TAG’s Promise: We develop the commitment and competency your managers need.

Situation: As ATF embarked on a rapid expansion of its telework/flexwork program, human resources and work-life leaders recognized that managers were without necessary skills and support to enable such a shift. Most managers did not have experience managing workgroups with members who utilize various mixtures of alternative work arrangements, including telework/flexwork. Several common concerns were surfacing, including the question of how a manager can monitor productivity when members of his/her workgroup work in remote locations.

Solution: TAG provided Managerial Training Sessions to help ATF managers successfully manage an increasingly remote workforce. These sessions provided a form to discuss the management challenges created by changing workforce demographics and the nature of our 21st century business environment. Participants also tested ways to develop those relationships within workgroups and with customers (either inside or outside the organization) that facilitate success even when team members are not working physically close to one another. TAG representatives introduced managers to an effective method for creating trackable productivity measures in workgroups.

Benefits: ATF’s managers strengthened their capabilities in managing by the work products created (instead of by the time-spent-in-the-desk-chair), a critical element of accomplishing agency- and department-level objectives. Several common myths of telework/flexwork were “debunked” and replaced by an increased appreciation for the benefits available when managers successfully use telework/flexwork in their workgroups.

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TAG’s Promise: We develop the commitment and competency your managers need.

Situation: The Sheriff’s Department in Santa Barbara County, like many organizations in the region, saw that hiring and retaining employees was becoming more difficult due to soaring housing prices and increasing traffic congestion. While flexwork was seen as a partial solution to alleviating these pressures, both an informal 9/80 compressed workweek and a telecommuting program had been implemented, both without consistent communication or leadership support. As a result, the programs existed almost randomly with many supervisors and managers in the County not allowing their employees to participate, due to the lack of support and/or tools available to supervisors/managers.

Solution: TAG began by investigating the history of flexwork in the County and the Sheriff’s department. This included conducting interviews and an on-line survey to gauge managers’ history with and attitudes towards flexwork. The most significant concern was that of managers who were worried about implementing a program that would result in either a loss of control over their workgroups or an increase in equity issues among their employees. TAG helped the Sheriff’s Department address these concerns in several ways. The policy, guidelines and agreement documentation were structured to support flexible work arrangements as an optional benefit, allowed by the manager, and based on performance, job and job-task suitability – reinforcing that ultimately the performance of the workgroup came first. Secondly, on-line assessments were implemented to help employees and managers assess both Job Suitability and Employee Suitability for flexwork. Finally, all of the materials, along with step-by-step instructions for employees, home-office, ergonomic and setup guidelines were put into a Sheriff’s Department website for employees and managers to access. This process supports the managers as the onus is on the employees to educate themselves about the flexwork program, determine if their job-tasks are suitable and design their own specific programs. The organization as a whole realized the benefit of including a Continuity of Operations plan along with flexwork ensuring increased citizen service during emergences or bad weather.

Benefits: The Sheriff’s Department has a formalized program that they can utilize both during recruiting efforts and to retain valued employees. After the pilot is complete flexwork will be included in recruiting literature for specific jobs. The Sheriff’s Department also increased its capability to maintain effective operations in the event of a disaster.

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