Research on the Impact of Flex

8/2/2019 Research on the Impact of Flex

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The Impact of Flexibility

on Organizational Performance


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Copyright 2004 by Davies-Black Publishing, a division of CPP, Inc. Adapt ed f rom Leveraging the NewHuman Capit al: Adapti ve St rat egies, Resul t s Achieved, and St ories of Transformat ion, S. Burud & M.Tumolo. All rights reserved.

Research on the Impact of Flexibility onOrganizational Performance

The evidence is in: flexibility is good business

Until now, flexibility has been seen as simply a highly desirable perk for employees. This

report, drawn from a large body of research and the experience of numerous firms, shows

precisely how employers gain benefit from providing flexibility in when and how work gets

done -- from lower costs and enhanced organizational performance, profitability and

shareholder value. It establishes flexibility as essential element of a human capital

strategy, a powerful business tool and key component of successful management practice.

Lower Costs

Flexibility helps reduce or eliminate costs associated with turnover, health care, overhead,

labor, quality, and legal fees.

TURNOVER

Employees experiencing conflict between their work and family responsibilities are

three times as likely to consider quitting their jobs, compared to those who are not

experiencing conflict. (Johnson, 1995)

The following firms experienced significant turnover-related savings after they adopted

flexible human capital cultures and practices.*

Ernst & Youngestimates saving $17 million in turnover-related costs during 1997

and 1998, with flexible work arrangements and a culture that made simultaneous

work and personal success possible. It improved retention of employees,

particularly women (65% of the people who used the flexible work arrangements

had earlier considered leaving), and improved client satisfaction (Casner-Lotto,

2000).


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Corningavoided a $2 million loss in turnover-related costs when employee

turnover was cut in half. It adopted family-friendly policies with increased part-

time work and job-sharing opportunities (Miller, 1998).

Aetna Life and Casualtysaved $1 million a year by allowing part-time return after

family leave. It cut attrition by more than 50% over 5 years (Johnson, 1995).

Fifty percent of women were leaving Kodakfollowing their maternity leave a

statistic that Kodak reduced to 10% by modifying its maternity leave policy

(National Report on Work & Family, 1991)

*(Formulas used to calculate savings were not provided by the firms.)

The figures above are even more impressive when we look more in depth at the real

costs of turnover.

The real cost of turnover amounts conservatively to 50-75% of the departing

hourly employees annual salary, 150% of a salaried workers salary. This

figure includes the directcost of finding, hiring, and training new workers and the

indirectcosts resulting from lost productivity and inefficiencies, which are 80-85%

of the total. (Kepner-Tregoe, 1999) (Phillips, 1990)

When an employee leaves, productivity is affected from the time the worker decides to

leave until a replacement worker is fully up to speed, for the leaving/incoming person, co-workers and supervisors. Thus, a company with 5 exempts and 5 hourly people (paid

$60,000 and $25,000 respectively) leaving annually is losing over half a million dollars

each year.

Even these figures may understate the real cost. The more intense the knowledge or skill

of the job, the longer it takes. New attorneys billing rates and legal skills only equal their

salaries, benefits and allocated overhead after three to four years of employment,

according to the Boston Bar Association. A law firm begins earning a return on a law

associate between the fifth and tenth years of employment (Boston Bar Association, 1999).

The cost of turnover formula also does not consider lost relational capital, i.e. relationshipsheld by the employee within and outside of the organization, or the cost of errors, internal

inefficiencies, lost ground in customer satisfaction, and lack of progress on continuous

improvements while a new person is learning the ropes. For key employees (the one who

keeps a key customer satisfied enough to stay or who generates substantial sales), this

difference can be significant.


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HEALTH CARE COSTS

Health insurance is the largest and fastest growing element of labor costs. Health costs

are reduced by flexible human capital strategies, specifically when employees have

sufficient resources to meet the demands they face and when they have a sense of

control.

Stress and Depression

Depression and stress increase health costs; flexible human capital cultures

reduce stress.

