Is Your Flex Policy Equal Opportunity?

We talk frequently about the myriad benefits of having a flexible work policy. It can be a win-win situation when individuals gain work-life control, clients maintain team consistency, and organizations reduce attrition and thereby retain top talent and reduce recruitment and training costs. Recruiters have traditionally tried to entice prospective employees with promises of flex schedules and family-life balance. It’s always been an assumption that women want flexible work schedules so they can maintain their career while also having and raising children.

 

What About Men?

However, in 2017, millennials are becoming new parents and more men are expecting flexible work schedules and paternity leave to have more work-life control and to spend more time with their children. In fact, according to the Families and Work Institute, millennial fathers are now spending twice as many hours per week with their children as their fathers spent with them in the late 70s and early 80s. Research from the Minority Corporate Counsel Association shows that even those millennials who are not parents cite flexibility as a critical factor in workplace satisfaction.

 

It’s important to remember that while it is the millennials who have made flexible schedules more of a demand, all generations of men want flexible work schedules like reduced hours and telecommuting. A study by Ernst & Young showed that, in fact, “Gen Xers” are the generation of men most likely to walk away from a job where flexibility is not available. The Harvard Business Review has also reported that 87% of Baby Boomer men believe work flexibility is important.

 

It’s increasingly clear that firms and corporations with strong, non-stigmatized, non-gender-specific, flexible work policies will be the most successful at recruiting top talent – both men and women.  Recently Alliance member, Winston & Strawn, erased all reference to gender in its parental leave policy, allowing both men and women to take 20 weeks of leave after having or adopting a baby. (Bravo Winston!)

 

Moving forward, firms and corporations aiming to recruit top talent will need to use their flexible work policies as a recruitment tool for both men and women. This will not only reduce gender bias related to flex schedules but will also send the message that the organization cares about and invests equally in its employees, regardless of gender.

 

Contact us  for more information about how flexible work policies can help your organization attract and retain top talent.

 

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