Flex Successes

“The strategically flexible workplace is not a perk for employees. It is a business strategy tool which enhances employees’ engagement and productivity, thereby serving employers as well as employees.”
–Fortune Magazine 2004

Kristi Ocenasek, a pediatric dental assistant, says job sharing has helped her to create a better work/life balance.

Job Share Helps Balance Work and Family

Kristi Ocenasek and Cyrene Stowers-Roebuck, Dental Assistants in the department of Pediatric Dentistry at the School of Dentistry partnered in a 50/50 job share arrangement for seven years, each week taking turns working two days on/three days off. When Cyrene retired after a 28-year career at the U, Kristi (who commutes 40 miles each way to her job at the Dental School and is the mother of a young son) continued to “flex” in the job prior to taking on a full-time supervisory position.

Kristi’s experience with job sharing began in 1997. Shortly after the birth of her son, she spoke with another employee in her department who had also just had a baby. They both agreed that while they loved their jobs, as new mothers, they didn’t feel they could continue to work full-time. So they approached their department director and proposed a job share.

Says Kristi: “Our Director was very supportive of the idea and was the one who proposed the alternating 2-day/3-day weekly schedule, which has worked extremely well for the department for over 10 years. When my first job share partner left to have another child, the department was very willing to continue the job share and Cyrene became my job share partner.”

 She adds: “The best part of job sharing was that it allowed me to have more time to spend with my family and be involved with my child’s school as well as my career.  I love working with the students and patients in Pediatric Dentistry, so job sharing helped me create a great balance!”

Asked how she thinks the institution benefits from a job share arrangement, Kristi answers: “Employees who are entrusted with flexibility in how they define their work schedule are generally happier and eager to come to work. The employer benefits by retaining employees who are productive, committed and focused on their job. The institution benefits because job sharing can decrease 'burnout' felt by many full time employees, particularly those trying to balance work and family.”

After many 20+ years of working full-time at the U prior to entering into the job share with Kristi, Cyrene also affirms the value of the job share arrangement for both employer and employee. “Job shares offer a great way to retain valued staff while allowing staff members the flexibility needed to balance the sometimes conflicting demands of work and family,” she explains, adding that she wishes that more organizations would adopt the practice. She notes that in the seven years in which she and Kristi shared the responsibilities of a full-time position, their combined absenteeism was significantly lower than among their full-time cohorts.

Asked whether job sharing affected her attitude toward the U as an employer, Kristi says: “I am extremely grateful that the University allowed me to job share. As a result, I have more appreciation for my employer.”

Seasonal Leave Allows More Time with Family in Summer

Jane Johnson, Department Manager in the LSA English Department has worked at the U for 25 years. Her earliest experiences with flexible scheduling began in 1990, following the birth of her first child, when she elected to take a year-long leave, after which she returned to work part time. Following the birth of her second child, she “really flexed,” coming back to work half time in a schedule compressed into two 10-hour days worked from 1-11 pm. Working 1-11 pm allowed her to handle the people contact parts of the job during regular 1-5 pm working hours, after which she says she was able to work intensively and with few interruptions on the planning and administration of a major academic initiative. It also left her mornings free for time with her children.

With many years of experience—and satisfaction—working a  flexible schedule, English department manager Jane Johnson says staff members should be more vocal in asking for flexible schedules.

“My department was very pleased with what I was able to accomplish in my two days a week,” says Jane. “I would lock myself in at night and I made a point of getting to be friends with the janitor, who knew I was there all alone and looked out for me.”

As her children got older, Jane says she made the decision to be in the office more and took on a variety of assignments in the LSA Dean’s Office with appointments fluctuating between 50% and 100% time. In summers, however, she would revert to a 2-day, 1-11 p.m. schedule in order to spend as much time as possible with her family. Then, starting eight two years ago, she began taking off the entire summer, a flexible scheduling option called “Seasonal Leave.”

“My goal was always to have the entire summer off with benefits, explains Jane, “but that option was only possible with an appointment of 75% or more during the school year.”

When a challenging full-time opportunity presented itself in the English Department, Jane says she initially felt very mixed about going after it. She wanted the job but wasn’t sure she wanted the demands of the full-time schedule, especially if it meant giving up her summers with her family. So she did a bold thing: knowing she was a strong candidate for the position, she made it clear up front that if the department really wanted her they would need to accommodate her desire to have summers off, beginning in 2007.

“People should be more assertive in asking for flexible schedules,” Jane advises. “Ideas have to come from the staff member. Think creatively about what you really want and bring a couple of options to the table.”

Asked how she thinks the University benefits from flexible work arrangements, Jane is quick to answer: “Loyal employees. Flexibility is worth gold to people, so employees who are entrusted with it are among the most productive, loyal and hard working.”