Depressed employees health care bills are 70% higher than those of other

employees. Employees reporting high stress have 46% higher health care

costs.

Combined psychosocial problems--stress and depression--led to costs

nearly 2.5 times higher than workers who didn't report such concerns

(Goetzel et al., 1998). Organizations pay an additional 5-15% in wage costs

for the lost productivity from stress and other suboptimal psychosocial work

conditions.

An estimated 16% of health care costs are preventable by reconstructing

these aspects of jobs(Karasek & Theorell, 1990; p125, 168).

Burnout

Fifty-four percent of workers, whose employers lack supportive work and

family policies, report burnout, compared to 27% of workers whose

employers have them.

A study of U.S. companies found that flexible scheduling of work hours

reduced the number of employees reporting burnout from 39% to 28%

(Northwestern National Life Insurance Company, 1992). A study of emotional exhaustion among social welfare workers found that

burnout affected job performance (as judged by managers) and was a

strong predictor of turnover (Wright & Cropanzano, 1998). A study of

emotional exhaustion among social welfare workers found that burnout


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affected job performance (as judged by managers) and was a strongpredictor of turnover (Wright & Cropanzano, 1998).

REAL ESTATE / FACILITIES COSTS

Enabling employees to telecommute or work remotely can reduce real estate-related

facilities costs, according to the following company evaluations:

Ernst & Young used a policy of encouraging virtual work (work at home and

elsewhere) to eliminate one million of the seven million square feet it rents

nationwide. The policy offered employees a desk only if they were in the officemore than half a day. By increasing the employee-to-desk ratio to five to one,

E&Y expected to avoid $40 million in real estate costs by saving on a $40 per

foot office space charge (Pacelle, 1993).

AT&T avoided $10 million in office space costs over 5 years (Minnesota Center

for Corporate Responsibility, 1997), or $3000 per teleworker, through

telecommuting (Gemignani, 2000).

AT&T also saved an estimated $80 million in 1994 by closing offices.

Telecommuting employees and their managers also discovered that rather

than having more distractions at home, there were more distractions at theworkplace that impeded productivity -- meetings, colleagues, and frequent

interruptions (e.g., telephones) (Noble, 1995).

LABOR COSTS

Flexible human capital strategies can reduce labor costs for the same output, increase

profitability (by boosting output per employee and efficiency among groups and across the

organization), and reduce waste (lost work time, poor concentration, mistakes, turnover,

etc.)

First Tennessee National Corporation raised its ratio of managers to

employees, reducing overhead costs by shifting greater responsibility and

rewards to employees.

Merck reduced overtime in the payroll division by 50% by expanding use of


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flexible work arrangements (Casner-Lotto, 2000).

Bell Atlantic Corporation avoided a portion of disability leave expenses by

permitting employees, who would otherwise be on disability, to telecommute

(Bureau of National Affairs, 1992).

A CPA firm that provided on-site child care during tax season increased the

number of staff available and income generated (Johnson, 1995).

The total labor costs required to achieve the same earnings results can be lower in

organizations that employ flexible human capital strategies. This result happens even

though (in fact because) labor rates salary, benefits, bonuses and other employee costs

-- may be higher.

Costs resulting from work slowdowns, strikes, and theft may also be reduced in

organizations employing flexible human capital values and practices, since these

problems happen more often when employees do not feel respected or that their interests

are aligned with the organization.

QUALITY

There are many costs associated with poor quality, including dissatisfied customers and

injuries to reputation. Some costs are related directly to the issues that flexible human

capital strategies address.

Employee Attitude

NCR found the highest quality plants had the highest employee ratings of job

security, management, company performance, cooperation, goals and

objectives, and other measures of employee attitude (Ulrich, Halbrook, Meder,

Stuchlik, & Thorpe, 1991).

