Nearly half of all firms offer adaptable hours and part-time options, annual survey finds

For the 13th year, companies reported that hiring and retaining talent was their biggest challenge, the 2015 ERC/Smart Business Workplace Practices Survey found — but to a lesser degree than the previous year.
Out of 101 companies surveyed, 34.6 percent listed hiring and retaining talent as their No. 1 issue, which is down from 45.9 percent last year and 49.5 percent the year before.
The ERC/Smart Business Workplace Practices Survey, which has been a collaborative effort between the two organizations for 16 years, aims to find out how Northeast Ohio companies are driving their businesses forward.
One key to the continuing trend might be explained by the changing expectations of the modern workforce,

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Pat Perry

Nearly half of all firms offer adaptable hours and part-time options, says Pat Perry, president of ERC. While some years ago, workers might have changed positions solely for higher wages, other conditions, such as flextime, are coming into play.
“It is no surprise that the traditional eight-hour workday is no longer ‘the rule’ in the labor world,” Perry says. “Nearly half of all organizations offer opportunities for work arrangements such as flextime and part-time work options.”
Flexible hours are important
Flextime and part-time options were more popular in non-manufacturing companies as compared to manufacturing firms.
The survey found that 46.5 percent (45.9 last year) of companies in Northeast Ohio are offering flextime, 18.8 percent (10.1) are offering compressed workweeks and 20.8 percent (18.3) offer telecommuting. So it remains popular among companies, with a slight increase.
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Stephen Ligus

“Technology has made it possible to remain connected, but also to work more efficiently,” says Stephen Ligus, president of the Cleveland Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). “The idea of a work/life balance is something that is very important, especially to the newest generation of the workforce. The trend toward greater workplace flexibility is something that will most likely continue for the short term.”
Some of the comments regarding other flexible options included a four-day work week in many departments, consideration of individual employee requests, job sharing, limited work from home and health insurance reimbursement arrangement.
Other side of the coin
Alan Reisinger, regional vice president of Robert Half, took a different viewpoint of the employment situation.
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Alan Reisinger

“We are actually experiencing a level of demand in 2015 that does not follow the trends in the survey,” he says. “Within the professional services employment niche that we serve, hiring and retaining talent has become an even more significant issue than in years past. Evidence of this can be found with our increased number of placements and higher market-level salaries almost across the board.”
Reisinger says according to Robert Half’s recent Professional Employment Report for Cleveland, 57 percent of CFOs in Cleveland said it is challenging to find skilled candidates for professional level positions today. In addition, 90 percent reported being confident in their companies’ prospects for growth in the next six months.
“Finding and retaining the right people is still one of the most difficult jobs within an organization,” Ligus says. “No matter what business you are in, it is the people in the organization that make it go.
“Locating the right people and making sure they are in the right seats, so to speak, is among the top priorities of all employers I talk to.”
“Many Cleveland companies are undergoing system upgrades and either acquiring or divesting divisions, which often leads to adding both full-time roles and interim assistance during transition periods,” Reisinger says. “We’re seeing strong demand for staff accountants, financial analysts and customer service representatives, particularly in the manufacturing, retail and not-for-profit sectors.”
Compliance with regulations
The second top concern for companies is compliance with government regulations. These can come from federal, state and local levels of government and some apply regardless of the nature of the business. A company with business in more than one state or local jurisdiction must comply with the applicable laws and regulations from those jurisdictions.
“Employers are facing unprecedented compliance pressures, including new Affordable Care Act compliance reporting due in early 2016,” Ligus says. “Not only are employers working to understand the requirements for the organization, but also taking on the onus of explaining the new reporting employees will receive as a result.
“Added to the complexity of increased regulation and oversight in general, organizations are facing extreme pressures.”
Revenue growth, however, dropped significantly as a concern from 2014 to 2015, ranking toward the bottom of the survey while it was No. 2 in 2014.
Reisinger says his firm has been seeing similar reactions from clients as it relates to revenue growth concerns.
“Since many organizations that work with us have enjoyed significant growth over the last three or more years, growth has become less of a concern than issues such as regulation, compliance and hiring/retention,” he says. “Many companies are investing in hiring, consulting and systems to ensure they are in compliance with added regulation. The advent of the ACA, for example, has caused many organizations to spend dollars to be in compliance.”
More organizations than before are implementing written workplace policies and utilizing more formal systems of tracking and managing their workforce. A large majority of Northeast Ohio employers, 85.1 percent, have adopted written safety programs and procedures, an 8 percent increase over last year.
An increasing number of organizations also have written policies in place, such as those regarding disaster recovery, carrying firearms and employee diversity. In addition, most organizations provide their employees with a paper trail of job descriptions and employee handbooks. About 63 percent of local employers use a human resources information system, Perry says.
Employee training and development
Training and development is still a priority among the companies surveyed, but how it is delivered may be changing. For instance, 66 percent (72.9 last year) of companies use Web-based training as a part of their overall employee training and education programs. The average number of hours of training a new hire received in the first 90 days jumped from 61 in 2014 to 94 in 2015.
According to the survey, 79 percent (80.7 last year) of companies provide financial assistance to employees to upgrade their skills through advanced education or job-related training. In addition, 22.8 percent (26.2) offer a mentoring program, and 31.7 percent (28.4) offer a career development program or initiative for employees.
“This is interesting related to the earlier observation about the leveling off in the priority of finding and retaining talent,” Ligus says. “Organizations that commit to and invest in growth and development are places people want to work. I am not surprised to see those two correlated within the generalities of the survey.
“Overall, we see a commitment to learning and development programs across wide-ranging organizations. Cleveland SHRM has created a special interest group related specifically to that realm of human resources to help meet that need for our members.
“Specifically, as companies begin to bring on the next generation of workers within their organizations, they are looking for a commitment to career development and progression. By formalizing that process early, organizations can demonstrate the commitment to these new employees quite effectively.”
Reisinger says the career development numbers are not a huge surprise, since they correlate with companies’ increased focus on hiring and retaining employees.

