‘Flexibility’ essential to retain workers

BOULDER – Arriving sometimes at 5 a.m., Laurie Bussard is often the first one to cross the threshold at Micro Analysis and Design Inc. (MAD) – the small simulations software developer based in Boulder.Bussard said she enjoys returning home early in the afternoon to greet her school-age children, and thanks to MAD’s flexible policies on scheduling, the 11-year account manager can get home in time to fix the kids after-school snacks.
“I think you are talking to the right company and the right person,” Bussard said. “They are family-friendly. I have a flexible schedule, which has been a real blessing”
The employer’s quest for bolstered employee relations seems tantamount to the ancient Greek myth of Sisyphus laboriously rolling his boulder up a cliff for eternity. But businesses such as MAD and the Human Resource Management Consulting (HRMC) group, a Longmont company formed in 1988 that assists businesses in recruiting and retaining employees, are altering their traditional strategies in order to accommodate an employee that requires more flexibility and a more personal relationship with management.
Employees today look for a personalized environment and the ability to “make a difference,” while a company’s long-term benefits and retirement packages take a back seat, according to HRMC founder Bob Bowman.
“There are no run-of-the-mill strategies to retaining employees,” Bowman said. “Employers are looking for new strategies and companies that are successful are involving their employees and listening to and reacting to employees.
“Employees have choices of employee-friendly and family-friendly companies, and these are the companies that they are more apt to join.”
Flexibility, friendliness and personal relationships are terms not often associated with today’s competitive marketplace, but in order to keep workers and forego expensive training for new people, local businesses are starting to heed the message.
Mary Beth Laughery, who co-founded MAD 15 years ago with her husband, Rob, said they always have focused on appeasing employee life at work and at home. MAD employs 50 people, and spans from Colorado to Florida.
“Even as we grow we continue to personalize and focus on the family,” Laughery said. “I think you can realize these things, and the more you create a good company culture then the more people will put out when necessary.”
She said the company, which has a turnover rate of about two workers per year, recently instituted a “Fridays Off Policy.” This policy allows employees to work more during Monday through Thursday every other week, using Friday as free time with family or friends.
MAD also began offering employees the option of telecommuting to increase flexibility.
The HRMC and Bowman said that smaller companies are often compromised in size and can lack flexibility, but telecommuting technology is helping make smaller businesses more malleable.
And while larger companies might have the girth to bend to employee wishes, they often fall short in providing employees with a personal atmosphere.
Nancy Hoopes, human resources director for WholePeople.com., said they are working hard to increase the employee’s desired personal environment. Currently the company has a 40 percent turnover rate per year.
“I would tell management to work one-on-one with employees,” Hoopes said. “We hear that management keeps the doors closed, but they need to spend time with people – communication is the key.”
She said the company recently moved all its facilities “under one roof” in Thorton, and employees remain positive the localized facility will provide a more personal environment.
WholePeople.com offers paid time off – new employees start with 17 paid days per year – and alternative and emergency care for families, as well.
The vitamin and nutritional supplement company and Internet subsidiary of Whole Foods Inc. employs more than 400 people. Formerly Amrion Inc., WholePeople.com nearly doubled its size in three years.
“Our work environment places an emphasis on a work and family balance and opportunity for advancements.´ said Hoopes.
To help businesses alleviate the strain of tense employee-employer relationships, a panel discussion of human resource managers from nine local companies was held in early November. Both Laughery and Hoopes attended the seminar with different needs and expectations but reached similar conclusions.
“We all came from various backgrounds,” Laughery said. “But the consensus was the more flexible and the more professionally you treat people the more success you’ll have.”
The panel assessed that planning for growth and forethought are the two biggest problem areas.
The HRMC is better poised as well to provide solutions for company problems. As corporate growth booms across the state, Bowman said, they opened branch offices and onsite professional associates in Boulder, Loveland-Fort Collins, Louisville, Highlands Ranch and Grand Junction.
And while the HRMC, MAD and WholePeople.com expand and scramble to chisel weight off the employee-employer boulder, Bussard is content with racing home in time to help the kids with homework.