The Foreign Service Journal, May 2011

M A Y 2 0 1 1 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 61 public sector, in large part due to the impressive gains in produc- tivity and retention they bring about, as well as the real estate and capital cost savings realized by private-sector firms that have implemented them. Concerned with both increas- ing America’s economic compet- itiveness and easing the burden on working families, the Obama administration convened the first “White House Forum on Work- place Flexibility” in March 2010. As President Barack Obama stated at the time, “Workplace flexibility isn’t just a women’s issue. It’s an issue that affects the well-being of our families and the success of our businesses. It affects the strength of our economy — whether we’ll create the workplaces and jobs of the future that we need to com- pete in today’s global economy.” The U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Gov- ernment Management followed with a May 2010 hearing on “Work-Life Programs: Attracting, Retaining and Em- powering the Federal Work Force.” The Office of Per- sonnel Management is now tasked with moving the federal government in this new direction, including through a bold attempt to expand the use of telecommuting and over- come the numerous institutional and managerial barriers that have prevented the implementation of a flexible work culture in most government agencies. The State Department has much to gain by embracing this trend, absorbing the lessons learned in the private sec- tor, and applying the resulting best practices to advance State’s mission. Retain, Don’t Retrain: The Business Case for Workplace Flexibility The FWA trend was started by companies in fields like accounting, which found their best-trained and most valu- able talent depleted because women, after assessing the increasing demands of the workplace, decided not to re- turn after the birth of a child. Rather than hire and re- train new employees at a greater cost, firms have found it makes more business sense to retain top-performing em- ployees by offering them greater flexibility. Numerous or- ganizations in the private, public and nonprofit sectors now offer job-protected leave for employees experiencing major life events such as the birth or adoption of a child. Employ- ees often return to work on a part- time or more flexible schedule, with remote work used during these periods of transition. Organizations offering such family-friendly and employee- friendly policies have quickly be- come sought-after employers, featured on listings such as Work- ing Mother magazine’s “Top 100 Companies forWorkingWomen.” With men increasingly bearing a larger share of family re- sponsibilities, and reporting work-life conflicts to degrees that often exceed those reported by women, use of this rank- ing is essential for those seeking employment that won’t re- quire them to leave their lives at the door. The Fortune listing of “100 Best Companies to Work For” includes work-life balance and telecommuting as “best benefits,” and indicates that 82 of the top 100 com- panies allow employees to telecommute at least 20 per- cent of the time. In a 2010 survey by the human resources consulting firm Towers Watson, employees cited a flexible schedule as one of the top seven reasons for joining a firm. This finding was reinforced by a 2008 Families and Work Institute survey revealing that 87 percent of respondents would consider flexibility extremely or very important if they were looking for a new job. Rather than just being a “must have” for working par- ents no longer able to burn the candle at both ends, flexi- bility has become a priority benefit for workers of diverse ages and backgrounds. According to the Partnership for Public Service, 68 percent of 2008 college graduates re- ported that a healthy work-life balance was important to them. Offering both work flexibility and “career flexibility” to accommodate the nonlinear career paths needed by women with children is seen as critical to ensuring women’s advancement in most organizations, and is some- thing more and more men are demanding, as well. Older workers find flexibility helps them remain in the work force longer, and baby boomers increasingly need it to bet- ter cope with elder care responsibilities. FWAs also make work more accessible to returning veterans and employees with disabilities. Overall, when it comes to retention, Towers Watson found that 69 percent of workers who plan to stay with F O C U S Rather than hire and retrain at a greater cost, firms have found it makes more business sense to retain top-performing employees by offering them greater flexibility.