弹性工作制如何取得实效

人为创造的灵活性vs.货真价实的好处

    家庭与工作协会主席兼联合创始人艾伦•加林斯基称：“由于经济衰退，全球经济不景气，以及技术等方面的原因，工作越来越难做。”加林斯基表示，成功的公司纷纷通过合理放松对员工的限制来应对这些挑战，而不是靠一些不彻底的措施。

    例如，如果公司用所谓“灵活的”朝七晚三的时间规定来代替原先的朝九晚五，可能依然无法满足员工处理个人事务的需要，比如照顾生病的孩子，处理浴缸漏水，修理汽车等。加林斯基称，而其他公司则对工作安排进行重新设计，将公司的激励措施与奖励和员工的工作成果挂钩——而不是他们在公司露面的时间。

    以位于达拉斯的税务服务公司Ryan为例。几年前，公司一位“明日之星”递交辞呈，促使公司CEO G•布林特•莱恩重新审视公司注重超长工作时间和出勤的策略。

    评估的结果是，公司推出了一款名为MyRyan的软件，该软件可以显示与每一名员工和每个团队真正有关的绩效目标，比如营收目标、360度评估得分、客户服务评级等。跟MeetingMatrix一样，Ryan公司的员工再也不需要卡点上下班，而且，他们可以获得不受限制的带薪假期和病假。

    Ryan高级副总裁德尔塔•埃莫森称：“时间再也不是公司的主要关注点。”今年，薪酬委员会在评估员工绩效，决定是否加薪时，甚至完全没有考虑员工的工作时间。

    于是，Ryan公司的自愿离职率从18.5%下降到6.5%，而非自愿离职率（也就是炒掉表现较差的员工）则由4.3%提高到6.9%。尽管处于经济衰退当中，但公司在2009年和2010年连续两年的利润和营收均创下了历史记录。埃莫森表示：“以前，每天在公司花很长时间的人可能表现却非常糟糕，但他们投入的工作时间却能让他们过关。但以后再也不会发生这样的情况了。”

Faux-flexibility vs. the real deal

    "Because of the recession and because of the global economy and because of technology, work has become so much more demanding," says Ellen Galinsky, president and co-founder of the Families and Work Institute. Galinsky says that successful companies have begun to tackle these challenges by legitimately loosening their hold on their employees rather than resorting to halfway measures.

    For instance, companies that replace a 9 to 5 schedule with "flexible" hours of 7 to 3 aren't necessarily accommodating employees' need to handle personal affairs, whether it's a sick child, leaky bathtub, or car repair. Other businesses are redesigning work such that incentives and rewards are aligned with the results that an employee delivers -- not the hours that they show their faces in the office, Galinsky says.

    Take Ryan, a tax services firm based in Dallas. A few years ago, a resignation letter from a rising star in the company prompted CEO G. Brint Ryan to reevaluate the firm's focus on long hours and face time.

    The result: MyRyan, a software package that displays the performance objectives that truly matter for each employee and the team, whether it's revenue targets, 360 review scores, customer service ratings, or other things. Ryan employees no longer need to account for their time -- as with MeetingMatrix, staffers can take unlimited paid vacation and sick days.

    "Hours no longer are the key focus," says Delta Emerson, a senior vice president at Ryan. When the compensation committee met this year to evaluate performance and decide on pay raises, employee hours were not even mentioned.

    Voluntary turnover at Ryan decreased to 6.5% from 18.5%, and involuntary turnover (in other words, firing poor performers) increased to 6.9% from 4.3%. Despite the recession, the firm posted record profits and revenue in both 2009 and 2010. "In the past, somebody who was putting in a ton of hours could be performing poorly, but the hours would carry them. That no longer happens," Emerson says.