“New-hire training, continuing development training for tenured employees and financial incentives to further employees’ education allow an organization to compete more effectively for and retain talent,” he says. “Offering added benefits such as additional vacation time and flextime also have increased in order to compete for people and improve retention.”

Mentoring program created by intern draws positive feedback

While 22.8 percent of companies in the 2015 ERC/Smart Business Workplace Practices Survey offered a mentoring program, which is down from last year’s 26.2 percent, such a program can have long-range benefits for an organization.
Take for example Community Assessment & Treatment Services Inc. (CATS), which offers men and women the tools and support they need to recover from and eliminate the negative behaviors associated with alcohol/drug abuse and criminal activity.

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Nicole Porter

HR intern Nicole Porter, a senior at Duquesne University, Rangos School of Health Sciences, created a mentoring program for CATS’ staff this summer that is drawing positive feedback as a tool to enhance both the work environment and client treatment.
Porter worked for two months with the program managers, clinical quality director, human resource director and resident advocate supervisor to launch the mentoring program. The mentoring program takes a different approach rather than a traditional one-on-one relationship.
“The program builds a mentorship between the counselors (clinical setting) and the resident advocates (residential setting) to better help communication, enhance learning and provide a welcoming atmosphere for all employees involved with the clientele on a day-to-day basis,” she says.
Designed so counselors give seminars ranging from mental health awareness, motivational interviewing, thinking for a change and other therapy practices to resident advocates, the program’s goal is to provide more educational growth for resident advocates to apply to CATS’ clients materials discussed in the seminars.
“We encouraged resident advocates to sit in on the weekly counseling meetings where they are welcome to discuss any topic with the counselors,” Porter says. “We have heard positive feedback from both the counselors and resident advocates that they believe this mentorship will only continue to enhance the work environment here, as well as the treatment and continuum of care for our clientele.
“We will continue to foster the growth and development of this mentorship.”
Clients temporarily live at CATS while receiving treatment for alcohol and drug problems and to reduce recidivism. Founded in 1990, CATS has served more than 30,000 individuals and their families.