the paradox that working harder, faster, longer does more harm than good not only to our personal health and well being, but to business.   In the new work+life flex normal, employee health and wellness are not an “option,” they’re a strategic imperative.

Here are some highlights (to read the full report which is “the only study of its kind to provide 30+ year comparisons of life on and off the job,” go to the Families and Work Institute website):

Employee Health and Wellness Are Suffering:

• Less than one third of employees (28%) today say their overall health is “excellent”—a significant decline of 6% from 2002.
• 41% of employees report experiencing three or more indicators of stress sometimes, often or very often, which is a significant increase from 2002.
• Work-life conflict increasing, especially for men.
• One in three employees experiences one or more symptoms of clinical depression.
• 49% of employees have not engaged in regular physical exercise in the last 30 days.
• One in four smokes.
• While little changed since 2002, 27% of employees still experience some kind of sleep problem that affected their job performance within the last month at least sometimes.
• Nearly two out of three employed individuals (62%) are overweight or obese.
• 8% of employees have no health insurance from any source, with low-wage/low-income employees less likely to have access and least likely to use even if they do have access.

 
Why Does it Matter?  Direct Impact on Business

There are two employees, A and B.  Employee A reports low levels of personal overall health and wellness, and B reports high levels.  Common sense would say that a manager gets more from employee B in terms of extra effort, satisfaction and commitment.  But the FWI research shows how significant this correlation between health and business impact really is:  “Employees’ physical and mental health, stress levels, sleep quality and energy levels all significantly impact important work outcomes of interest to employers, such as engagement, turnover intent and job satisfaction.”   Here’s my best attempt to present the study findings visually:  

In other words, employee health and wellness isn’t just a nice perk, or program to offer when times are good.  Employee health and wellness are mission critical to an organization’s operating success, especially in this difficult time when everyone needs to bring the best of themselves to the table everyday.

A couple of specific findings to note:

1. Hopefully, this research will be another nail in the coffin that work+life fit is a “women’s issue” only.  It is an “everyone” issue.  Work-life conflict increased more significantly for men than women from 2002 to 2008.  You might be surprised, but men said they are more positively affected by having economic security in their jobs and a good fit between their work and personal lives.  Whereas, women are more positively affected by being challenged in their jobs and by having autonomy.
2. FWI joins WLF in using the term work-life “fit” in their research.  Hopefully, this affirmation of the concept of work-life “fit” will move us away from the limiting and inaccurate concept of “balance” to describe optimizing the unique way an individual’s work and life fit together.   Also noteworthy is the fact that work+life fit is the workplace effectiveness factor that directly affects the most aspects of employee health and wellness in the FWI study. 

What Can Managers/Employers Do?

How should a manager or employer respond to the findings especially in turbulent times when resources are tight, and there’s constant pressure to perform financially?  Too often when business leaders think of “health and wellness,” they go immediately to perks like an on-site gym and EAP.  But, as outlined in the visual model of the findings above, the interventions that lead to “excellent employee health and wellness,” and, in turn engagement, retention and satisfaction, are broader.   Some are benefits like health insurance, paid vacation and sick days that cost money, and others are behaviors and ways of operating the business that cost nothing.   Regardless, any money or effort expended is an investment that will have a return.

The FWI report offers insightful implications for businesses,especially around the difficult task of addressing economic security in these tough times, but I would add:

• Make  work+life flexibility, or flexibility in how, when and where work is done and life is managed, part of the way your organization operates and not just a program, perk or benefit.  It will go a long way to achieve many of the behaviors and workplace effectiveness factors outlined in the report that affect health and wellness.
• It’s not enough to offer stress management or weight loss classes, reimburse gym memberships and provide information about healthy eating.  You need to give and encourage time for people to use the gym, shop for healthy food and go to weight loss class without feeling badly.  (Check out Cindy Goodman’s excellent post on the FWI research and how one Florida business owner make weight loss and health a mission in her company).
• Be a role model and clarify expectations.   People are very, very scared right now.   They are terrified to do anything that jeopardizes their job.   Managers must role model the desired behavior if employees are to feel comfortable-- take vacation, and sick days, talk about going to the gym, eating healthfully and getting rest.  Things you should be doing anyway, and might have let fall to the wayside over the past few months.   

What Can You as an Employee Do?

