Workplace flexibility focus of new job site

LOUISVILLE – There are numerous career-related Web sites out there. Some target certain industries; others focus on specific levels of employment. One site takes a more personal approach. It’s called CareerFlex.com, and, as its name denotes, the site specializes exclusively in flexible employers.

“My goal is that family-friendly employers of all sizes can be all in one location, making (the site) very convenient,” CareerFlex founder Tiffany Coletta said.

Louisville-based CareerFlex (www.careerflex.com) officially launched its employment site on June 14. To become listed with CareerFlex, a company must meet four core criteria and five general CareerFlex criteria within the workplace.

Core criteria include emergency child-care arrangements or reimbursement (in case the employee’s primary child-care provider is suddenly unavailable), phase-back for new mothers (meaning that new moms return to their full responsibilities gradually), flextime (start times and end times vary depending on the employee’s needs), job sharing, and a lactating room or program. General criteria include adoption aid, before/after school programs, employee health/wellness funds and subsidies for childcare.

Companies must demonstrate that they have a sufficient enough number of these criteria in place as part of their regular, corporate policy to become listed. CareerFlex is strict – not everybody makes it. “One high-tech firm in Boulder did not make it,” Coletta said. “They said they’re working on it, so maybe I’m making an impact.”

On the whole, Coletta is influencing how people job hunt. Unlike other job sites, CareerFlex emphasizes what employers offer instead of focusing on the employer’s needs. This change in thinking stemmed from Coletta’s own frustrating job hunt. As a working parent, Coletta could not find any employment sites that focused on company culture. The only choice was to blindly apply and hope that the potential employers would fit with her lifestyle.

CareerFlex allows both parties to know what to expect. “CareerFlex.com leverages this win-win trend into a time-saving, one-stop destination for those passively or actively seeking employment,” Coletta said.

Once they are approved for membership, CareerFlex companies receive a free listing on the site, one free job listing for a month, use of the CareerFlex company certification seal, access to the site’s resume postings, free e-mail for confidential searches, a networking discussion center, profiles of personal work/life success stories, and a monthly best practice focus of a CareerFlex company.

The listing includes space for a considerable amount of text, the company logo and a company synopsis. Employers new to CareerFlex also may post a listing for free on a trial basis. The next level of service, PremierFlex, includes unlimited users to CareerFlex. This way, many hiring agents at a single company can search for ripe applicants for their departments.

A better bottom line is among the less-tangible benefits to CareerFlex companies, according to Coletta. “Employees are happier and more productive. People want to buy from companies that are doing good. And these companies are doing good.”

Flexible companies are nothing new; however, Coletta believes that their finer points have simply been passed over. “We knew these companies were out there,” Coletta said of family-friendly employers. “They just weren’t marketing themselves.”

In the future, Coletta said CareerFlex may branch out to include listings for employers that are eager to recruit people who are disabled. Naturally, company growth is also in her sights. “I want to see us reaching the critical mass in the database,” she said.

The database includes U.S. and Canadian listings, and the site was recently updated so it will bring up any job from any state if the user desires.

Coletta also realizes the tremendous effort this kind of database expansion would mean. “I’d like to find a good buyer for the company who could take it to the next level.”

CareerFlex also will offer the CareerFlex award based on the breadth of the criteria in place. “It’ll be about quantity, not just quality,” Coletta said.

The labor market is already tight, and as more and more companies are born and consume available employees, the extra incentives offered by CareerFlex.com may be worth it to companies hungry for new employees. Although the site presently targets parents, it does present job openings in a unique fashion that may prove to effectively tap into that segment of the population.

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