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Workplace Flexibility: Ensuring Success for the 21st Century
As America Prepares to Win the Future,
Studies Show Flexibility is Key to Business Success
 As America struggles to recover from the Great Recession, policymakers are setting their sights on a strategy for future growth based on investing in research, education and innovation to help ensure our country's continued global economic competitiveness. Against this background, outlined by President Obama in his State of the Union Address, we would be wise to also recognize the benefits that progressive management practices--like workplace flexibility--hold for employers to enhance business performance and retain and motivate key talent.
This was a key message emphasized during the White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility last March, and supported by research published by the Council of Economic Advisors, and groups like Corporate Voices for Working Families and the Families and Work Institute (FWI). In fact, according to a recent report on the "Impact of the Recession on Employers," published by FWI, 77 percent of employers naturally responded to the Great Recession by finding ways to cut or control costs. It is telling to note, however, that most either maintained the workplace flexibility they offered (81 percent) or increased it (13 percent) during the recession.
Clearly, workplace flexibility is a business imperative-- a management strategy employers can use to modernize their workplaces to meet the needs of the 21st century workforce.
That is why Corporate Voices launched its national workplace flexibility campaign after the White House Flexibility Forum to create a broader awareness of the positive business and employee benefits of flexibility. This campaign seeks to create the critical momentum needed to expand flexibility within the business community.
A growing number of employers have joined this campaign to recognize the value of workplace flexibility for the success of businesses and working families. Campaign "Business Champions" include: Accenture, Allstate Insurance Company, AOL, Baxter International, Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Childrens' Creative Learning Centers, Cisco Systems, CVS Caremark, Deloitte LLP, Ernst & Young, George Mason University, Knowledge Universe, KPMG, LifeCare, Marriott International, McGladreySM, Merck & Co. Inc., Sodexo and Workplace Options, among others. These businesses have expressed their support for flexibility by signing Corporate Voices' Statement of Support for Expanding Workplace Flexibility.
Flexibility as a National Priority Highlighted in "Focus on Workplace Flexibility" Blog Series
To maintain the forward momentum for the campaign, Corporate Voices has launched a "Focus on Workplace Flexibility" blog series to provide commentary and analysis on the key demographic and economic trends transforming work and family. This series will illustrate how workplace flexibility can be a catalyst for success for businesses and working families in the 21st century, and what practical tools and resources exist to help employers successfully implement flexibility practices.
To learn more about this national campaign and about how you can join, please visit Corporate Voices' website or contact ysiu@corporatevoices.org.
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Recent New York Times Article Highlights Year Up and the Need for 'Training Youths in the Ways of the Workplace'
 While 2010 saw American corporations begin to climb out of the depths of the recession, the same could not be said for the American labor force. A recent New York Times article by David Bornstein highlighted the work of Corporate Voices policy partner Year Up and its fresh approach to assist workers aged 16-24 who were hit particularly hard by the recession - featuring an unemployment rate of almost 20 percent.
Bornstein mentions that "while today's best jobs require postsecondary schooling, 30 percent of U.S. public school students fail to graduate from high school." Our policymakers understand that this is unacceptable and that the U.S. education system needs fixing. However, they tend to spend very little attention on the equally troubling problem of youth unemployment. "In fact, government investments in workforce development for youth have declined precipitously - from about $1.6 billion in 1994 to about $900 million in 2010."
Year Up is a one-year, intensive training program that provides urban young adults, ages 18-24, with a combination of hands-on skill development, college credits, and corporate internships. It offers a six-month training program followed by a six-month internship in a large corporation such as Bank of America, Citi, JP Morgan Chase or AOL, all partner companies of Corporate Voices. Since its founding in Boston in 2000 with a class of 22 students, Year Up has expanded to eight cities and served 4,000 young adults. About 70 percent of its students complete the program and the organization reports that, within four months, 84 percent of graduates are either enrolled full time in college or have secured a job. The average starting wage is $15 per hour - roughly $30,000 per year.
Bornstein highlights that there are several things that set Year Up apart from the run-of-the-mill job training programs, from working with employers in the design of its programs to partnering with community colleges. But what fully explains Year Up's success is the way in which it takes great care to prepare students to succeed in a professional culture. By teaching students important skills such as communicating in a team, writing a professional sounding email, and even making small talk at a holiday party, Year Up is preparing its students to compete in a labor force featuring "shiny academic credentials and professional-class" upbringings.
Corporate Voices is proud to partner with Year Up to develop effective new "pathways of opportunity" for out-of-school youth and young adults aged 16 to 24. Through Corporate Voices "New Options" initiative, funded by the Kellogg Foundation, we plan to develop a cadre of senior business leaders who can serve as champions among their peers and as messengers to policymakers. The ultimate goal of this partnership is to help employers view disconnected youth as a valuable economic asset and source of labor worth investing in-and not a societal liability.
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Corporate Voices Joins Opportunity Nation
 Corporate Voices is pleased to announce that it has recently joined the OpportunityNation coalition. OpportunityNation is currently building a national coalition of not-for-profit organizations, business leaders, social entrepreneurs, community and faith-based organizations in an effort to build support for a non-partisan agenda for economic opportunity and mobility.
By joining the coalition, Corporate Voices will bring the employer voice into this important discussion as well as highlight the innovative work our member companies are doing to better prepare individuals for the ever changing workforce. We expect to work with OpportunityNation to elevate the role employers play in creating opportunities for the workforce-- including supporting drop-out prevention efforts, providing alternative pathways for youth, supporting postsecondary education completion, providing support and flexibility to hourly workers and supporting mature workers in obtaining the skills they need to maintain their place in the workforce.
We are also excited to announce some terrific news: OpportunityNation has just been named the cause partner for the Roots Jam Session! The Roots Jam Session is an annual celebration that takes place the night before the Grammy Awards. The festivities feature many A-list performers and, of course, the Grammy winning band and one of Rolling Stone Magazines' 20 Greatest Live Acts in the World: The Roots!
As we embark on this exciting partnership with OpportunityNation, we invite you to work with us in this important effort to develop an opportunity agenda.
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Corporate Voices' Research Featured In Recent Law Report
 We are proud to highlight that recent research conducted by Corporate Voices and WFD Consulting is extensively cited in a new report from The Center for WorkLife Law. Improving Work-Life Fit In Hourly Jobs: An Underutilized Cost-Cutting Strategy In A Globalized World, by Joan C. Williams and Penelope Huang draws heavily from the 2009 report, Innovative Workplace Flexibility Options for Hourly Workers, among others.
The authors use this valuable research to provide employers with the tools needed to gain a competitive edge by improving schedule effectiveness. While some employers may consider it infeasible to enhance work-life fit by offering additional benefits, Williams and Huang explain how they can improve their bottom lines by enhancing schedule effectiveness.
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Reminder: Stephen M. Wing to Give Luncheon Keynote at 18th Annual Workforce Development Institute
 Corporate Voices' President Stephen M. Wing will give the January 28 luncheon keynote at the American Association of Community Colleges' Workforce Development Institute 2011.
The keynote will focus on Corporate Voices' recent report, "From an 'Ill-Prepared' to a Well-Prepared Workforce: The Shared Imperatives for Employers and Community Colleges to Collaborate," which explores innovative collaborations between employers and community colleges. In highlighting the report's findings, Wing will show that these players can and do have a positive role in increasing workforce readiness skills and college completion rates.
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