Much more than you think.  Yes, many of us are scared but really that is no excuse.  Doing as much as you can to be healthy and able to contribute extra effort and commitment on the job is no longer optional.  In fact, it’s imperative for your job security.  Again, paradoxically, you may think working harder, faster and longer will reduce the risk of losing your job.  But the research shows that if that overwork make you unhealthy it’s having the opposite impact.  You aren’t as engaged, committed or satisfied, which could make you more vulnerable when employment decisions are made.

Where to begin?  When I run my corporate work+life fit seminars we always end with an exercise called “One Small Thing.”  Small changes in your work+life are very powerful especially as they relate to health and wellness.  Here are common examples of small health and wellness changes employees have committed to making over the years:

• Go to bed an hour earlier and get up earlier to work out two days a week.
• Put my gym clothes in my car and go right to the gym before going home.
• Make a list of meals for the week and shop over the weekend so there is food in the house.
• Turn off the TV an hour before a go to bed and wind down.
• Start meditating for 30 minutes every morning.
• Keep a journal every night before I go to bed.
• Make a date with my best friend to go to the movies once a month.

Your employer can do its part to create a culture and workplace that supports employee health and wellness, but in the end, it’s you doing it. This is particularly true when it comes to financial security, one of the workplace effectiveness factors influencing health and well being.  While not part of the study, I wonder how much of this increased stress relates to the fact that “three out of five workers” live paycheck to paycheck according to a recent CareerBuilder survey.   Better personal financial choices could mitigate some of the stress related uncertainty in employment and earnings. 

Finally, during the call to announce the research results, FWI President, Ellen Galinsky, summed it up by saying, “In the U.S. we see work as a sprinting marathon.  Instead we need to think about it more in terms of weightlifting.  In between periods of exertion, there’s rest and recovery.  This gives you the strength to exert your best effort the next time.”  I agree.   Hopefully this research will challenge the false beliefs that employee health and wellness are “optional” and break us out of our sprinting marathon that is no longer working—if it ever really did. 

Other related posts:

Ellen Galinsky, President of FWI “Wellness Responsibility of Business as Well as Worker,” HuffingtonPost.com
Lauren Young Businessweek, “How Recession is Making American Workers Sick”
Leanne Chase, CareerLife Connection, “Workers’ Health, HR’s Failure, Employees’ Responsibilities”

11:44 am | 0 recommendations | 5 comments

Welcome to the New Work+Life Flex Normal

Last year an economic bomb detonated and laid to waste the rules and institutions that have guided our decisions related to work, life and business for

generations.  Shell-shocked and disoriented, we’re starting to emerge slowly from the rubble wondering not only “What happened?” but “What’s next?   Welcome to the New Work+Life Flex Normal blog. 

As the dust settles, it’s clear greater flexibility in work, life, career and business is here to stay.  Before the recession, a few fraying threads connected us to a work+life reality that was rapidly becoming obsolete for more than a decade. The downturn severed those threads:

• Lifetime, stable employment with set hours, a clear career path and a consistent, always increasing pay check became a relic for workers at every level in every industry.
• Traditional operating models that were too rigid to respond nimbly and flexibly were dismantled by the rapid change inherent in the global economy.
• Full-time caregiving and complete retirement for extended periods became non-viable for many, if not most, people because of economic necessity and demographic shifts. 

Before the recession, enough parts of the old rule book worked for enough people—even until the banks started failing—that we avoided the difficult task of fundamentally rethinking the way we manage work, life and business to match reality.  No longer.  It’s officially a new work+life flex normal. 

Flexibility in how, when and where work is done, life is managed and business operates is a strategic imperative.  As I wrote in May, the question is no longer “if” flexibility, but how do we expand the “why” behind flexibility and determine “how” to make it work for everyone.  To that end, here are some of the angles and implications we will ponder and discuss:

• What exactly is strategic work+life flexibility, versus the policy-based flexible work arrangements we are more familiar with?
• How much flexibility within and between work and life is unavoidable in a global economy?  How much is too much, or too little?
• How do we—individuals, managers, business leaders, policymakers, the media--need to think and talk differently about the concepts of “work” and
  “life”?
• What skills do we need to manage our work+life fit daily and at major life transitions in this new work+life flex normal?    How are different types of workers—full-time, entrepreneurs, freelancers, white collar, blue collar, low wage, union, etc.—impacted?  
• How must individuals and businesses manage their finances differently? 
• How can managers and employees partner more effectively to flexibly operate businesses in a global economy where rapid change is a constant?
• What leadership skills do managers need in this flexible, nimble reality?
• How do business leaders harness strategic flexibility in how, when and where work is done and life is managed for competitive advantage?  How do they use it to address challenges, and seize opportunities?
• How does the new work+life flex normal change corporate governance?  (I think it does)
• How does the way Wall Street financial analysts reward and evaluate business have to adapt to encourage long-term growth and innovation?
• What is the role of government and public policy?
• What is the role of social media?  

