Why would an employer offer paid sabbaticals to employees after a certain number of years of service? Why do employers offer paid family leave, for new mothers and fathers?
The simple answer is, to retain employees and save the costs that come along when an employee quits or is fired. (Federal law requires that companies provide unpaid family leave for 12 weeks, but some employers offer paid leave, which is not required by law.)
In fact, for many companies, not instituting policies that would allow employees to deal with their personal lives is a drain on the company's profitability. The cost of searching for a new salaried employee and training the new hire is often estimated at 30% of the previous employee's annual salary. This estimate does not include the lowered productivity of the company while the position is vacant, and while the new employee is getting up to speed.
Still, some companies are instituting new policies that go well beyond giving employees time off to deal with issues in their personal lives. For example, a New York Times article by Abby Ellen quotes employees who have been offered the option to bring their babies under 6 months to the office with them when they return from parental leave. (A link to the article appears at the end of this post.)
To what extent are companies offering this option to reduce costs and increase profit? I suspect that some companies are also considering their social responsibilities toward employees.
I'm sure that employees who bring babies to work help to trigger a cultural change for their employers' companies. That kind of cultural change can be tricky to manage. Some managers may resist, believing that the organization is better off if the boundary between work and personal life is clearly defined. On the other hand, younger employees may resist such firm boundaries, and seek out work environments where they can blur the boundary and integrate work and personal life more fluidly.
Do you know of companies that are offering employees the option to blur work and personal life? In what ways? What have been the effects on the organization's culture?
Related links:
Abby Ellen's NYT article, Maternity-Leave Alternative: Bring the Baby to Work
From my blog, Telecommuting: How it has changed business life
From my blog, What do we not know about managing change?
From my blog, Can leaders drive a company through organizational change?
From my blog, Organizational culture change: can we manage it? (yes and no)
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