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How can small firm meet employees' diverse needs?
The question: How can smaller employers address a changing, diverse work force without spending more money on administrative costs? Our employees represent different ages and life circumstances, including single people, single parents and two-income households. They all have different personal and family needs they bring to work. I'm interested in happier, more productive employees, but not if it costs lots of time and money.Dr. Spann responds...
Employees appreciate flexible work schedules
Smaller employers can offer significant assistance to the varying sub-groups in their work force by allowing flexible work schedules around required core times when everybody is expected to be present, such as 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; job sharing; and a pool of paid time off that can be used for any reason and is intended to cover all absences from the job: vacation, sick time, child's illness and other family needs.
Referrals to county child care and elder care resources can help workers and are not costly. Tuition reimbursement programs for job development are seen as a commitment to employees' growth.
Also, all employee groups, regardless of age, experience or family status, consistently ask for more supervisory communication. All employees want a supervisor to know them as individuals, to give them job goals, to tell them what they're doing and to give them feedback on how they're doing. Having your supervisors spend more time one-on-one with employees will go a long way toward happier, more productive employees, without the overhead of big programs.