When reality changes as rapidly and dramatically as it did in this recession, denial and fear are understandable. But we’re at a turning point.  We can either do more of what we’ve always done, only harder and faster, frantically grasping the threads to the past.  Or, we can stop, breathe, take a hard, honest look at where we are and begin to ask, “Now what?”   Let the conversation begin.  

01:38 pm | 0 recommendations | Be the first to comment

The Power of a Parking Space--Small Changes, Big Impact

When talking about work+life solutions, formal flexible work arrangements tend to get the most attention.  It’s easy to forget that for most of us, most of the time, an official change in when, when and/or how we work isn’t the answer.  All we need is a small adjustment in our work+life reality to make a big difference in our well-being. This is a story of how a parking space transformed one woman’s work+life fit. 

I recently met Donna at a conference.  She’s been with the same employer for over 20 years, but for the last five years, she’s worked full-time while caring for a husband who has Alzheimer’s disease.  Even though a caregiver comes to her home everyday, it’s not unusual for Donna to have to leave the office, often unexpectedly, a couple of times a week during the day to coordinate her husband’s care.  Whether it’s taking him to a doctor’s appointment or helping the caregiver deal with a challenge, she makes the 30 minute round-trip drive home. 

Luckily her boss and team have been very supportive and understand her need for flexibility.  She confessed that the problem was, “The lack of midday parking close to my office building.”  Getting a parking space near the office wasn’t difficult in the morning, but if she needed to leave in the middle of the day, “I’d find myself driving around for an extra 30 minutes searching for an open space, or parking almost a mile away and then walking 20 minutes.  Believe it or not, the worry of not being able to find a parking space if I needed to leave was taking a toll.  I’d panic about whether or not I’d get back in time for a meeting and would rush out of the house or a doctor’s appointment earlier than I should have just in case.” 

A few of months ago her boss asked if there was anything else he could do to support her.  He encouraged her to consider reducing her schedule.  She explained that working full-time wasn’t the problem, “The problem is the lack of parking if I need to leave in the middle of the day for an hour, and I’m not sure there’s much you can do about that.” 

A couple of weeks later, her boss came back into her office and said, “Donna, Jim is retiring and his reserved spot in the lot next to the building is opening up.  Even though there’s a waiting list, we’ve all agreed that you should take it.  And we’re waiving the annual fee of $750 usually charged the person’s P&L for the parking space.”

She laughed, “You’d have thought I’d won the lottery.  Knowing that parking space is there waiting for me whenever I need it makes all the difference in the world.  I know I can go and get back without having to worry.  My stress level is way down which is good for everyone, especially my husband.  And all it took was a $750 a parking space…imagine.” 

What are some of the small changes you’ve seen make a big difference in the way either you or someone you know manages their work+life fit?  

06:36 am | 0 recommendations | Be the first to comment

American Revolution's Pamphleteers, Today's Bloggers and Twitterers for Change

The celebration of our country’s independence this past weekend made the harrowing Twitter and blog posts of the resistance movement in Iran even more poignant. As they continue to challenge the legitimacy of that country’s elections and crack the foundation of the theocratic regime, it’s important to remember the role of “social media” in our own painful, violent birth. Iran’s bloggers and Twitterers are the modern-day offspring of the American Revolution’s pamphleteers.

More than 230 years ago, ordinary citizens across the colonies printed and distributed the passionate words of “amateur” writers to shape public opinion and galvanize the independence movement virally. Like the Iranians, these colonial social media pioneers faced violent suppression from a powerful ruling class.  But their simple pamphlets proved to be even more powerful.  They offer hope not only to the courageous Iranians, but to anyone interested in harnessing the collective for change.  

My grandmother first introduced me to the bravery of the American Revolution’s pamphleteers through stories about one of my ancestors, Samuel Loudon.  In addition to publishing the newspaper The New York Packet, he was part of the underground network that printed and distributed pro-independence pamphlets This included the a popular response to Thomas Paine’s Common Sense for which, legend has it, Loudon was tarred and feathered. 

