NBR Transcripts- "Working for Balance"- September 1, 2008
Monday, September 01, 2008The Motley Approach
SUSIE GHARIB: It's difficult to juggle all of the aspects of your life and give enough attention to each. The stress that results is costing employers plenty, over $300 billion a year. But as Erika Miller reports, some companies are finding unique ways to buck that trend.
ERIKA MILLER, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Maybe it's the people doing yoga in a conference room during the work day, or the workers playing board games in another. Come to the Motley Fool offices in Alexandria, Virginia, and you'll notice immediately the work environment is unusual. The media company, best known for its online financial Web site, encourages staff to take frequent breaks, whether to play ping-pong or video games, shoot hoops, or get a massage. The company also gives workers unlimited paid sick days, as well as unlimited paid vacation days, provided they clear it with their managers. The company deters abuse of those policies by doing performance reviews three times a year. In the firm's Hawaiian-themed meeting area, CEO Tom Gardner explains that all of this goofing off is part of a well-thought-out business strategy to reduce stress, boost productivity, and keep turnover to next to nothing.
TOM GARDNER, CEO, THE MOTLEY FOOL: When you give people the flexibility, you give them an opportunity to really love the place where they work, and when they start loving where they work, they start performing better. It's actually a very economic decision on our part. We've thought through all of the implications of what we're doing in developing our culture. And they have economic underpinnings to them.
MILLER: You probably think it's expensive for Motley Fool to offer employees all these perks, but the company says its benefit costs are leaner than most, just 25 percent of workers' salaries, versus an average of 33 percent for similarly sized companies. The company credits its anti-stress culture with keeping down medical costs.
GARDNER: Last year, our health premiums were down 8 percent, so our insurance costs actually went down last year in an environment where the average company is paying 10 to 15 percent more.
MILLER: Analyst Tim Hanson said the play room and company-sponsored basketball leagues do more than relieve stress, they encourage team work and the exchange of ideas.
TIM HANSON, SENIOR ANALYST, THE MOTLEY FOOL: We run a gym every Thursday night. We play outside on Mondays. And that's great just because it's nice to get outside with people from work in a non-work environment. You know, you make a lot of friends. We've got a real collegial atmosphere around here. And I think that's really an important part of it.
MILLER: And don't be "fooled," online managing editor LouAnn DiCosmo says she and her colleagues work every bit as hard as they play.
LOUANN DICOSMO, ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR: Well, we definitely are a performance-based culture, but we're not a clock-based culture, I would say. And for us it's more about the quality of the work being done.
MILLER: The toll of excessive stress on the body has well-documented, including stomach problems, high blood pressure, and headaches. Columbia University psychiatrist Harold Pincus says the psychological effects can be equally as serious.
DR. HAROLD PINCUS, NYPH/COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: It affects your daily functioning. If you're under tremendous amounts of stress, it affects your sleep, it affects your ability to concentrate, it affects your ability to interact with colleagues and family, it makes you more irritable.
MILLER: The American Institute of Stress estimates workers' stress costs U.S. businesses $300 billion a year, due to factors like medical costs, turnover and absenteeism. To help reduce stress levels, Kathleen Hall of the Stress Institute recommends that workers try to get more exercise and improve their diet. She also suggests taking mental breaks like playing online board games and puzzles.
KATHLEEN HALL, FOUNDER, THE STRESS INSTITUTE: We're seeing that there are simpler, easier ways to de-stress yourself. You can play for five minutes and it actually re-stabilizes the brain. It changes you. It reduces your stress; you get more creative and more productive.
MILLER: A certain amount of stress in life is unavoidable and not necessarily a bad thing. It keeps life from becoming dull. The challenge in today's fast-paced world is to make stress work for you instead of against you. Erika Miller, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Alexandria, Virginia.