Mistakes

A 1992 study conducted by the St. Paul Companies found that staff whobelieved work was causing problems in their personal lives were much more

likely (30% compared to 19%) to make mistakes than those who had few job-

related personal problems. (Johnson, 1995) Mistakes can be costly, as focus

group data from a California utility demonstrates. An IT computer technician


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received a call at work that her mother, who was in a nursing home, had fallen.Company policy permitted two hours to be taken off midday, but that was not

enough time for her to reach her mother and return to work. That afternoon,

distracted by worry, the employee accidentally erased a computer tape. The

tape would ultimately be needed for a court case and more than $2 million

would be spent to reconstruct it (Burud & Associates, 1989).

LEGAL COSTS

Organizations that practice flexible human capital strategies (not just have them on paper)

can reduce their exposure to gender discrimination claims. Certain strategies are key,

particularly legitimizing part-time work, time-off during a career cycle, and flexible work

schedules. (Unbending Gender, Joan Williams) Recent judgments show how critical this

issue can be. $3 million award in one case; over $625,000 in another. In a Title VII disparate

treatment case, a female civil engineer who was passed over for promotions

after the birth of her son was awarded $3 million. The president of the company

had asked her, Do you want to have babies or do you want a career here?

(Williams & Segal, 2003, p. 130). Another plaintiff was granted over $625,000

in damages and attorney fees, who, after returning from maternity leave,experienced increased work, greater scrutiny of work, loss of schedule

flexibility granted to others in her department, and demeaning comments

regarding potential future pregnancies and her young child.

Enhanced Organizational Performance

Flexible human capital practices (when adopted as a whole in a congruent cultural

context) contribute to a work force that is more skilled, stable, and enthusiastic and free of

distractions. The studies below have considered how flexible human capital strategiesaffect an organizations profitability, ability to grow, and market value.

Talented and focused employees who are on flexible schedules are more likely

to be committed to the organizations goals and deliver superior value to


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customers, who in turn, are more inclined to be satisfied and loyal, generatingstrong sales.

An organization utilizing flexible strategies is more efficient in the short run, and

more profitable. It is also better poised for long-term success, able to innovate

and continually improve processes while minimizing overhead.

These organizations investments are in constructive, future-oriented assets-

human capital, innovation, and customer relationships-all leading indicators

that stock analysts use to evaluate stock price.

Higher Earnings

Practices that recognize both the value and the needs of employees enable companies to

grow in terms of profits and revenues and to sustain that growth over longer periods of

time, because they provide that critical fundamental element: the right people on the bus

and in the right seats (Collins, 2001).

Best Companies to Work for had Higher Employee and Customer

Satisfaction and Market Value

FortunesBest Companies to Work For earned double the market returnover a seven year period; employees satisfaction was correlated with

shareholder returns. (Edmans, 2008) Companies on Working Mothers'

100 Best Companies for Working Mothers list, which had flexible

schedules, telecommuting, etc., had customer satisfaction ratings 1-7

points higher than others, which translated into a 3-11% increase in market

value, or $22,000 per employee (Simon, 2002). The study also found that

when unemployment rates increased, market value also rose. A one

percentage point increase in the unemployment rate results in a 1.2-2.1%

increase in market value or $2,400-4,200 per employee. The research

allows one to compare whether fear or support has a stronger impact onperformance and found support 3-9 times more powerful.


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TelecommutingIncreases ProfitabilityAn economic analysis found when the number of employees working from

home increases by one percentage point, the firm's profit rate increases by

an additional six-tenths of one percent. For the average firm in the sample,

profits rose $84 million as a result.The researchers explanation is theefficiency wage theory, that above-market compensation (here including

the opportunity to work at home) reduces turnover, absenteeism and

tardiness and increases productivity and profitability (Meyer, Mukerjee, &

Sestero, 2001).

Flexible Culture Increases Financial PerformanceFirst Tennessee National Corporationhas had an intensely employee-

centered culture for a decade, with the principle of flexibility at its core. In

2001, FTNC was the most profitable banking company in the U.S. for the

fourth consecutive year, with an 18% five-year-average return on capital,

according to Forbes. It ranked fourth among the top 50 bank holding

companies, with an annual revenue-per-share growth rate of 12.5% over

the past seven-year period (See case study on FTNC in Leveraging the

New Human Capital, Burud & Tumolo, 2004) .