This description of pamphleteering from 1940 by Homer Calkin for The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, could be about the blogs of today, “From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century the pamphlet was the chief instrument to carry one’s ideas to the public…The pamphlet, forerunner to the newspaper, was well adapted to this use because it was small and cheap and could reach ‘a larger audience than the orator in the House of Commons.’”

These childhood tales of how Samuel Loudon’s pamphlets changed the world may have helped me recognize the potential of blogging in early 2006 when I started my Work+Life Fit blog, way before most people even knew what a blog was.  At the time, I was frustrated.  For more than a decade, I’d been part of a vibrant, dynamic field that helped organizations and individuals partner to flexibly and creatively manage work and life.  Yet the broader world had no idea the field existed much less how our work could help them. I wanted to change that. 

Almost four years later, both my original blog as well as my expert blog for Fast Company have exceeded my expectations in terms of helping to rethink work, life and business. Without fail, after every post, at least one person contacts me to say, “That made a difference.”  Huge.  And a few of my long time work+life colleagues have started excellent blogs including Families and Work Institute’s blog, Kathie Lingle’s Blog at the Alliance for Work Life Progress, and the Sloan Work and Family Network.  Further expanding the community. 

Now, Twitter.  It’s been six months since I joined Twitter (@caliyost), and I’m equally as impressed by its power to share information, create community and drive change.  Tweeting for the pamphleteers of the Revolution would have meant printing and distributing eight to ten short 140 character statements daily.  Impossible.  But that’s what’s different about Twitter—it’s quick. It’s fast. It’s real-time.  It doesn’t replace the thoughtful, longer form writing of a blog post.  Twitter augments it by allowing you to:

• Experience Events Live as They Happen: For a roundup of live tweeting from the Iranian resistance movement, check out Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish blog at The Atlantic.com.   Since signing on to Twitter, I’ve live-blogged and tweeted from work+life events that were important and interesting but might not have received coverage in the mainstream media.  These events include:  The Conference Board’s Work Life Conference; Cornell’s Preparing for the New Century—Innovative Work and Family Strategies Conference and Families and Work Institute’s Work Life Legacy Awards.
• “Follow” People from Different Industries and Cultures:  Twitter keeps the ongoing struggle of the Iranian protestors alive for me, even as the coverage in newspapers and network television trails off.  I’m in New Jersey, but I’m connected.  On Twitter, I’m following and am being followed by an international group of work life experts, journalist/authors, musicians, HR experts, social media gurus, career experts, publishers, astronauts, tattoo artists, environmentalists, eldercare experts, elder caregivers, financial planners, moms, dads, and students, just to name a few.  I learn from and “retweet” or share their often thought-provoking and informative tweets everyday, and am better for it.
• Share Information Quickly, Instantly:  I can sit at my desk, read an interesting article, blog post or tweet from someone else and within 20 second share it with my network.   And then watch as others in my network “RT” or retweet what I’ve sent out. 
• Read Each Person’s Twitter Bio:  Every time someone follows me or I reach out to follow them on Twitter, I love reading their bio. Even though a bio on Twitter is only a couple of sentences long, it’s amazing how much unique personal and professional information people include.  It confirms what a wonderful, complex world we live in where no two people are the same.
• Get Updates Related to Personal Interests:  Here’s a benefit of Twitter I didn’t expect but value. So far I’ve linked to a person who lives in Lancaster, England and goes to Lancaster University, the school I attended for a semester in college.  Fun to get his updates.  I feel like I’m right back in the Lake District.  I also follow a newspaper reporter who covers the beat that includes the town in Maine where my grandparents lived for many years.  Through them, I’m linked to two different parts of the world that were very meaningful to me.
• Join Virtual Community:  Where did I share my surprising grief on the day Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett died?  Twitter.  As the news spread, people where shared their shock and often funny memories real-time.   

As the Revolutionary War pamphleteers proved, even the earliest forms of social media can bring democracy to life in the face of the most powerful foe.  Hopefully, this will be the outcome in Iran, as long as the global community continues to hear their voices.  In my own work, I’ve seen the power of blogging and Twitter to share and expand the work life discussion and sustain meaningful change.  What’d your passion?  How can social media help you connect and spread the word?    

09:22 am | 0 recommendations | 2 comments

My Brush with Swine Flu--We Dodged It, But What About Next Time?

