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Workplace Flexibility: Ensuring Success for the 21st Century
Allstate and PBD Worldwide Become "Business Champions"
in National Campaign
Corporate
Voices would like to congratulate Allstate Insurance Company and PBD Worldwide
Fulfillment Services for joining our workplace flexibility campaign and committing
their support for Corporate Voices' 2010
Statement of Support for Expanding Workplace Flexibility.
They join Accenture, AOL, Baxter
International Inc., Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Childrens'
Creative Learning Centers, Cisco Systems, Inc., Ernst & Young, Knowledge
Universe, KPMG LLP, LifeCare, McGladreySM, Sodexo,
Workplace Options, and a growing number of businesses that recognize the
value of workplace flexibility. Workplace flexibility practices enable
businesses to modernize the workplace to meet the needs of the 21st century
workforce so that working families and businesses can be more productive, more
competitive, healthier, and happier.
With generous support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Corporate Voices launched
this campaign on June 28, after the White House announced in March that Corporate Voices would lead a campaign to
create a broader awareness of the positive business and employee benefits of
workplace flexibility. We are now inviting all of our corporate partners to
sign our Statement of Support for Expanding Workplace Flexibility and lead
the business community in this effort.
When your company signs the Statement, it will become a "Business Champion"
for workplace flexibility. It will gain national recognition, media exposure,
and it will be invited to regional flexibility events around the country
throughout the year. It will also receive a workplace flexibility logo and "Business
Champion" seal to place on your company's website acknowledging this status.
The
White House Council on Women and Girls
spotlighted Corporate Voices' workplace flexibility campaign when it publicly
launched its Work-Flex Event Starter Kit at Vice President Biden's Middle Class Task Force
event on July 20. The Starter Kit is designed to encourage businesses,
employees, and universities to start a conversation in their local communities
about how workplace flexibility can help empower families to meet the dual
demands of work and life. Corporate
Voices' Partner Coalition members in this campaign are: Boston College's Center for
Work and Family, Families and Work
Institute, Society for Human
Resource Management, WFD Consulting,
Working Mother Media, and WorldatWork. Corporate
Voices applauds the efforts of our Business Champions and Partners in spreading
the word about this important work-life initiative. Most recent examples are: For
more information about the campaign and how to join, please visit: www.corporatevoices.org/our-work/flexcampaign. |
Call for Employer
Participants!
Humphrey
Institute of Public Affairs Begins Workplace Flexibility Research
Project
The
Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota has begun a research project to
measure the impact of workplace flexibility practices. They are interested in partnering with 3 to 5
businesses to provide additional research to strengthen the business case for
flexibility. The Institute, like Corporate Voices, believes in the
business imperative for flexible work arrangements, and in the value that
workplace flexibility has for improving the business bottom line and the lives
of working families. This project is separate and independent from Corporate
Voices' work and research, however we are presenting this as an opportunity for
our partner companies to highlight their successful flex policies in ongoing
research.
The Institute is
looking for organizations that are implementing a flexible work policy at the
departmental or organizational level. It will work with each
organization to develop individualized measurements of productivity,
retention and facility costs/savings. The goal of the research
project is to measure and document the change over time in these areas.
Researchers at the Institute would conduct a survey of employee perceptions of
productivity, job satisfaction, and retention, and will also collect and analyze
organization, unit, and employee-level quantitative data in these areas. They
will also gauge the perception of effectiveness of flexibility policy through
interviews with management.
If you are interested in having your
company participate in this research to spotlight your successful flexible
workplace arrangements, please contact ysiu@corporatevoices.org. Your
participation will add to the body of literature supporting the business case
for workplace flexibility, while helping to advance support for flexibility
within businesses, local governments, and in communities across the
country.
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Corporate Voices Attends Expert Summit as Advisor to
Latino Infant Nutrition Initiative
 Tiffany Westover-Kernan and Yvonne Siu of
Corporate Voices for Working Families attended the Expert Consensus Summit of
the Latino
Infant Nutrition Initiative (L.I.N.I) on July 27-28 in Ann Arbor, MI.
They met with health experts, policy advocates, and business representatives to
discuss and identify strategies to promote infant nutrition and well-being in
the Latino community.
Corporate
Voices serves as an Advisor to L.I.N.I., along with LifeCare, Inc, Working
Mother Media, the National Association of Community Health Centers, and the
National WIC Association, among others.
Through
a two-day series of panels, roundtable discussions, and networking forums, partners
and advisors identified the multiple social, economic, and political factors
that determine Latino health outcomes, including: culture, language, individual
influence, practices, policy, education, and access to resources.
The
group used the Social-Ecological Model (SEM) to discuss and identify a
framework within which the diverse group of partners could work together to create
a comprehensive and coordinated strategy to improve infant nutrition. As
research shows that breastfeeding provides an infant the best nutrition during the
first months of life, Corporate Voices discussed the opportunities available in
the workplace to support breastfeeding among employees. Of particular interest was
Corporate Voices' workplace lactation toolkit and how
L.I.N.I. can incorporate workplace support for breastfeeding into its
intervention strategy to improve infant health and nutrition more widely.
L.I.N.I.
was created and is managed by Latino Health Communications to identify and
provide a framework of best practices for Latino infant nutrition as a strategy
for obesity prevention. Given that
Latinos are projected to remain the largest population group through
mid-century, infant nutrition that will lead to healthy lifestyles will improve
the well-being of a significant portion of tomorrow's workforce.
Please stay tuned to hear about ways your company can become involved in
action to improve the health, productivity, and well-being of your employees
and their families!
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WorldatWork Webinar to Feature Corporate Voices' Publications
Boosting
productivity and morale, flexible work schedules have become increasingly
prevalent in today's work world. However, incorporating flexible schedules in
the lives of non-exempt employees continues to be a challenge for employers.
WorldatWork will host a webinar August 10 to discuss how flexible work practices can be
utilized effectively with an hourly, non-exempt workforce. Diane Burrus, Senior Consultant at WFD Consulting will present best practices from leading companies in several different
industries, as well as tips and strategies for successful implementation.
Corporate Voices has partnered with WFD to produce the Workplace Flexibility Toolkits for Hourly Employees and Managers (2010) and the Innovative Workplace Flexibility Options for Hourly Workers (May 2009) study, which will be featured during the webinar. Both WFD Consulting and WorldatWork are also members of Corporate Voices' National Workplace Flexibility Campaign Partner Coalition.
For more information about the webinar and to register, click here.
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What We're ReadingThe Case for $320,000 Kindergarten Teachers, The New York Times, July 27, 2010. Program Integrity: Gainful Employment; Proposed Rule, Department of Education, July 26, 2010. Making the Case for Breastfeeding: The Health Argument Isn't Enough, Berkley Media Studies Group, July 2010. The Case Against Summer Vacation, Time, July 22, 2010. Tennessee's Tougher Standards Mean Lower Test Scores, The Tennessean, July 21, 2010. Business-Friendly Tennessee Ranks Third in Study, The Tennessean, July 20, 2010. |
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