Results-Only Work Environment
SUSIE GHARIB: How would you like to work in a place where there are no schedules, no mandatory meetings, and you have the freedom to do whatever you want whenever you want as long as you get your work done? Well, that's the policy at Best Buy (BBY), thanks to the pioneering work of Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, former employees of the consumer electronics firm. They created a workplace culture called "results-only work environment," or "ROWE," and detailed the concept in their book titled "Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It." When I met with them, I began by asking Cali why companies should adopt this revolutionary organization model.
CALI RESSLER, CO-AUTHOR, "WHY WORK SUCKS AND HOW TO FIX IT": The biggest reason that companies should implement a results-only work environment today is for increased productivity. If you're looking to get the most out of your employees, a results-only work environment has been shown to increase productivity in a team an average of 41 percent.
GHARIB: But, Jody, how does work really get done if people are coming in at different times of the day, meetings are optional, and you can take vacation whenever you feel like it? It sounds pretty chaotic.
JODY THOMPSON, CO-AUTHOR, "WHY WORK SUCKS AND HOW TO FIX IT": It does sound chaotic, but it's actually a new order. People are focused on getting the work done, and they're doing it from wherever they need to do it, whether it be in a coffee shop, in the office, wherever. And if you look at Gen.-Y, they're doing work all the time, texting, you know, IMing, they're already collaborating and they don't need to go into the office.
GHARIB: So, Cali, what do you say is the hardest part of making the transition from a traditional workplace environment to something like what you're proposing?
RESSLER: The hardest part about results-only work environment is that it's focused on results on the work, not focused on face time or physical presence. Today we live under this assumption that physical presence equates to productivity...
GHARIB: Right.
RESSLER: . when, in fact, that's not the case at all. So the hardest thing is for managers to understand that having an employee physically present in a cube doesn't mean they're working at all.
GHARIB: Jody, what's the best part?
THOMPSON: The best part is really the liberation people feel for finally being treated like adults in a work environment, being able to make those decisions about how they spend their time and having control over that without being judged, it's liberating.
GHARIB: Cali, it sounds like employees love this idea, but managers are frustrated, would be frustrated by it. What is the feedback you're getting?
RESSLER: You're exactly right. Employees do love this idea. They see it as an opportunity to finally live the lives that they've wanted to live. Managers, on the other hand, are wary. They're anxious about what this environment will bring because they are used to having their employees at their beck and call. They're used to monitoring the hallways and expecting that they can just walk out of their office and have someone there to answer their question right away.
GHARIB: What comes to my mind is that this can't work for every single company. One size does not fit all, maybe good for small businesses, not so good for big companies. What has been your experience?
THOMPSON: Well, actually, Best Buy, which is a Fortune 100 company, has over 3,000 employees working in a results-only work environment. If you work in an office, whether it's small or large or medium, or anywhere in the world, a results-only work environment will work for you.
GHARIB: If a company wants to adopt this, or some employees want to propose it, what's the first step?
RESSLER: For an employee, the first step toward a results-only work environment would be to find one leader, just one leader in your company that is progressive, forward-thinking, that you can get on board with this. Don't try to spread it to all the leadership at once, because that won't happen. If you are a manager and you want to start taking some steps toward being a ROWE, you can stop rewarding time. Stop rewarding long hours and working weekends, and just start focusing on the good work that your employees are doing.
GHARIB: Jody, how long does it take for a company to get comfortable with this change?
THOMPSON: It takes about six to nine months, and sometimes...
GHARIB: That's all?
THOMPSON: Well, yes. And sometimes up to a year, because you're really shifting your paradigm. One of the main things that has to happen is removing sludge from the work environment. It's that toxic language that judges how people are spending their time, like, boy, I wish I could leave at 4:00 every day, or I wish I could come in late, I wish I had a kid that I had to take to day care. Bankers' hours? It's that stuff that we say to people that's judging not the work, but how they're spending time. And removing that is amazing.
GHARIB: Cali, it would seem to me that at a time when the U.S. is trying to be competitive with countries like China, where workers are so hardworking and disciplined, that maybe the U.S. cannot afford to go soft. What do you think?
