CLO - September 2011 - (Page 54) IN CONCLUSION Transition to Telework Learning leaders have a key role to play in creating a flexible workplace • BY ERV LESSEL A Erv Lessel is a director for Deloitte Consulting LLP and a member of Chief Learning Officer magazine’s editorial advisory board. He can be reached at editor@CLOmedia.com. dvancing technology, changing workforce demographics, increasing competition for talent and escalating costs are driving a widespread, crossindustry shift to telework and workplace flexibility. When implemented strategically, telework and other workplace flexibility solutions can drive organizational performance and help realize cost savings and operational efficiencies — all critical success factors to address new economic and demographic realities. Learning leaders need to understand what workplace flexibility is and what their roles are in supporting a potential transition within their organizations. An effective workplace flexibility strategy includes changing the way we think about the workforce — policy and performance management; the workplace — how we optimize our office space; and the work itself — how we collaborate and innovate. When properly implemented as a business strategy rather than a perk or employee benefit, workplace flexibility can yield strategic results. These benefits have been recognized by President Barack Obama as critically important to our nation’s economy and further codified through new legislation requiring all federal agencies to begin implementing formal telework policies. Addressing the White House Forum on Workplace Flexibility in March 2010, Obama stated: “[Workplace flexibility] is an issue that affects the well-being of our families and the success of our businesses. It affects the strength of our economy — whether we’ll create the workplaces and jobs of the future we need to compete in today’s global economy.” All organizations must deal with increasing hiring needs, business continuity challenges, increasing performance and efficiency goals, and rapidly changing workforce demographics. Implementing a broad workplace flexibility program can help to address all of these challenges. Organizations that have effectively implemented workplace flexibility have realized significant progress in their ability to: • Recruit and retain top talent. • Ensure continuity of business operations. • Increase organizational performance and individual productivity. • Identify and capture cost efficiencies. • Improve career-life fit for an increasingly diverse workforce. Effective flexible workplace solutions require organizations to develop cross-functional implementation plans that take a broad approach to scaling workplace flexibility. Only through integrated project teams can organizations effectively reduce wasteful redundancies and realize efficiencies. Given that a shift to workplace flexibility affects multiple layers across the organization — from strategy to people, process and technology — any transition plan must be accompanied by a broad, well-coordinated change management program, which emphasizes training and employee support resources. CLOs can lead the charge in overcoming organizational challenges by establishing a culture of trust and accountability, overcoming manager resistance and ensuring employee compliance and understanding of new technology support and security infrastructure requirements. When implementing flexible workplace solutions, CLOs must communicate the purpose and expected results of the program, conduct and assess training, and lead the culture change necessary to operate under this new model. CLOs experienced with distributed learning can share processes and lessons learned as core business processes migrate to a distributed model. CLOs will need to train managers to supervise and measure the performance of virtual teams and prepare employees to be successful in this new work environment. A transition to workplace flexibility requires a significant organizational investment to facilitate strategic success. For those who are interested but unsure it’s worth the investment, let me close by sharing what we’ve achieved at Deloitte. The successful implementation of workplace flexibility achieved a first-year cost savings of $30 million in capital expenditure and increased employee satisfaction. Effective use of technology, reduced office space requirements and the implementation of applicable personnel policies have had a positive and lasting impact. What’s really great is these solutions are scalable, can be segmented by workforce, and are adaptive. As organizational leaders, we play critical roles in helping our organizations succeed in an ever-evolving competitive landscape. A transition to workplace flexibility can enable this success. I’ve seen it succeed and hope others will soon realize similar benefits. CLO 54 Chief Learning Officer • September 2011 • www.CLOmedia.com http://www.CLOmedia.com Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CLO - September 2011 CLO - September 2011 Editor’s Letter Contents Imperatives Selling Up, Selling Down Guest Editorial Take Five Set the Stage for Continuous Improvement An Engine for Growth Beware Preconceived Notions Do They Practice What You Teach? Make Play Space for Learning How to Listen for Values From Toys to Talent The Road to Recovery Advertisers’ Index Editorial Resources In Conclusion CLO - September 2011 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0312 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0212 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0112 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1211 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1111 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1011 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0911 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0811 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0711 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0611 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0511 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0411 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0311 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0211 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0111 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1210 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1110 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1010 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0910 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0810 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0710 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0610 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0510 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0410 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0310 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0210 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0110 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1209 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1109 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1009 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0909 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0809 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0709 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0609 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0509 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0109 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1208 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1108 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1008 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0908 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0808 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0708 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0608 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0508 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0408 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0308 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0208 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0108 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1207 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1107 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1007 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0907 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0807 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0707 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0607 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo-sr507 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0507 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0407 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0307 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0207 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0107 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo-sr1206 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1206 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1106 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1006 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0906 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0706 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0406 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0306 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0206 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo0106 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1205 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mediatec/clo1105 http://www.nxtbookMEDIA.com
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