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

Cali Yost — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:19:17 -0400

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 read more

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

Cali Yost — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:53:50 -0400

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).

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

Cali Yost — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:46:35 -0400

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

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

Cali Yost — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:41:30 -0400

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 attenti

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

Cali Yost — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:22:58 -0400

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:

Welcome to the New Work+Life Flex Normal

Cali Yost — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 12:44:32 -0400

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

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

Cali Yost — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:38:18 -0400

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.

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

Cali Yost — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:36:44 -0400

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.

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

Cali Yost — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:22:26 -0400

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.

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

Cali Yost — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:37:11 -0400

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?