RESSLER: We think that the U.S., if more companies instituted a results- only work environment, would not be "going soft," but would instead be showing the rest of the world, we're here to focus on results.
GHARIB: Do you agree with that, Jody?
THOMPSON: Absolutely. We have to stop putting in time and actually focus on work. That's what's important.
GHARIB: Jody, Cali, thank you so much for your time. It has been fascinating talking with you.
RESSLER: Thank you.
THOMPSON: Thank you.
BlackBerry Backlash
PAUL KANGAS: For many people, BlackBerrys and similar e-mail devices are a godsend, letting them stay in touch with the office from almost any location worldwide. But for some people, that constant connection and availability is taking a toll on their personal lives. And as Erika Miller reports, that's sparking a BlackBerry backlash.
MILLER: Go almost anywhere these days, and you'll probably see someone using a BlackBerry. There are currently over 16 million users worldwide, more than double the number of subscribers two years ago. These and other handheld devices have become indispensable work tools, giving users the flexibility to take the office with them wherever they go. But there's a downside to blurring the lines between work and personal time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It can get in the way sometimes with personal time with family and significant ones. So my wife tells me that sometime when I'm having dinner, I have to put the thing down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, there's a little bit of expectation, you know, I sent you an e-mail on a Saturday afternoon, how come you didn't respond You know, that sort of thing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's at my bedside. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm totally -- and I admit it, I'm addicted to the BlackBerry. MILLER: She's not the only one. That's why the devices have been nicknamed "CrackBerrys." Psychologist Patricia Farrell also warns BlackBerrys can increase stress and anxiety levels.
PATRICIA FARRELL, PSYCHOLOGIST: You are sitting, enjoying some activity, and suddenly the alarm goes off. You are going to jump, I have to take that. But even if the alarm doesn't go off, what you are going to do is you are going to be anticipating it.
MILLER: Accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers is one firm trying to discourage a 24-7 workplace. When workers log on to the company's computer network over the weekend, they see a pop up message asking them to consider sending e-mails the next business day. Carrie Quinn, a partner at the firm, says that simple reminder has had a big impact on her and others.
CARRIE QUINN, PARTNER, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS: I've seen a significant decline in e-mail in the off-hours or the weekends. So I think it is definitely something that is becoming common within the culture of the firm and that people are really taking it seriously, that we all need down time.
MILLER: Dennis Nally, chairman of the accounting firm, says the pop up is part of a bigger business strategy to encourage work-life balance.
DENNIS NALLY, CHAIRMAN, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS: We have now tracked this very clearly, it costs us about 150 percent of an individual's compensation to replace that individual if he or she leaves the organization. So the business imperative as to why you want to get this right, the business case, is very clear to us.
MILLER: There may also be legal reasons companies should limit after hours BlackBerry use. Attorney Glenn Smith believes certain workers, typically rank and file employees, may be entitled to overtime pay for responding to work e-mails after their shifts end.
GLENN SMITH, LABOR & EMPLOYMENT ATTORNEY, LITTLER MENDELSON: I think it is the next generation wage/hour lawsuit that you are going to be seeing, and it's not just limited to BlackBerrys. It's, you know, what are people doing remotely? That might be after hours work. You know, how are they spending their time? Are they actually engaging in gainful employment after hours and not recording it or not being paid for it?
MILLER: Smith recommends employers do what his firm did and protect themselves by adopting an explicit BlackBerry use policy, outlining what is permitted and what is not. What is clear is that for better or for worse, mobile technology is here to stay. NYU sociology professor Kathleen Gerson believes we're in the midst of a major social transformation. She points out that before the industrial revolution, home and work were very much intertwined, very similar to the way it is today.
