Workplace flexibility: a model of change

Abstract

The inception of When Work Works – a theoretical- and research-based model of change in promoting effective and flexible workplaces – dates back to the confluence of a number of factors in the early 1990s. One decade later, this ‘perfect storm’ of factors led to the creation of When Work Works, and two decades later, to this critical assessment of the foundation for and results of this model of change. When Work Works has used partnerships with nationwide business organizations with community chapters in combination with media coverage, educational events, the creation of tools and materials and grassroots methods to communicate well-researched information to employers that show workplace flexibility is not just a favor or perk for employees but can be a powerful strategy for promoting better outcomes for both employers and employees. The program has been responsible for implementing a rigorous award and providing numerous community-based recognition and educational events on workplace effectiveness and flexibility around the country and for assisting many employers to effectively create more flexible and effective workplaces. When Work Works has been designed around eight key principles for creating change on a national level. This paper presents the context in which When Work Works evolved, a detailed discussion of the eight principles of Families and Work Institute's model of change, its results and lessons other organizations may wish to apply in their own change initiatives.

Cuando el trabajo funciona – un modelo de cambio basado en la teoría y la investigación para promover lugares de trabajo eficaces y flexibles – tiene su origen en la confluencia de un número de factores a principios de los años 90. Una década más tarde, esta ‘tormenta perfecta’ de factores condujo a la creación de Cuando el trabajo funciona y, dos décadas más tarde, a esta evaluación crítica de la fundación y de los resultados de este modelo de cambio. Cuando el trabajo funciona ha colaborado con negocios nacionales con secciones comunitarias, en combinación con la cobertura de los medios, eventos educativos, la creación de herramientas y materiales, y métodos locales para mostrar a los empleadores una información bien fundamentada que muestra cómo la flexibilidad de trabajo no es sólo un beneficio para los empleados, sino que puede ser una estrategia poderosa para promover mejores resultados tanto para el empleador como para el empleado. El programa se ha encargado de implementar un riguroso galardón y proveer numerosos reconocimientos basados en la comunidad y eventos educativos sobre la eficacia y flexibilidad del trabajo en todo el país, así como de asistir a muchos empleadores a crear de manera eficaz lugares de trabajo más flexibles y efectivos. Cuando el trabajo funciona ha sido diseñado considerando ocho principios claves para crear cambio en un nivel nacional. Este artículo presenta el contexto en que Cuando el trabajo funciona se desarrolló y, además, discute los ochos principios del modelo de cambio del Families and Work Institute, sus resultados, y los ejemplos que otras organizaciones podrán aplicar a sus propias iniciativas de cambio.

Keywords:

• workplace flexibility
• model of change
• communications campaign
• social change
• effective workplaces

Palabras claves:

• flexibilidad laboral
• modelo de cambio
• campaña de comunicación
• cambio social
• lugares de trabajo eficaces

Notes on contributors

Ellen Galinsky, President and Co-Founder of Families and Work Institute helped establish the field of work and family life when working at Bank Street College of Education. More than 45 books and reports of hers include the best-selling Mind in the Making, the now classic The Six Stages of Parenthood and the highly acclaimed Workflex. She has published over 125 articles in academic journals, books and magazines. At the Institute, Ms. Galinsky co-directs the National Study of the Changing Workforce, the most comprehensive ongoing nationally representative study of the US workforce. She also co-directs WWW, a project on workplace flexibility and effectiveness first funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and now in partnership with the Society for Human Resource Management that has launched the Sloan Awards as well as conducted the National Study of Employers, a nationally representative ongoing study of employment benefits, policies and practices. She was a planner and participant at the March 2010 White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2004 Distinguished Achievement Award from Vassar College and was elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources in 2005.

Kenneth Matos, Ph.D., is a senior director of Employment Research and Practice at Families and Work Institute (FWI). He conducts research on many workforce and workplace issues, including diversity, mentoring, work-life fit, and workplace effectiveness using findings from the FWI's ongoing nationally representative studies – the National Study of Employers and the National Study of the Changing Workforce. He co-directs WWW, a project on workplace flexibility and effectiveness, in collaboration with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). WWW sponsors the Sloan Awards for Effective and Flexible Workplaces, which recognizes employers for providing workplaces that are beneficial to both employers and employees. Prior to joining FWI, Dr. Matos worked for the Department of Defense (DoD), where he developed, implemented, and analyzed surveys of members of the US military, their families and related constituencies.

Kelly Sakai-O'Neill is a director of Marketing and Senior Manager of Applied Research at Families and Work Institute. She has over a decade of experience in the area of work life research, communications and programming. She is a founding member of the WWW team since the initiative launched in 2005. In this role, she has worked to create a rigorous one-of-a-kind workplace flexibility award process, using national data, employer data and employee input. Over the past 8 years, Kelly has helped grow the initiative from 62 applicants to now over 750 annually. She has managed the Institute's marketing efforts and websites as well as co-authored a number reports and journal articles using FWI's data.

Notes

1. The NSCW is based on the US Department of Labor's 1977 Quality of Employment Survey and has been conducted in 1992, 1997, 2002, and 2008. The NSE is based on FWI's 1998 Business Work Life Study and has been conducted in 2005, 2008 and 2012. Both surveys are scheduled to be repeated again by the end of 2014.

2. The Alfred P. Sloan Award for Excellence in Workplace Effectiveness and Flexibility, first awarded in 2005, was named the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility through 2011.