Work Life Balance

KPMG employees applaud the firm’s flexible hours and family-friendly policies

Mamta Soni still remembers the day last spring when she was trying to meet a work deadline before leaving on a four-week trip to India. That’s when her infant son started teething, got pink-eye and developed strep throat all at the same time.


After trying to juggle everything and realizing she couldn’t, she finally called her colleagues at KPMG’s Cleveland office and told them, “I know this needs to be done today, but I won’t be able to finish it. I just took my son to the doctor’s and I need to be home with him right now.”

When they agreed that she needed to stay with her baby and reassured her that they could finish the work without her, Soni said she got off the phone and thought, “I’m so happy I work here.”

Source: www.cleveland.com

Let’s talk numbers! Estimated costs of replacing an employee average out at 15-20% of their annual salary and some sources argue that when adding in indirect costs, total turnover costs end up being about 150% of annual salary.

KPMG is wise to offer their employees flexible hours and family-friendly policies. Not only will they have more loyal and happy employees,  their clients won’t be constantly met with a different lineup of consultants.

While some may argue that this flexibility is disruptive, it is clear that the long-term costs of lower loyalty and greater turnover far outweigh any short-term costs. How does your organization help lower turnover?

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Telework

Making Telework More Widespread in Government

Telework is slowly gaining a foothold in the federal government, but changing the attitudes of managers and supervisors who want to see their employees face-to-face remains a constant struggle.


A report by Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released in December found that a total of 301,372 federal employees teleworked at least once during fiscal 2012, the most recent data available. This represents about 14 percent of all federal employees and about one-third of those who have been designated as eligible to work remotely.


The benefits of teleworking have been well chronicled. For employees, it means avoiding long commutes, saving time, improving work-life balance, having greater job satisfaction and gaining a sense of empowerment. For the government, it can save money on overhead, provide better citizen services by extending hours, ensure continuity of operations during regional and national emergencies and snow storms, and lead to improved worker performance and greater productivity.


Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change


Source: www.washingtonpost.com

More bad weather headed your way? Take a tip from the government. Sound strange? Take a look at this: At the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, where 73 percent of the 11,000 employees telework between one and five days a week, it was business as usual during recent weather-related closings.

The government has become one of the biggest proponents for telework recently and we are not surprised. From their trial period during “Telework Week” to having 73% of an office formally telecommuting, they are making sure to introduce telecommuting to their employees- and effectively.

We remind our clients that they should not see or treat telecommuting as an immediate cost-saving measure. Building an effective, long-term program is an investment. Training, communication, support, technology, and protocols come together to make a telecommuting program successful in the long run. The best advice? Don’t cut corners!

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Telework

9 Things Successful People Do When Working From Home

I wrote the first draft of this column before 8 a.m. on a Sunday, working in my pajamas at the standing desk in my home office.

A new study says I have good company in that kind of work flexibility, and not just among entrepreneurs and those who work for themselves. Nearly one-third of full-time employees do most of their work in homes, coffee shops, and other remote places, according to the Flex+Strategy Group report.

After extensive study, here are the best ways I’ve learned to make this arrangement work….

Source: www.inc.com

Let’s add #10: Own your remote job. Too often remote workers apologize and it is far from necessary. Successful remote workers take their work seriously and become experts in allocating resources- especially time! Workers that invest and allocate resources wisely are a great asset to any company, regardless of location.

For example: An hour-long morning commute could become 15 minutes spent mapping out the day’s work plan and 45 minutes of heads-down thinking work without the distraction of 8:00 AM emails from co-workers. Nobody loses!

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Corporate Real Estate and Facilities Management, Telework, Work Life Balance, Workplace Flexibility, Workplace Strategy

A Culture of Presenteeism is Damaging to Productivity

A ubiquitous culture of presenteeism is damaging productivity in UK offices, according to new research by fit out and refurbishment specialist Overbury. This is despite 77% of office workers having more flexible working options open to them than five years ago and expecting this trend to continue into 2014.


Four in five (80%) claim those who spend more hours in the office are thought by bosses to be working harder, while two thirds (66%) say being seen to work late increases an employee’s chance of promotion. More than two thirds (67%) of those who sometimes work from home admit to sending emails early in the morning to stop colleagues thinking they’re having a lie-in.

Source: www.hrreview.co.uk

Companies are willing to invest millions building collaborative work settings. However, many of those same companies forget to focus on establishing and consistently supporting an appropriate workplace culture that leverages collaborative settings. Presenteeism is one of the culture “roadblocks” that can keep that investment from paying off.

From the article: “More businesses need to realise that great ideas don’t arise from sitting at the same desk all day. Instead we must enable people to work in different environments depending on what they’re doing at any one time to push productivity through the roof.”


Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change


Work Life Balance

Have You Made Your Telework Week Pledge?

“The whole program is a mock snowstorm, and most agencies will use it as a COOP exercise,” Auten said, referring to continuity of operations or the effort to keep government open in inclement weather or other adverse conditions. “It also provides a type of low-risk approach to measuring employee engagement.”