At the beginning of June, swine flu or H1N1 hit my daughters’ school in full force.  Thankfully, everyone survived the outbreak, but what about next time?  Experts predict that we haven’t seen the last of H1N1, or its more troublesome sibling H5N1, better known at bird flu.  In a recent Washington Post article, John M. Barry, a scholar at the Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane and Xavier Universities and author of the book, “The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History,” wrote:

“There have been four pandemics that we know about in some detail: 1889-92, 1918-20,, 1957-60 and 1968-70.  All four followed similar patterns:  in initial sporadic activity with local instances of high attack rates—just as H1N1 has behaved so far—followed four to eight months later by waves of widespread illness with 20 to 40 percent of the population sickened.  Subsequent waves followed as well.  In all four pandemics, lethality changed from wave to wave—sometimes increasing, sometimes decreasing.  It’s impossible to what will happen this time.” 

If this pattern holds, some time between October, 2009 and February, 2010 we could face an even stronger more widespread epidemic.  Over the past month, I’ve been awestruck, in a creepy, skin-crawling way, by how fast the virus moved through one population, and then began to infect other grades and schools in the district as siblings and friends exposed one another.  I watched the challenges public officials, parents and doctors encountered as they grappled to coordinate a response.  It makes me very afraid for the next go round.  Here are a couple of the observations that surprised me:   

It happens so quickly it’s hard to get in front of the outbreak. The first official notification that something was amiss in the school arrived via an email from the Superintendent on Monday, June 1st:

“The school district is continuing to monitor the potential outbreak of H1N1 cases in our school community on a daily basis…Student absenteeism rates across the district have been close to normal, with the present exception of one elementary school.  Following a field trip to Philadelphia last Wednesday, a high number of 5th graders are now home with flu-like symptoms.  We have briefed health officials on this development, and will monitor attendance closely in the days ahead.”

But that was three days after the first unofficial signs something was wrong began to travel through the all-powerful “moms network.”  On the Friday after the Wednesday field trip, my 5th grader came home from school and told me that half of both fifth grade classes were out of school sick.  Clearly something was wrong, and she was running a low grade fever.  Soon phones buzzed with symptoms that sounded very similar.  Over the weekend, more cases emerged and people began to wonder if they should keep their kids home. 

Unfortunately, the school district wasn’t looped into the informal network.  So by Monday they were greeted with a big problem that was too far gone.  The exposure had occurred.  The H1N1 horses were out of the barn, and the county stopped testing once swine flu was identified in the school.  Eight days late on June 9th, we received this email update:

“There are now four confirmed cases, all of which were from a cluster of students tested on June 2. These students experienced mild flu symptoms, stayed home for seven days, and have now returned to school. Attendance rates at the elementary school have improved dramatically in the past five days.  The Junior School is now experiencing a higher than normal rate of absenteeism”

Parents lie because they need to go to work and can’t afford to have their child home for 7 days which undermines containment efforts. Maybe it’s a combination of economic fear, and a lack of paid vacation days but more than a few parents admitted that they’d sent a child who had exhibited flu-like symptoms to school before the 7 days mandated by the district.  The reason for most, “I can’t afford to miss work.”  Trust me, I was doing the happy-dance when my daughter’s fever went away in 24 hours and she exhibited no other symptoms.  So I understand their struggle.

The number of kids with flu-like symptoms who returned to class two or three days later got so bad that the district began to require doctor’s notes vouching that the illness was not the flu.  Some schools in other neighboring districts did close in an effort to get in front of the virus.  I’m beginning to think that may be the only response if we do experience a more intense second-wave later this year.  

But then what about these parents and their jobs?  Will a school closure qualify under FMLA even if your child isn’t sick?  Will parents risk losing their jobs?  From a public health policy perspective especially in this economic environment, does the government need to pass legislation protecting parents if schools are shut down because of H1N1?  

Telecommuting/telework needs to become more commonplace and widespread.  If the history outlined above is an indicator, waves of H1N1 will continue for at least two years.  But what if more workplaces decided to telecommute at the first signs of an outbreak?  What if entire cities told employees to work from home for a week?  Would that cause the virus to die out faster?   Technology gives us a powerful weapon in the form of telecommuting to combat the flu that didn’t exist in 1889-92, 1918-20, 1957-60 and 1968-70.  Let’s use it.  Here are some excellent resources for managers and individuals who want to learn more about how to work remotely:

• For individuals: Undress for Success, by Kate Lister and Tom Harnish (website: www.undress4success.com)
• For managers:  The Virtual Workplace: A Guide to Telework for Managers, an e-learning course developed by the well-respected WFC Resources.  