KATHLEEN GERSON, SOCIOLOGY PROFESSOR, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: What these new technologies are now doing is, in a sense, taking us back to the future. We are now entering a whole new period in which its going to be more and more difficult to figure out when we are at home, when we are at work place, how we separate out the uses of our time.
MILLER: Some people think the U.S. needs a worker bill of rights, guaranteeing some freedom from the office. Others would like to see something less formal, like an evolution of corporate etiquette that discourages the sending of unnecessary work e-mails after hours. Erika Miller, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, New York.
A Family Friendly Work Life
SUSIE GHARIB: While the U.S. may be the leader in many business areas, it is alone among the world's industrialized nations in not requiring employers to provide paid maternity leave and paid sick days. But as Erika Miller reports, some companies have discovered that offering family-friendly benefits makes good business sense.
MILLER: Like many parents, Sabine Salandy found it difficult to balance work and family responsibilities after she gave birth to her daughter last year. She left her job as a policy analyst four months ago, and now cares for 17-month-old Elise at home. A big issue was not being permitted to work a more flexible schedule.
SABINE SALANDY, MOTHER: I was allowed to work at home one day, on Fridays, but that was not enough. I was exhausted from the commute, and tired and cranky and I couldn't concentrate on motherhood.
MILLER: Many labor advocates say it is harder to be a working parent in the United States than it is in most other high-income countries. For example, most European nations grant workers the right to work part-time, although employers can typically challenge that arrangement. And outside the U.S., nearly all affluent countries give workers the right to paid parental leave. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly half of U.S. private sector workers do not get any paid sick days. Heidi Shierholz at the Economic Policy Institute says the lack of a national sick leave policy is what really makes the U.S. family-unfriendly.
HEIDI SHIERHOLZ, LABOR ECONOMIST, ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE: One hundred and forty-five countries around the globe offer some kind of paid leave, including all industrialized nations. And over 100 other countries provide a month or more of paid sick leave. So we really are in this remarkably unique position.
MILLER: The U.S. does have the Family and Medical Leave Act, which covers serious illness and pregnancy. It requires companies to grant employees 12 weeks of unpaid leave, and it does not apply to all companies. The U.S. is also the only high-income country that does not mandate any paid vacation days or any paid national holidays. The average U.S. worker in the private sector gets a total of 15 paid days off, half what French workers get. There are many theories as to why the U.S. lags in these areas. One is that Americans generally prefer less government involvement in their personal lives, supporting free market employment principles instead. Political science and sociology professor Janet Gornick also says many Americans view long work hours as a badge of honor.
JANET GORNICK, POLITICAL SCIENCE & SOCIOLOGY PROFESSOR, GRADUATE CENTER OF CUNY: Americans work the longest hours of almost any industrialized country, nearly 2,000 hours a year. So when we talk about measures to shorten people's work hours and to give them the right to shorter schedules, some people think that's sort of un-American.
MILLER: However, some labor analysts like James Sherk of the Heritage Foundation, oppose government-mandated benefits. He says minimally- regulated labor markets are a key reason the U.S. is one of the richest, most productive countries in the world. He also believes leave laws, whether paid or unpaid, are bad for most workers.
JAMES SHERK, LABOR POLICY ANALYST, THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: All employers care about is the total compensation they pay to their workers. They don't care what form that takes. If you have the government requiring that they get more paid leave, they'll get more paid leave. But they are going to have less cash wages, or they'll have less retirement benefits or the labor costs will otherwise be brought down.
MILLER: Many companies choose to offer family-friendly benefits, even though they're not required by federal law to do so. They say it helps attract and retain workers in a competitive labor environment. A flexible work arrangement helped IBM (IBM) keep software architect Cait Crawford after she moved to New Hampshire for quality of life reasons three years ago. Since then, she has been commuting to this New York office a few times a month.
CAIT CRAWFORD, SOFTWARE ARCHITECT, IBM: Balance is a time and equilibrium thing, so there are times when you would look at things I'm doing and say, no, you are working all of the time and it's not balanced. And there are times when you would look at what I'm doing and say, when are getting work done? But I think IBM and myself and my family have achieved that work- life balance as best we can.