Another way in which the University benefits from a flexible scheduling arrangement, says Jane, is that when allowances are made for people who place a high premium on caring for family “you attract people with strong values, and these types of people tend to be good workers.”

Three years and three babies later, Marie Skrobola, webmaster for Human Resource Communications, says that her flexible work schedule makes her feel highly valued as a employee. She is shown here with sons R.J. and Peter.

Telecommuting With a Fast-Growing Family

Marie Skrobola, Webmaster/Senior Web Designer for UHR, has worked in various units of human resources for ten years, during which time she has acquired considerable expertise in various human resource functions and pioneered the application of the web technology to more efficiently manage the broad spectrum of UM human resource communications. Of her 10 years as a U staff member, the past three have been spent working largely from home. Her present position involves building and maintaining websites, troubleshooting technical problems and advising on web-based projects and applications. She does this in a flexible part-time work arrangement currently based on a 16 hour work week in which she works three four-hour days at home and one four-hour day in the office.

Prior to the birth of her first child in 2004, Marie says that she and her supervisor began to discuss the possibility of a more flexible work arrangement. “I had already done some work from home during my pregnancy,” she explains, “During this time, I became convinced that I could continue to be productive in a more permanent telecommuting arrangement after the birth of the baby.”

“My boss agreed that it could work and made the necessary arrangements with HR leadership.”

Three years and three babies later, Marie reports that her supervisor is still very supportive of the arrangement. “After the birth of my first child, I reduced my appointment from full time to 60%. When my second child was born, just over a year after my first, I reduced my appointment again, to 40%, which is what it is now. My supervisor and I revisit the arrangement a couple of times a year and discuss how each of us thinks things are working. He continues to be very enthusiastic.”

“Telecommuting is tremendously attractive for me, says Marie, because it allows me to continue working at a job that I love, while at the same time allowing me to be home to raise and educate my children (ages 3, 2 and 7 months).”

“Telecommuting also has a huge impact on my morale. I know my situation is unique and that a lot of parents never have the opportunity to work in such an arrangement. Being entrusted with a flexible work arrangement makes me feel highly valued as an employee and makes me proud to share with family and friends how supportive and flexible the University has been in allowing me to continue in this capacity.”

“The institution also benefits from the arrangement,” she adds, “because I am able to continue contributing to the work of my unit and offering the knowledge and expertise I’ve gained in my 10 years of working at the U.”

Phased Retirement: A Gradual Transition into Life Beyond the U

An admitted “workaholic” accustomed to putting in 50-60 hour work weeks throughout her long and varied career at the U, Elizabeth Karen Clark, Senior Director for Organizational Effectiveness and Director of Human Resource Development (HRD), is on the cusp of something new and altogether different—free time. Elizabeth recently began a new chapter in her professional and personal life: Phased Retirement. She chose to phase into retirement as a way of gradually getting acclimated and “downshifting” in discreet stages over a three-year period from a career spent largely in “overdrive.”

Elizabeth Karen Clark—taking a three-year path toward retirement.

Elizabeth’s phased retirement gives her the summers off and a slightly reduced appointment for the rest of the year with a flexed 4-day schedule. In summer of 2008 she will take the plunge and retire. Full time. Asked why she chose to take a phased approach to retirement, Elizabeth explains: “It was hard for me to imagine going from 80 miles per hour to zero. Phased retirement was like applying the brakes gradually and seeing the exit ahead.”

In the year preceding the start of the phased retirement, during which time she announced her intent and negotiated the terms of the retirement arrangement with senior HR leadership, she says “I made a conscious effort to have a better work/life balance—really focusing on highest-level priorities at work, limiting myself to a 40-hour work week, doing some volunteering, spending more time with family, and taking extra vacation time.”

Elizabeth looks at her three-year retirement plan as “a chance to explore some things I haven’t done before. I may be taking the off-ramp from my career, but on-ramp to a new journey.”

Having summers off will give Elizabeth a schedule similar to what her husband’s has been throughout his long career as a media specialist in a public school district, so she’s looking forward to their summer schedules being in sync for the first time in their married lives. And, after years of being what she describes as “very left-brained,” she’s also looking forward to expressing her creativity by taking time for writing, art and photography.

Asked how the organization as well as the individual benefit from a phased retirement arrangement, Elizabeth explains that it’s a win/win for both. While allowing her to gradually transition into retirement (for some an abrupt and difficult change), it also helps the U with succession planning. This allows the institution to continue to benefit from her expertise while at the same time anticipating—and planning for—her eventual departure. Phil Smith, Senior Director for HR Strategy and Planning, filled in for her during the summer of 2006 and really appreciated the opportunity to get to know a different part of the organization. He noted that this experience was so beneficial that he recommends more such opportunities.