Once you experience the benefits of balancing your family and
business lives, chances are, you'll want your employees to
enjoy the same flexibility. On the plus side, the less formal
environment of a small company is the ideal setting for a flexible
employee policy. On the other hand, small businesses are more
likely than large companies to depend on a core of
"indispensable" employees. How do you balance your
company's needs with those of your employees? Options include
flex-time schedules, job-sharing and compressed work weeks. The key
to making all these strategies work is a willingness to understand
the needs of your staff.
Schaffer's company has often worked with employees to
accommodate individual needs. For example, the company's
marketing manager works a 32-hour week, with Fridays off to spend
with her children.
"There's no question that there are short-term pains
for the organization," says Schaffer. "On the other hand,
the thing we [valued] most is loyalty, particularly in this tight
labor market. When we started out, we didn't think too much
about these issues. As we grew, it became clear that the way the
company would be successful was to align itself and its actions
with its employees. It's a two-way street: The company needs to
be loyal to the employees, and the employees need to be loyal to
the company."
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In establishing your company's personnel policies, whether
they're set out in a formal employee manual or created on a
case-by-case basis, it's important not to be arbitrary in
accommodating your employees. Doing so will lead to poor morale
over perceived unfairness; worse, it could open your company to
lawsuits.
Don't treat business and family as two separate worlds, for
yourself or your employees. Instead, recognize that your
commitments to these two spheres should enrich one another. After
all, the stakes are high in both, and effective strategies that
balance home and work can give you the best of both worlds.
Contact Sources
Construction Cost Systems Inc., (800) 443-8607,
Iparr@ccsos.com
MapInfo Corp., (800) 700-6277, http://www.otmapping.com
Michigan Retailers Association, (800) 366-3699, Imeyer@retailers.com
Professional Technical Development Inc., (517) 333-9363,
ptd-lci@ptd-lci.com
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