Source: www.nextgov.com

This week-long pledge has been embraced by federal agencies as a way to test continuity of operations and measure employee engagement. Studies have shown that employee engagement increases when employees are given the option to work from home and do thoughtful and creative work without office distractions. What other benefits do you think organizations could discover by participating in Telework Week?

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Work Life Balance

Balancing act: Banks move away from the ‘cult of overwork’

Grinding out hundred-hour weeks for years helps bankers think of themselves as tougher and more dedicated than everyone else. And working 15 hours a day doesn’t just demonstrate your commitment to a company; it also reinforces that commitment.

Over time, the simple fact that you work so much becomes proof that the job is worthwhile, and being in the office day and night becomes a kind of permanent initiation ritual. The challenge for Wall Street is: can it still get bankers to run with the pack if it stops treating them like dogs?

Source: www.deseretnews.com

The business world is abuzz with the news that entry-level bankers at banks such as Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse are now encouraged to take at least a few weekdays off every month.

We’re seeing that the decision to leave long-hour jobs doesn’t just occur in the ranks of the Millenial generation. The numbers of Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers moving toward jobs with a better work-life balance are increasing steadily as well.

Where does this leave industries like the investment banking industry? If you are in a similar industry, would your organization’s retention rates and talent look any different if schedules allowed for a better work-life balance?

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Work Life Balance

Urban Farming and Corporate Culture Collide in this Tokyo Office Building

Corporate offices in Tokyo don’t exactly have a great reputation. Drab, grey walls. Generic cubicles. Desks crammed next to each other. These are some of the images we conjure up. But there are an exceptional few trying to break the mold. And they’re not always tech startups.

In the center of Tokyo’s busy financial district is Pasona, a multi-national recruitment firm. When the company decided they needed a new headquarters they hired Japanese architect Yoshimi Kono to help renovate a large, 9-story building and adorn it with a lush, green wall. But the vegetation doesn’t just live on the exterior. Integrated within the building are urban farming facilities that occupy roughly 20% of the entire office space and support 200 species of fruits, vegetables and rice.

Source: www.spoon-tamago.com

Take a break from your work to go farming just outside your cubicle! An interesting way to change the corporate culture.

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Telework

Is Telecommuting the Future of the Workforce or Not?

Back in January, Forbes contributor and CEO of TalentCulture Consulting Group Meghan M. Biro made a not-so-bold prediction: telecommuting is the future of work.

Source: www.hrtalentmanagement.com

It is important that organizations do not see telecommuting as the  only future work setting. Organizations vary in what they need in a work arrangement. The future will be flexible work, of which telecommuting is just one option. For example, organizations offering condensed work weeks still require workers to work in-office, they just have the option to work longer hours on fewer days. Other companies are considering using temporary telecommuting as a way to help mothers transition back into work and the office after maternity leave.

HP and Yahoo brought their telecommuters back into the office, but that doesn’t mean that flexible work is detrimental to all companies.

We advise our clients to think about the kind of work they do, how their employees work, and what they need in order to be productive.  By planning and clearly understanding these three things, organizations won’t be stuck in situations like HP and Yahoo. They will know which members of the workforce can and should work flexibly. They will also know how to implement and support an ongoing program.

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Workplace Flexibility

Why Compressed Work Weeks Can Be Great For Employees and Employers

A compressed work week is a useful flexible work arrangement that can help free up valuable time for family and life demands while minimizing workplace disruptions. Employees Win! I have a friend w…

Source: fathersworkandfamily.com

Tomorrow is Friday! Fridays are always the perfect day to talk about a Condensed Work Week (CWW), a flexible work arrangement that consists of longer work days and shorter work weeks.

The best part of working a CWW? Predictability. Managers and employees alike can gain the flexibility of an alternative work arrangement and still easily keep track of schedules.

While Scott Behson, Associate Professor of Management at Fairleigh Dickinson University, does go on a bit much on what can be accomplished on a “day off”, he also notes a very important  benefit for companies– employees can work the same amount of hours and have an extra day to get personal errands done outside of work. This results in a more engaged employee at work. What do you think of the CWW arrangement?

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change

Telework

Atlanta companies embrace teleworking as winter storm approaches | www.ajc.com

the ice storm that hit metro Atlanta left thousands of employees stuck not at their desks but at their steering wheels.

Now that there is a ton of forewarning about the impending winter storm that will hit the area this week, scores of companies and workers are embracing teleworking to remain productive when the bad weather finally arrives.

Source: www.ajc.com

Over 2000 cars were abandoned during Atlanta’s “stormy” commute last month. This week, Atlanta businesses are preparing for impending winter weather by implementing formal and informal telework policies.

An organization with telework policies won’t miss a beat during unexpected weather events and can keep employees safe.

Stegmeier Consulting Group can assist with a wide range of challenges involved in implementing a workplace change initiative.  Contact us to find out how our services can help your organization.


https://stegmeierconsulting.com/contact/

Phone: 440-846-1410

Changing the way organizations manage workplace change