At some point during one's corporate career, we learn that our success is less dependent on "what we do" versus "who we work for."  No matter when this moment occurs it is a bit shocking. I learned this in my late 20s - I had a boss who coached and mentored me with such wisdom.  I was on an accelerated track and working 24/7.   But then a personal event took place, the death of my father, and I truly "disappeared" for two weeks and disconnected from work in every way.

I had already learned that my direct manager would be the key to professional success. And hopefully each of us learns (quickly) to align ourselves effectively.  Perhaps more startlingly is that with the blurred lines of work-life, the direct manager actually has a key to personal fulfillment as well.   Most individuals experience this the very first time their "work-life" is out of synch.  It is in this moment, we learn exactly what a company culture truly stands for including the accountability of the manager.  In my case, I experienced first hand that my boss was a man of the highest integrity, believed in shared success and was nothing less than brilliant.  To this day, I would walk thru fire for him; yet,  I've always wondered since, what happens to those individuals who have a boss - who is  not quite so accepting and accommodating to personal circumstances?  

Candidly, my manager (by the way his name was Frank Sorrentino)  was not your usual flex suspect. He was with the company 35+ years and the company culture lagged far behind today's standards.   However, he saw the value of an operating environment of trust, collaboration and results.  He looked to the team and stakeholders to advise him what was needed.  I took the death of my father quite hard - the truth is it took me another 4 weeks to come back full-force.  I actually phased in during those four weeks and when I came back - I was strong and returning to an even stronger organization.   With the exception of one individual (an employee called me the day after the funeral to tell me she was resigning) - there were no negative implications or water cooler conversation about my absence.  

What my "traditional" boss accomplished was based on instinct.  The increasing momentum around flexibility and the commitment by so many organizations to create an inclusive culture provides a window to a very exciting future. But these very organizations also recognize that change takes time and that not everyone will have Frank's instincts.  Providing managers with the right tools and support is critical. To not do so can adversely impact and set both the employee and manager up for failure.

Below are five manager practices that organizations find most important in making flexibility real at the manager level: 

1. Enabling and encouraging managers to work flexibly themselves -- on reduced work hours schedules (less-then-fulltime), in a job share where two managers share one job and share the responsibility for being available to their team, on flexible work hours (in lieu of them needing to be present whenever employees are working, which can lead to very long hours and exhaustion), etc.
   
   
2. Using manager self-assessments to help managers recognize and change their mindset about how to manage flexibly. Often it's the manager's attitude that needs changing that leads other changes in their behavior.
   
   
3. Rewarding managers who earn better evaluations on work-life supportiveness from employees.  This requires including questions on employee sureys or 360 degree evaluations of managers that inquire about their 'supportiveness'.  Great organizations have found that collecting this information helps them measure differences in depts. where managers are more supportive of employees' work-life needs with other depts. in terms of their employee retention and even customer satisfaction.
   
   
4. Including considerations of work-life -- attitudes and skills -- in decisions about which managers to hire and whom to promote as manager.  A great example is encouraging managers to pay consideration to resumes submitted that declare an individuals willingness to work flexibly.
   
   
5. Mentoring programs that connect managers who are skilled at managing flexibly and believe in it, with those who are just learning how. This is particularly important as companies are focused on multi-generational workforce.

What are other practices that you think should be included?

Photo by: Timitrius