Flexible Human Capital Culture Leads to Financial PerformanceSAS, a private software firm whose work environment epitomizes flexible

human capital values, had double-digit growth for the first 26 years of its

history, until 2002. In 2002, during the economic downturn in which other

companies sustained losses, SAS still had a 4.4 % increase in revenue.

(See case study on SAS in Leveraging the New Human Capital, Burud &

Tumolo, 2004)

Employee Involvement Leads to Higher ROS, ROA, ROI, & ROEA study of Fortune 1,000 companies found organizations with high use of

employee involvement (EI) programs high performance knowledge

development, information-sharing, organization- and team-level pay for

performance, and empowerment practices performed significantly better

than organizations with low employee involvement. High EI companies had

a 25% higher ROS, a 34% higher ROA, 26% higher ROI and a 40% higher


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ROE in 1996. In 1999, ROS was 66% higher, ROA was 20% higher, ROIwas 20% higher, and ROE was 14% higher. The market-to-book ratio in

1999 for high EI use companies was 1.8 versus .7 for low performing

companies (Lawler, Mohrman, & Benson, 2001)

Increased Shareholder Value

Shareholder revenues increase in companies that employ flexible human capital practices

according to evidence obtained in two ongoing research efforts by Watson Wyatt: the

Strategic Rewardsand WorkUSA surveys.

Retention (increased by access to flexibility) Increases Shareholder Value The latest Strategic Rewards survey, conducted in 2000/2001, obtained

responses from 3 million full and part-time employees of 410 U.S. and

Canadian companies - representing all major industries. Comparing

responses with firm performance revealed that firms with successful

retention strategies, and lower turnover as a result, had, on average, 5

year shareholder returns of 26% compared to 9% returns for companies

with unchanged turnover and 7% returns for those with increasing

turnover (Watson Wyatt, 2000).

In McKinseys research on talent management, there was clear

evidence of the economic benefits of retaining key employees; 88% of

HR executives in top-quintile companies (top 20%), in terms of

shareholder value, say they rarely lose employees to their competitors,

compared with 73% of mid-quintile companies (middle 20%) (Chambers

et al., 1998).


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Human Capital Practices Increase Employee Commitment which IncreasesShareholder Value

The WorkUSA 2000survey, conducted in 1999, surveyed 7,500 workers

regarding their attitudes about the workplace and their employers.

Employee commitment (Pfau & Kay, 2002) depended on:

Leadership effectiveness and supervision

Work environment

Adequacy of technology and resources

Compensation and benefits

Teamwork and work process effectiveness

Communications and decision-making

Job content and satisfaction

Work-life balance and flexibility

Diversity

Performance management

The study found that engaged and committed employees perform at higherlevels. The effect has quite a payoff; companies with high employee

commitment return 112% to shareholders over 3 years, compared to 90%

for average commitment and 76% for low commitment companies (Watson

Wyatt, 1999b).

Work-life Support Increases Shareholder Return

An analysis of Fortune 500 firms found decisions to provide work-life

support (which typically includes flexibility) increased shareholder returns.

The study found shareholder returns increased .36% on the day such a

decision was announced and .39% over the three days around the

announcement [Arthur, 2003 #695].


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Flexible Schedules and Parental Leave Lead to Higher Organizational andMarket Performance and Higher Profit-sales Growth

A study of HR/personnel directors at 527 U.S. firms found that firms with

more work/family benefits, such as flexible scheduling and parental leave,

had statistically significant higher organizational and market performance

(as reported by the firms) and higher profit-sales growth (Perry-Smith &

Blum, 2000).

In conclusion, organizations that demonstrate that they value and invest in their human

capital by creating a flexible work culture are able to grow revenues and profits and

generate substantially more value to shareholders.

Learn how FlexPaths can help your organization use flexibility to:

Make the most of existing talent

Solve for organizational challenges

Move the organization above the pack

Contact: Karol Rose

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 506.696.3709

Research on the Impact of Flex

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