Our H1N1 outbreak was mild, but it provided a disturbing preview into how ill-prepared we are to deal with a deadlier, more potent challenge in the near future.  Mother Nature’s given us a trail run.  We have four to eight months to prepare given what we’ve learned.   The question is, will we?  What do you think? 

10:37 am | 0 recommendations | 10 comments

5 Lessons from CFOs: How to Make Work Life Flexibility a Biz Strategy, Not Perk/Benefit

We know that the HR community recognizes the importance of work+life flexibility, but what about the people who drive the financial decisions, and write the checks.  Is work+life flexibility on the radar screen of CFOs?  Is it a core strategic lever for responding rapidly to unexpected economic challenges, and for addressing future trends well in advance?  If not, why and how can that change? 

To answer these questions, Work+Life Fit, Inc. partnered with BDO Seidman LLP to co-sponsor the first ever CFO Perspectives on Work-Life Flexibility study.  This national telephone survey of a random sample of 100 top CFOs at companies with at least 5,000 employees was conducted by an independent research firm in May, 2008.  I'm so pleased that the peer reviewed World at Work Journal chose to publish the article I wrote about the results and their implications entitled, "CFOs See Business Impacts of Work-Life Flexibility, But They Can't Execute for Strategic Benefit," in the most recent issue. 

The publication of the article and the important insights the CFOs offered couldn't come at a better time.  Eighteen months ago global corporate line leadership had a chance to use a broad range of work+life flexibility strategies to respond to the brewing economic crisis, and for the most part they didn't.  Early on, they missed the opportunity to consider how they could reduce costs and sustain revenue by being more flexible in where, when and how the business and employees operated.  Specifically, they overlooked how to use a combination of flexible scheduling, compressed workweeks, furloughs, sabbaticals, telecommuting, reduced schedules, and job sharing to help employees become more productive, reduce labor costs while minimizing layoffs, cut real estate overhead, lower operating expenses, as well as improve and expand customer service.  This was a costly and unnecessary oversight that we can't afford to repeat.   

The key findings from the CFO survey outlined in the World at Work Journal article offer guidance into what we can leverage and do differently to make work+life flexibility a more integral part of both the short-term and long-term decision-making process:

• Good news: they get it!:  CFOs recognize the broad, potential business impacts of work+life flexibility, or flexibility in how, when and where work is done.
• Bad news: most can't do much about it because of a lack of formal flexibility policies/procedures and leadership buy-in: Only 13 out of the 100 CFOs report working for an organization with a formal approach to flexibility in place and with a leadership team that sees work+life flexibility as a strategy for managing talent, workflow and resources.   The remaining CFOs either work for organizations without a formal approach to flexibility and/or have a leadership team that considers flexibility to be an perk/benefit.  Both factors seriously limit the CFOs ability to use work+life flexibility as a lever to execute a rapid response to a business challenge.

We need to do a better job:

• "Brand" work+life flexibility upfront as a business strategy for managing talent, resources and workflow within the culture and the day-to-day operating model.
• Involve business line leaders in the development and implementation of formal work+life flexibility strategy from the beginning.  HR can't be the sole champion.  For broad buy-in and understanding, a work+life flexibility strategy  must be developed for the business, by the business with HR as a key partner in the process.
• Implement work+life flexibility more effectively, to overcome organizational and personal obstacles that stand in the way.

Work+life flexibility needs to be one of the strategic levers that all leaders pull out of their back pocket to manage short-term crises and long-term trends.  As the recovery simmers, flexible alternatives to labor cost savings can limit additional layoffs.  Some experts predict that oil prices will rise substantially as an economy begins to improve.  In both cases, strategic work+life flexibility can be part of the solution. 

The recent swine flu epidemic wasn't as disruptive as predicted, but what about the next time?  We'll need work+life flexibility.  Then there's the aging population.  We know it's happening, let's start planning.  How can companies retain retiree talent, attract younger employees, and deal with potentially overwhelming eldercare issues?  Flexibility.  Environmental sustainability may have taken a back seat in the economic crisis, but the need to change how we fundamentally operate remains unchanged.  The answer in part: work+life flexibility. 

Let's hope the wisdom and experience shared by the CFOs makes flexibility in how, when and where work is done a part of the solution.