Is your business family friendly?

Yvette Neilson
26 September 2008

Many people start their own businesses to satisfy the need for family-friendly work hours.
Yvette Neilson looks into how small business stacks up when it comes to mixing business and family.

If the phrase ‘family-friendly work policy’ makes you cringe with thoughts of
well-paid employees skiving off at home while everyone else slogs it out at the salt mines, there are good reasons to rethink your outlook.

The other over-abused buzzword, work-life balance, is not just a section-filler for lifestyle magazines offering largely useless tips such as scenting your bath with lavender oil after a toxic day at the office.

Faced with an ageing population and a labour shortage, it’s worthwhile for employers to attract and retain talented staff who can still bring value to the company despite the fact they have chosen to go forth and multiply.

A 2007 international report from the Paris-based International Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Babies and Bosses: Reconciling Work and Family Life, compared the different work-life balance approaches of 30 OECD countries. Denmark and Iceland were found to have the most effective public policies and workplace practices promoting a healthy work-family balance, followed by Finland, France, Norway and Sweden. Sadly, Australia lagged near the bottom of the list, along with the United States and the United Kingdom.

To be mutually beneficial, however, family-friendly policies must have firmly established guidelines and boundaries.

Create a family-friendly culture

It’s no good banging on about pro-family policies if your parent employees get hostile glares from resentful co-workers every time they rush out the door to pick up their kids. Childless employees, or those with grown kids, also need to be in the loop about flexible working arrangements. And it must be clear that workers with children are still fully accountable.

There’s no limit to the range of flexible arrangements that might suit a parent of young children including:

Teleworking. Using information technology to enable people to work remotely. It can be used for those who split time between home and the office or mobile workers who use their home as an administrative base such as sales reps and account managers. In the UK, more than 7 million workers use this model to help juggle their work and home lives.
Working from home. Often used in conjunction with teleworking, this increasingly popular model relies on trust and mutual benefit, and requires clarity and consistency to work effectively. Equipment policies relating to computers, internet connections and the like need to be outlined as well. People working at home must provide contact details, be available to take phone calls and facilitate communication with the office.
Job sharing. Dividing one full-time job into two part-time ones. Employees could split week days or work alternate weeks.
Voluntary reduced work-time. An employee reduces working time for a limited period, usually with the right to return to full-time work afterwards.
Compressed hours. Full-time employees work longer hours in fewer days. Examples include four long days instead of five, doing a nine-day fortnight, or shortening breaks and leaving earlier.
Staggered hours. Flexible start and finish times, without reducing full-time hours.
Annualised hours. Working time is set by the year, rather than by the week.

Finally, when deciding if an employee is suited to a flexible work arrangement, it’s worth considering:

Is the employee self-motivated, results-oriented and able to meet deadlines?
Can the employee work independently?
Has the employee been successful in their current position?
Are they a good communicator who takes initiative and is adaptable to change?
Do they have strong time-management and organisational skills?
Do they have a home situation conducive to working from home?
Are they a person who has a strong need to be visible within the organisation?

How big business does it

According to Nicola Fenech, IBM’s diversity program manager, the technology giant is recognised worldwide for its family-friendly work policies. IBM’s 2007 global work-life initiative survey revealed over 70% of the company’s staff felt the diversity program positively impacted their productivity and their commitment to their jobs.

Among other choices, employees have the option of a compressed work week.

“This is where employees work a five-day week in four days,” Fenech explains. “We also offer working from home, which is individually negotiated with the relevant manager. The company uses telecommuting technologies to make working arrangements more flexible. This allows employees to work wherever they need to be.

“For example, on Monday they might be in the office, with a client on Tuesday, then at home on Wednesday. We provide the technical support required for employees to deliver on their commitments across many environments.”

Other alternatives include part-time work, reduced-hour arrangements and individualised work schedules.
Medical company Smith & Nephew also gives its employees the tools to make their home and work lives gel.

Andrew Jary is a trauma and extremities product manager for Smith & Nephew Surgical. The birth of his second child forced the family to relocate to a suburb which would have required three hours a day sitting in peak-hour traffic to commute to and from work. His manager suggested a flexi-time working arrangement beginning at 7am and finishing at 3.30pm.

“Having flexible work hours helps me connect with my family rather than just contributing financially,” he says. “I’m home in time to play outside with my sons or help with dinner and mucking in at bath time, which is always a hectic time in any family. Being able to help out with the day-to-day tasks allows me to get to know my children better than if I was simply walking in the door and kissing them goodnight before they go to bed.”

How small business does it: Veronica Perez, PRD Nationwide Real Estate, Maroubra

How long have you been in business?
Since January 2005.

Why did you go into business?
Financial reasons: long-term gain and also for a sense of achievement and to contribute to the industry.

How many employees do you have?
We have 10 staff and five have young kids.

Do you have any family-friendly workplace policies?
Flexible working hours are available if required; they just need to make up the time. A lot of staff work part-time, usually to fit in with school hours. It works well for the business and the staff. We also have staff who share workloads and a positive group environment where everyone helps each other. We definitely believe quality of life produces better productivity and longer staff retention. Real estate agents are known to burn out quickly, so flexibility is crucial.

Do you have a maternity leave policy?
We offer 12 months unpaid leave. After this, their old job is available to them or they have the option to return part-time, available up to 12 months. They can also work from home within these 12 months.

How do you manage your own family commitments?
I try to spend quality time with my family; I have a cleaner and an au-pair so I don’t get tied up with too many chores when I’m not working. Sunday is a family day where we all spend the day together. I do a lot of the household organisation when I get up at 5am. The kids are in bed by 8pm so from then until 10pm I will cook and complete any household jobs that need doing.