SHRM Blog

Flexibility in the workplace is imperative. It should be seen as a result-based business strategy—not a benefit.

With the variety of employee demographics now in our workforce, the importance of workplace flexibility becomes even clearer. For instance, millennials prefer flexible working arrangements and consider them in accepting employment. But boomers need flexible options as they take on care of their aging parents.

Implementing work-flex programs doesn’t have to be burden. Arrangements can be informal—individuals and teams can be offered occasional, day-to-day accommodations, in accordance with changing business, customer, or personal needs. Or, the programs can be more...

Released the first Thursday of each month, the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) Leading Indicators of National Employment® (LINE®) Report, provides a snapshot of anticipated hiring for the month ahead and examines data from the previous month.

The LINE Report is based on a monthly survey of human resource professionals at more than 500 manufacturing and 500 private service-sector companies. Together, these two sectors make up more than 90 percent of America’s private-sector employment. The LINE Report examines four key areas:

• employers’ hiring expectations;
• new-hire compensation;
• difficulty in recruiting top-level talent; and
...

From masking tape to Post-its, 3M is well known for its innovative culture. 3M has an annual goal that 30 percent of its annual profits come from products and businesses that are less than four years old.  Wired Magazine describes how 3M tackles that goal with their “15 percent solution.”

“For decades, engineers at the St. Paul, Minnesota, company have spent up to 15 percent of work hours on their own projects, playing with ideas that have nothing to do with their job's mission. This unwritten rule of 15 percent dream time is so ingrained at 3M...

I recently attended the Families and Work Institute Legacy Award dinner in New York City where I was able to hear an intriguing working mother-daughter panel. As I listened to this dynamic group share their experiences, I couldn't help but think about my two sons who are both working fathers. They are role models for how their children will perceive the relationship between work and personal life. It is encouraging to see my sons actively engaged in every aspect of their sons and daughters' lives. But I find it strange that the term 'working father' is one we seldom...