Research
FLEXAUDIT™ - Reviewing
and Renewing Initiatives
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Do your leaders promote flexibility? Is your system delivering business
impact? Do your people have and use all the tools required? Our
comprehensive audit…resembles a financial audit in using a range of
tools to test the soundness and effectiveness of your approach. Core tests
include validating business results, assessing internal systems and
testing process compliance.
It
is difficult to grasp the nature and status of flexibility in complex
organizations whether you are a manager, employee, leader, HR
professional, prospect or “Best X” list-maker. For more than a decade,
some companies have ended up making unverified claims about the
acceptability and utilization of FWAs in their environments. Lacking hard
data, they have fallen back on the limited data they do have.
The FlexAudit™ offers a disciplined, third party review of
flexibility climate, practices and results and a knowledgeable strategy
review for addressing weaknesses and amplifying strengths. Why does this
matter?
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Leaders
must
understand and support the business value, functionality and
trajectory of flexibility in the firm; they are the culture
changers, and guardians of long-term transformation
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Managers
need
ongoing feedback and corrective guidance on how they manage
flexibility in the best interests of both employees and long-term
business goals
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HR
Professionals need
a clear view of where flexibility is headed, how the system is
working and their role in refining, developing and integrating
practices and tools to realize key goals
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Employees
must
affect system evolution by providing crucial data on usage,
challenges to access, manager implementation skill and areas for
improved business impact
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Recruits
can
contribute invaluable data on the role of flexibility in
recruitment, trade-offs made in deciding to join the company and the
effectiveness of the recruitment process
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“List-makers”
can
access a more rigorous, external assessment based on multiple data
gathering processes and intended to reflect harder numbers than
usual |
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The FlexAudit™ can
be performed on a stand-alone basis to assess the state of FWOs within a
firm or as an annual review within an ongoing initiative. Done annually,
it can be designed to deliver the kind of rich update that “tracking”
promises but is hard-pressed to deliver. The audit is a customizable tool
that addresses several major areas of inquiry and makes recommendations
for change:
VALIDATION
When the
principals of Rupert and Company developed the universal proposal or
request form that is now widely used in companies, it offered many
advantages over informal processes or free-form proposals. One distinct
value was the opportunity it offered companies to track actual proposals
made and those accepted or rejected. Assuming firms collect the data
either manually or online, the FlexAudit™
begins by validating the usage numbers through:
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Reviewing
tracking system for ability to capture new and ended FWOs
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Contacting
a random sample of approved FWO users to confirm status
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Fielding
an online survey to confirm accurate capture of all formal options
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Displaying
existing FWOs by type, business unit and location |
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COMPLIANCE A
second key step in the audit is to assess the quality of the existing
policy and procedure infrastructure and to measure how well employees and
managers are using the essential processes. This is done through:
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An
eighteen-point FlexGuide™
review of the initiative approach materials
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The
examination of a random sample of proposal forms to assess quality
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A
set of focus groups with employee users and managers to test
standards
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Questions
on the online survey to probe program and process awareness
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Review
of the process for negotiating with new hires, and a recruit focus
group
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IMPACT Finally,
initiative business impact and gains by individuals are assessed by:
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Interviewing
key senior leaders on flexibility outcomes and potential
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Comparing
achievements against company-wide goals using range of metrics
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Using
a mix of measures, including interviewing, to assess divisional
pilots
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Validating
business gains proposed in forms through interviews, focus groups |
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The FlexAudit™ Report summarizes
the findings, conclusions and recommendations of the agreed-upon review.
We use the data to reliably describe the level and character of FWA usage,
the state of core processes and the business value of the flexibility
initiative underway. Based on these conclusions and the opinions expressed
in all interviews, we suggest strategic options for both deepening the
overall effort and improving the existing procedures and practices.
Drawing
on our considerable expertise in and comfort with executive briefings and
planning sessions, we can include an executive session to deliver the
report and consider next steps in strategic and operational development.
We can further assist with HR/Diversity/Work-Life staff briefings and
communication vehicles for participants in the audit process and the
broader employee population, if desired.
To
see portions of a sample audit, please Contact
Us.
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