More workers are choosing fear over flex time, experts say

From CNN.com: More workers are choosing fear over flex time, experts sayBy John Blake, CNNMarch 30, 2010 10:27 a.m. EDT

(CNN) -- Out of sight. Out of mind.

Out of a job?

That's the grim scenario lurking in the minds of a growing number of American workers whose anxieties are driving a curious trend, workplace experts say.
Companies are offering employees more chances than ever to work at home or outside their office through "flex time." But fewer workers are accepting the offers for a more convenient schedule, according to several work-life experts.
The reason is simple: fear, says Sylvia Ann Hewlett, president of the Center for Work-Life Policy. a New York-based company that promotes flexible schedules for workers.
Most employees feel there is more pressure than usual to be in the office, Hewlett says. "They feel as if that jacket needs to be on the back of their office chair at 8 at night because everyone is trying to prove that they're indispensable."
Blame it on the recession, Hewlett and other workplace experts say. Flex-time employees, those who work alternate schedules that included working at home or around their children's school hours, have become more skittish, they say.
Hewlett says there was a significant decrease between summer 2008 and January 2009 in the number of professionals who felt comfortable working from home for a company. That was at the height of the latest recession, she says.

Yet Hewlett and others say that workers who routinely work long hours and turn down offers of flex time could end up hurting themselves and their companies.

It's hard to make that argument stick because so many workers believe that more workplace visibility equals more job security, says Jennifer Kalita, author of "The Home Office Parent: How to Raise Kids & Profits under One Roof."

Kalita says she understands workers' flex-time reluctance. She says workers can build alliances through workplace "face time."

"People do business with people they like," Kalita says. "It's easier to like people whom you see on a daily basis, because you are 'in it together.' This is the space where relationships and loyalty grow."

Those who work outside the workplace often feel as if they're not growing, Kalita says. Stay-at-home workers often work longer hours than their on-site counterparts, but some are not sure their colleagues know.

"While most telecommuters I know would love a cleaning crew to force them out of their offices by 7 p.m., some abandon the concept to prove to their coworkers and superiors alike that they are, in fact, working," Kalita says.

It can all seem noble on the surface: Turn down the flex time; put in the long hours to show your colleagues that you're pulling your weight. But it can backfire, others say.

Jane Goldner, a hiring expert and CEO of the Goldner Group, says fear of losing one's job only motivates people for a short time. "We can burn the midnight oil to a certain point and then we're exhausted and we're not productive," Goldner says. "Fear does that to people."

That fear bleeds into workers' personal lives, she says. Some workers not only spurn offers of flex time, but they forgo personal tasks such as doctor appointments or household errands because they're afraid of being laid off. Companies that exploit those workers' fears get higher productivity in the short term but they eventually lose, Goldner says. When the economy improves, those same employees will jettison those companies for a more humane working environment. "Those companies will have a revolving door," Goldner says.

Is working hard the new working dumb? Working hard is the new working dumb.

There is, however, a way for workers to grab more flex time yet earn more workplace respect if they remember one rule, says another workplace expert. "It is not you that your boss needs to see; it's your impact," says Karissa Thacker, an industrial psychologist and executive coach. People who feel compelled to work long hours at a particular job site are being driven by an "Industrial Age mentality," Thacker says. They think that job security is dependent on physical presence. "Working hard is the new working dumb," Thacker says. "Working hard does not necessarily create impact," she says.
A worker's value is measured by "visible, observable impact on a daily basis, digitally or in person," Thacker says. Job security is not dependent on sitting in an office chair for long hours, Thacker says. "Some of the most unproductive people are at the office by 7 a.m.," she says.
Some big companies have already made that discovery, says Hewlett. She says that even as more workers shun flex time, more big companies are offering it because it also helps their bottom line. The accounting firm KPMG, for example, decided it had to cut the payroll in its British branch by 15 percent last winter, she says. Instead of firing people, KPMG offered 11,000 workers flex-time choices that ranged from a four-day workweek, a mini-sabbatical and reduced pay, Hewlett says.
"They found that 80 percent of the workers went for flex time," Hewlett says. "They were overjoyed to get a little bit of their life back. They saw it as a shot to grab some time with family."
Why some consider flex time a no-brainer:
KPMG succeeded in saving 15 percent of its payroll costs by offering its employees flex time, she says.
"Generally speaking, offering flex is a no-brainer," Hewlett says. "There's a lot of evidence that it boosts productivity and it doesn't cost anything."

At least one person who still takes flex time says it has paid off, even though she did it in the middle of a recession. Jennifer Clarin, a publicist based in Miami, Florida, first asked for flex time three years ago when her daughter, Orli, was born. Her company granted her request, but Clarin says she's aware of how some people view flex time. "When they hear flex time and you're working at home," she says, "they think someone is just watching TV all day and going to lunch with friends." But Clarin says she actually works harder at home. There's no draining commute, and she makes sure she's available for nights and weekends as a gesture of gratitude to her company, Boardroom Communications.

"You can be more productive because you don't have a lot of distractions," she says of working at home. "But I think that you have to be willing to give them a little more for them to give you a little more." What's more important, she says, is that she doesn't have to have her coat draped on her office chair each evening to prove her worth.

"I've had the advantage of being there eight years," Clarin says of her job. "They know who I am and they know what I do. They don't question if I'm working."