MILLER: Randy MacDonald, head of IBM's human resources department, says encouraging schedule flexibility also boosts employee morale and job performance.
RANDY MACDONALD, SENIOR V.P., HUMAN RESOURCES, IBM: People recognize that they can't do the things that they need to do in a normal, traditional work setting, but we give them something unique. Their satisfaction goes up, people feel more productive.
MILLER: Sabine Salandy hopes to eventually find a productive and satisfying work- from-home position. But for now, she has found one benefit to not working, spending quality time with her daughter. Erika Miller, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Teaneck, New Jersey.
Japan's Balancing Act
PAUL KANGAS: Work-life balance is a relatively new concept in Japan. The rise of the career woman and the desire of younger Japanese, both male and female, to have some personal time of their own run counter to the ingrained mindset that values long hours at the office. NBR's Lucy Craft reports from Tokyo on how some Japanese firms are embracing work-life balance.
LUCY CRAFT, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Endlessly self- sacrificing, slaving corporate warriors are the heroes behind Japan's post- war economic miracle. But 60 years on, the legends have become a liability. Japan has declared war on workaholism. Fighting workaholism has become a national imperative, in part, because scenes like this are becoming all too rare. Overwork is causing underpopulation, says consultant Joanna Park.
JOANNA PARK, WORK-LIFE CONSULTANT, APPASSIONATA: Many husbands don't get home until, let's say, 10 or 11 p.m. or many times after midnight, so the wife has to do everything. If she is working, she has to do work, she has to do the housework, and taking care of the kids all by herself. And we see a lot of women see that reality, and realize that if I get married and have kids, I have to do that, and they just don't want to do it.
CRAFT: And for the world's fastest-aging society, the baby deficit spells fiscal disaster.
PARK: With that birthrate, Japan cannot maintain the social benefits and pension plans as government has promised.
CRAFT: Workaholic habits die hard in Japan. Burning the midnight oil remains common here. But a handful of Japanese companies are trying to get their workers to stop and smell the flowers. Fast Retailing, which runs the UNIQLO apparel chain, began experimenting with work-life balance programs three years ago says Saeko Kaneko, who is in charge of employee relations.
SAEKO KANEKO, EMPLOYEE RELATIONS TEAM, FAST RETAILING (through translator): Giving our employees more time off means they can spend more time with family, and on self-improvement. That makes them healthier and more creative, which in turn makes them more efficient and improves the quality of their work.
CRAFT: Worried about its global image and anxious to attract and keep talented employees, the company stopped requiring store managers to work 10-hour days. Now, women run about a fifth of their stores, in a country where management roles usually go to men. But women aren't the only beneficiaries of Fast Retailing's anti-overtime policy. Toru Iwaizumi splits childcare duties with his wife, also a Fast Retailing employee.
TORU IWAIZUMI, EMPLOYEE, FAST RETAILING (through translator): I've had to become more systematic. Everyone on my team has become more ruthless about deciding what's essential to our jobs and what isn't. I think that's a good thing.
CRAFT: To slash overtime, meetings have been sped up by requiring workers to stand, instead of sit. And for most employees, desks are history. Instead, workers are assigned just a cell phone and portable computer. Doing without permanent desks, the thinking goes, cuts clutter, literally and figuratively. Finally, at headquarters, it's lights out at 7:00. Unless permission is granted in advance, even laggards are kicked out by dinnertime.
KANEKO (through translator): We don't have proof that cutting overtime helps the bottom line, but the fact is our revenues are growing and overtime has been drastically reduced. So our campaign has yielded results.
CRAFT: Fast Retailing's progressive workplace is still unusual for Japan. But with workaholism taking a severe toll on Japanese society, experts say other Japanese corporation have no choice but to follow suit. Lucy Craft, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Tokyo.
