The Custom-Fit Workplace: Choose When, Where, and How to Work and Boost Your Bottom Line

The Custom-Fit Workplace: Choose When, Where, and How to Work and Boost Your Bottom Line

Released August 2010
Publisher(s): Jossey-Bass
ISBN: 9780470633533

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Book description

Ideas for transforming the workplace to fit today's workforce

In this book, Blades and Fondas offer business professionals an indispensable handbook for transforming the way we work and breaking free from the old, inflexible, 40-hour workweek. The authors show creative ways for individuals to fit work requirements with life obligations, and persuade managers to adopt these custom-fit work strategies to improve their bottom line. Readers will finish the book convinced of the place of custom-fit work arrangements in today's workplace—and of how honoring employees' lives outside of work is an effective and innovative strategy for both managers and organizations. Featuring compelling stories of companies like Jet Blue, Ernst & Young, and Best Buy, the book profiles strategies that are gaining traction in workplaces across the country:

  • New twists on traditional flexible hours and part-time work strategies

  • Virtual workplaces

  • Results-Only Work Environments (ROWEs)

  • "Babies at Work" programs

  • "On ramp and off ramp" opportunities

Practical and engaging, The Custom-Fit Workplace provides individuals and employers the tools they need to be successful and happy both at work and in life.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. 1. WORK IS NOT WORKING: The Case for The Custom-Fit Workplace
    1. 1.1. Not Your Grandparents' Workplace
    2. 1.2. Plugging In to the Whole Wide World
    3. 1.3. When the Cup Overflows
    4. 1.4. Introducing Custom Fit
    5. 1.5. Making Work Really Work Again
    6. 1.6. Erin's Story
    7. 1.7. The Custom-Fit Workplace
  3. 2. THE CUSTOM-FIT WORKPLACE: Business Benefits
    1. 2.1. Attract and Recruit Talented Workers
    2. 2.2. Retain Committed Workers
    3. 2.3. Engage, Motivate, and Unleash Worker Performance
    4. 2.4. Reduce Absenteeism and Overhead Costs
    5. 2.5. Other Benefits: Healthier Employees, Families, and Communities
    6. 2.6. Case Closed
  4. 3. FLEXIBILITY AT WORK: The Basics of Custom Fit
    1. 3.1. Alternative Scheduling
      1. 3.1.1. Flexible Hours
      2. 3.1.2. Compressed Workweeks
    2. 3.2. Reduced Workload
      1. 3.2.1. Part-Time, for Real
      2. 3.2.2. Job Shares
    3. 3.3. Virtual Work
    4. 3.4. Flexibility for Hourly Workers
    5. 3.5. From Policy to Reality
    6. 3.6. Success Stories
  5. 4. VIRTUALLY PERFECT: The Promises of Remote Work
    1. 4.1. The Virtual Work Continuum
      1. 4.1.1. The Virtual Individual
      2. 4.1.2. The Virtual Team
      3. 4.1.3. The Virtual Organization
    2. 4.2. The Benefits of Virtual Work
      1. 4.2.1. How Employers Benefit
      2. 4.2.2. How Workers Benefit
    3. 4.3. Stay Connected in Person Too
    4. 4.4. Guidelines for Success
      1. 4.4.1. Realistic but Open-Minded
      2. 4.4.2. Performance-Based Management
      3. 4.4.3. New Leadership Style
      4. 4.4.4. Fairness and Consistency
      5. 4.4.5. Clear Work-Life Boundaries
    5. 4.5. The Wave of the Future
  6. 5. OFF-RAMPS AND ON-RAMPS: Job and Career Lane Changes
    1. 5.1. Involuntary Exits Hurt Businesses
    2. 5.2. How Can Organizations Reduce Exits and Smooth Reentries?
      1. 5.2.1. Staying Connected
      2. 5.2.2. Reeling the Talent Back In
      3. 5.2.3. Intelligent Redesign—Adjusting the Career Track
    3. 5.3. How Workers Can Smooth Their On-Ramps
    4. 5.4. Merging a Workforce of Lane Changers
  7. 6. CONTRACT WORK AND ON-DEMAND TALENT: A Fit for Some
    1. 6.1. Matchmakers and SWATS: Making Contracting Connections
    2. 6.2. Who's On Tap?
      1. 6.2.1. Worker Seeking Balance
      2. 6.2.2. (Almost) Retiree Seeking Challenge and Income
      3. 6.2.3. Worker Seeking Test-Drive
    3. 6.3. The Benefit for Businesses
    4. 6.4. Deciding Whether to Be a Contractor: Benefits and Trade-Offs
  8. 7. WHEN BABIES GO TO WORK: A Simple Solution to a Common Need
    1. 7.1. Parent Versus Worker
    2. 7.2. Good Parent = Good Worker
    3. 7.3. Babies and Coworkers: Issues to Address
    4. 7.4. How to Make Babies-at-Work Work for You
      1. 7.4.1. Determine Rules of Engagement
      2. 7.4.2. Set Standards of Eligibility
      3. 7.4.3. Remember That Coworkers Are Not Babysitters
      4. 7.4.4. Provide Privacy
      5. 7.4.5. Use Common Sense
      6. 7.4.6. Address Liability Concerns—Don't Agonize Over Them
    5. 7.5. Whole Worker, Whole Person
  9. 8. A MORE PERFECT UNION: The New Face of Labor and Custom Fits
    1. 8.1. The Changing Face of Labor
    2. 8.2. A Complicated Conversation
    3. 8.3. How Unions Can Work for Custom Fits
    4. 8.4. Talking the Talk: Advice for Union Reps, Managers, and Union Members
      1. 8.4.1. Tips for Union Negotiators
      2. 8.4.2. Tips for Managers
      3. 8.4.3. Tips for Union Members
    5. 8.5. The Win-Win
  10. 9. FROM HIGH STRESS TO HIGH COMMITMENT: Workplaces Rooted in Respect
    1. 9.1. High-Performance Workplaces: Where People Are People
      1. 9.1.1. Southeastern Mills: Values, Vision, and Volition
      2. 9.1.2. Beaulieu: Weathering Hard Times Together
    2. 9.2. Results-Only Work Environments: Getting It Done
      1. 9.2.1. Guidelines for Making ROWE Stick
      2. 9.2.2. Girl Scouts Go ROWE
      3. 9.2.3. The New Management Model
  11. 10. THE CUSTOM-FIT FUTURE: Moving Forward
    1. 10.1. A Call to Action
      1. 10.1.1. Managers: Take the Lead
      2. 10.1.2. Executives: Champion New Ways to Work
      3. 10.1.3. Human Resources Professionals: Spur the Dialogue
      4. 10.1.4. Public Policy Makers: Speed the Change
    2. 10.2. Above and Beyond the Bottom Line
  12. Notes
  13. Acknowledgments
  14. About the Authors

Product information

  • Title: The Custom-Fit Workplace: Choose When, Where, and How to Work and Boost Your Bottom Line
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: August 2010
  • Publisher(s): Jossey-Bass
  • ISBN: 9780470633533