Work-Life & Flexibility
New Resources: BCCWF Spotlight Series
We are excited to kick off our Spotlight Series, where we are profiling our members and other progressive organizations about how they are re-imagining the workplace.
HubSpot: Hybrid Work & Remote Inclusion
Harvard University: Flexible Work Policy
Workplace of the Future: New Work Models
Tips for Managers: Making Hybrid Work
Additional BCCWF Resources
Expanded Paid Parental Leave: Measuring the Impact of Leave on Work & Family (2019)
This report compares the leave experiences and attitudes of over 1,200 new mothers and fathers, who were eligible for at least 6 weeks of gender-neutral, paid parental leave. It assesses employees' use of leave and explores how taking leave impacts caregiving, career progression, and the ability to combine work and family successfully.
Maximizing the Employee Experience: How Changing Workforce Dynamics are Impacting Today's Workplace (2018)
This report summarizes the significant workplace trends that influence those of us engaged in positively impacting our employees' experience. The information is drawn from collaboration with Roundtable members, the center's exploration of a wide range of workforce issues, and the most current research in the field.
The New Millennial Dad: Understanding The Paradox of Today's Fathers (2016)
Our 2016 report on "The New Dad" reviewed survey responses from Millennial fathers. The report further explores the trend of involved fatherhood and the challenges experienced by today's dads as they strive to manage their work and personal lives.
The New Dad: The Career- Caregiving Conflict (2017)
Our latest fatherhood report explores the conflict faced by fathers as they strive to meet their personal and professional goals.
The New Dad: Take Your Leave (2014)
The study explores diferent perspectives on paternity leave, including a survey of more than 1,000 fathers; a benchmarking study of paternity leave policies at leading organizations; and a review of global paternity leave policies and practices. Sponsored by EY.
The New Dad: A Work (and Life) in Progress (2013)
This report summarizes the findings from the three Fatherhood studies. The definition of what it means to be a good dad has shifted from the traditional breadwinning, disciplinarian role to one that emphasizes love, support, guiding, and being present.
The New Dad: Right at Home (2012)
The center’s third report on fathers observed the impact of shifting gender roles through in-depth interviews with 31 at-home dads and surveys with 23 of their spouses.
The New Dad: A Portrait of Today's Father (2015)
Perhaps the most troubling problem is that fathers’ voices have often been absent from, or perhaps even seen as irrelevant to, work-family conversations. In an effort to address this, we began our journey with a relatively smallsample, qualitative study of fathers of very young children to better understand their experiences. We coined the title “The New Dad” for what became our research series and have published a report each year exploring differing perspective of the role dads play today at work and in the home.
Executive Briefing Series: New Parents in the Workplace
Engaging and retaining highly-valued employees is a priority for diverse organizations. One employee population that has become a particularly prominent
focus of corporate retention efforts is new parents.
Executive Briefing Series: Building the Business Case for Work-Life
Provides information on the business case for work-life and suggests steps to build an effective work-life business case for your specific organization.
The New Dad: Caring Committed and Conflicted (2011)
This quantitative study provides a deeper understanding of the struggles fathers face
as they embrace their roles as breadwinner and caregiver.
Executive Briefing Series: The Future of Flexibility
Despite a few high profile companies, including Yahoo, Best Buy, and Bank of America, who pulled back on their flexibility programs, flex is increasingly becoming the norm in many companies. In a 2013 study of 844 employees, 81% reported that their current organizations offer flexible work arrangements (Catalyst). According to WorldatWork, less than 4% of organizations have terminated flexible work options in the past two years (2013 Workplace Flexibility Survey).
Executive Briefing Series: Dynamic Workforce Trends
Today’s workplace has been transformed by a combination of shifting demographics, technological advances and a global economy that has generated workforce trends that impact the priorities of Work/Life practitioners. Members of the Boston College National Work & Family Roundtable identified four significant trends that permeate their organizations in a recent pulse survey: 1) increasing attention on employee health and wellness driven by escalating health care costs, 2) building a diverse and inclusive workforce, 3) managing the aging workforce, and 4) creating a flexible work culture.
Executive Briefing Series: Managing Workload
More than fifty years ago, the employment of older workers was on the national agenda. Today, the discussion continues with more fervor as the groundswell of baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) approaches retirement, with the youngest now protected by federal age discrimination laws and the oldest turning 65 in 2011.
Executive Briefing Series: Exceptional Caregiving (Updated)
Many researchers agree that the challenge of finding affordable, quality child care drove the work-life agenda in the 1980s – and into the 1990s. As the country ages and family demographics continue to shift, it is likely that caregiving will similarly drive policy development and employer responses through the next decade.
The Link: A Practical Guide to Conducting a Work/Life
Use this activity to clarify the overall stage of your company's work/life plan and consider how this developmental stage might affect planning, implementation and evaluation.
Forgotten Families: The Move to Provide Paid Time-Off For Adoptive Parents
During recent years, adoption benefits have generated a great deal of interest in the workplace. Employers and employees are questioning the equity of policies that provide time off and other benefits for those who give birth, but fail to meet the needs of employees who adopt.
Work/Life and Diversity: Perspectives of Workplace Responses
This paper gives a comprehensive discussion about the linkages between companies' diversity and work/life programs and policies, an in-depth examination of the challenges assoicated with today's diversity and work/life programs and policies and a framework for the analysis of stakeholder priorities.
Executive Briefing Series : Creating a Culture of Flexibility
How can an organization create a work environment where employees are engaged and committed to achieve organizational goals? By creating a culture of flexibility, a strategic business tool that promotes employee satisfaction. The service profit chain verifies that satisfied employees influence customer satisfaction which positively impacts the bottom line
Metrics Manual: Ten Approaches to Measuring Work/Life Initiatives
Work/life is just now joining the ranks of strategic human resource functions, much like the diversity and organizational development fields. The emergent strategic perspective of work/life has resulted, in part, from a recognition that work/life initiatives can be a competitive advantage because they enhance companies' abilities to recruit and retain top talent.
The Work-Life Evolution Study
The purpose of The Work-Life Evolution Study is to review the history of the field, examine current trends, and project potential future directions for employees and practitioners in work-life arena.
Overcoming the Implementation Gap: How 20 Leading Companies Are Making Flexibility Work
This report represents what we hope will be the first of many efforts to fill that gap. Rather than focusing on why these programs are not working to the desired extent, our focus is on what makes some of these programs very successful. Here we present in detail an array of examplary programs from leading companies along with insights, recommendations, and strategies believed to be responsbile for their success.
Measuring the Impact of Workplace Flexibility
People make choices about how to spend their time as a function of both their personal and work/life needs. For many years both business leaders and the pulic at large have heard anecdotal reports that employees who are given opportunities to work more flexibly are more dedicated and prodcutive employees and are better able to manage their lives outside of work.
Flexible Work Arrangements in Asia
Through in-depth interviews with seven regional representatives from Global Workforce Roundtable member companies and the collection of 35 questionnaires, the Flexible Work Arrangements in Asia study provides a better understanding of the types and extent of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) used in multinational corporations operating in the Asia Pacific region.
Bringing Work Home: Advantages and Challenges of Telecommuting
Telecommuting first gained notoriety in the late 20th century with the advent of home computers and sophisticated telecommunications technologies. Specific research on the patterns and practices of telecommuting first appeared in the 1970’s when Jack Nilles coined the terms “telecommuting” and “teleworking” and directed the first telework demonstration project with partial funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF)
National Workplace Flexibility Study
The goal of the study was to measure the impact of manager training, skills development and the introduction of a new strategic planning tool on manager and employees attitudes about workplace flexibility.