When Work Works Launch Press Release

Contact: Joan Grangenois-Thomas or Sharon Lewis, 914-833-7093

April 21, 2004

Creating an Effective, Flexible Workplace Enters National Debate as U.S. Senator, Work-Life Expert and IBM Exec Discuss New Research

In an audio news conference yesterday, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander; Ellen Galinsky, President, Families and Work Institute (FWI); and Ted Childs, VP, Global Workforce Diversity, IBM, discussed new research from FWI showing U.S. businesses and employees increasingly embracing strategic management tools such as flexibility and job autonomy.

"Now we have an opportunity to benefit from this new, important research from Families and Work Institute. The workforce has changed, but the workplace and the federal government have been slow to respond," said Senator Alexander. "We need to be more creative and think of ways to offer flexible work arrangements. That would be good for business-and especially good for parents and children."

"Today's workplace is not your father's workplace, and there has been a sea change in the way employers are responding," said Ellen Galinsky, President of Families and Work Institute. "Our research indicates that a number of these responses can be linked to workplaces that are more effective at engaging and retaining employees and promoting their health and well being. What is surprising is that flexibility is one of those responses."

Reports from When Work Works, Families and Work Institute's nationally representative studies of the U.S. Workforce funded by IBM, show that:

• The overall impact of being in an effective, flexible workplace is dramatic. For example, 3% of people in effective workplaces are not fully engaged in and committed to their work, vs. 82% who are highly engaged and committed.
• Of the 43% of U.S. employees who have access to flextime, the majority of men (68%) and the majority of non-parents (70%) use flextime when they have it, and fully 73% of the wage and salaried workforce use the flextime they are allowed to manage work, personal, and family demands.
• Among dual-earner couples with children under 6 years old, 41% rely entirely or mostly on parental care for their children while they are working, and 64% of these parents have specifically arranged their schedules to make this possible.

"We have to dismantle the face-time culture," said Ted Childs, Vice President of Global Diversity, IBM. "Watching people work is boring; it is like watching paint dry. This thing called flexibility is not an optional philosophy. It is a key component of contemporary workforce strategy-linked to our ability to attract and retain talent, and drive productivity."

This Thursday, April 22 at 10:00 a.m., Senator Alexander and ranking member Senator Christopher Dodd will hold a hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families on "Parents Raising Children: the Workplace." Lead-off witness Ellen Galinsky will discuss findings from Families and Work Institute's new research on flexibility from its "When Work Works" initiative, sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and research partner IBM. This is one of a series of hearings Senator Alexander is holding on the job of being a parent in America today.

For more information about the When Work Works initiative, including workplace flexibility business forums in 8 U.S. cities starting in May, go to www.whenworkworks.org.