Reflections Upon 1 Year of Entrepreneuership

After six months spent consulting part-time in addition to working more than a full-time job in the corporate sector, I decided to try my hand at being a full fledged entrepreneur by forming a limited liability corporation. Here are just a few brief musings, learnings, and reflections upon the trials and tribulations of my first year as a "solo-preneuer."

• Deciding what to spend money on to start up a business is scary, yet exhilirating. Software, supplies, courses, professional associations; there are plenty of places to spend it. What's the strategy?
• Continue to hone skills and knowledge about trends in your industry.
• Writing down your values and goals is crucial.
• Create boundaries between work and home life, especially when your office is 20 feet from the laundry room.
• Creating informal and/or formal "mentor relationships" - people who will listen, encourage, and play devil's advocate.
• It's ok to say no. Stand up for what you want to do, and where you can best use your strengths.
• A trusted accountant is worth every penny - and even better, may give guidance for free.
• Pass it on - if it is work you cannot do or are too busy to do, refer a colleague.
• Your business goals are just as important as the goals of the potential client with whom you are negotiating.
• It's impossible to be in four places at once.
• Being a consultant is a "real job", despite when people ask when you will get a "real job again."
• Have a backup plan. Sometimes clients offer you a job via email and then back out four days before it is supposed to start, though you've already filled out tax paperwork for them.
• Establish a system for recordkeeping, invoicing, and other accounting tasks.
• Not everything has to be perfect right out of the gate. Sometimes a genuine conversation about potential opportunities is the best way to start - websites and blogs can come later, for example.
• With great risk comes great reward.
• Those who say being a consultant means never having to deal with corporate politics must have not ever been a consultant. Now I deal with politics in multiple corporations, simultaneously!
• Believe in yourself. When you falter in that belief, surround yourself with others who believe in you.

I've been asked whether I will consider a return to the corporate sector. My answer is and will remain, "I can't say it will never happen. For now, I have challenging work with fascinating varieties of corporate culture, and can balance that with a more flexible schedule." That's worth working hard for, right?

Onboarding Consultant Staff: Tips to Minimize "Ramp Up" Time

Your department has a project that needs to be done, and you don't have the resources. You've been given a budget to hire a consultant to come in and work with your team to meet the project deadlines. What can you do to make sure that he/she can help drive your project forward to completion? What communication is needed so that your current team is also "on board" with the addition to the project team?

Here are some simple tips to minimizing "ramp up" time for new consultants.

Prior to Start Date:

1. Request access to all computer systems, laptop/desktop equipment, ID badge, and other supplies needed so that the consultant can become operable shortly after joining your project team.
2. Preparing the internal team for the arrival of a consultant is also crucial to the success of the project. Share information with your exisiting team about who is coming, why the person is coming, and expectations of what the consultant will be doing, and impacts to the project and current team members. Team members who are unsure of the consultant's role may feel they need to compete with the consultant, may worry that their own jobs are in jeopardy, or may not understand how to best utilize the consultant's time and skills.
3. Compile a list of internal websites, SharePoint sites, and other applicable internal information centers, and provide access to the consultant.
4. Put together an "onboarding" checklist for the consultant, and ensure that key persons are available to spend some time with the consultant. For example, many times the hiring organization begins by giving a consultant access to a list of SharePoint sites to "check out", and then leaves the consultant to his/her own devices to look for pertinent information. There have been times when a consultant may waste more than an hour trying to figure out where project documents are stored - especially when there are many projects, and many sites to examine. Does your organization really want to pay for someone to spend time searching for things that could be pointed out in a matter of minutes?

Potential Onboarding Checklist

There are many details that consultants will need to know when they begin a project with you and your team. Having information prepared ahead of time will minimize the hours that the consultant spends searching company websites to find answers, or wandering hallways to find meeting rooms - hours for which your organization is paying!

Following is a list of potential items to have ready to share with the consultant within the first few days of beginning the project.

Who

• Who needs to meet with your consultant to facilitate execution on this project?
• Who are team members, and how do they fit into the organization/team/business unit (org chart)?
• Who can help show the consultant how to navigate company websites, SharePoint sites, and other internal information? (It is not recommended to simply email a list of website links without providing context)
• Who is accountable for providing information, and to whom is the consultant providing information?
• Who are the contacts for key areas such as administrative support, IT support, invoicing issues and other items that support the consultant's ability to get work done?

What

• What are the deliverables of the project?
• What is in scope, and what is out of scope for the project?
• What expectations are there regarding turnaround time (responding to emails, voice mails, project draft documents, etc)?
• What is the consultant's role in relation to others on the team?
• What concepts should the consultant be aware of that promote understanding of corporate culture? Are there "mottos", leadership models, acronym glossaries, standards for quality, for example?
• What processes are in place around this project? (For example: are there SharePoints for sharing documents, are there project hours that must be posted to a PM plan, etc)?

Where/When

• Where are project documents stored?
• Where are conference rooms?
• Where/when does the consultant submit invoices?
• When are deliverables due?
• When will feedback be provided?

How

• How do project team members communicate? (Virtual, In Person, Email)? How will the project team resolve conflicts?
• How often and for how long does the project team meet?
• How does the feedback loop work on this team?
• How will we know if the project is successful?

Providing clear and consistent communication to consultants and internal project team members and stakeholders is critical to achieving project success. Clarity and preparedness in the onboarding process reduces the time and dollars spent on consultants and allows the organization to gain the consultant's "value add" on the project team in the shortest time possible. Spending the time to onboard at the beginning reduces the time spent later in correcting assumptions about the project - not to mention having a consultant wandering the hallways looking for that conference room.