Welcome to May of 2008.  The average price of gas is $3.75 per gallon.  Oil is $126 a barrel.  And consumer confidence?  According to Director Lynn Franco of the Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center, April’s Consumer Confidence Index was anything but groovy:

“This month’s decline in Consumer Confidence was the result of yet another sharp decline in the Present Situation Index. This continued weakening suggests that not only has the feeble level of growth in the first quarter spilled over into the second quarter, but that economic conditions may have slowed even further. And, not only are lackluster business and job conditions eroding confidence, but rising gasoline prices are undoubtedly heightening concerns… Looking ahead, consumers’ outlook for the economy, the job market and their income prospects remains quite pessimistic and little changed from last month. Or, in other words, the glass remains half empty.”

So now you’re saying to yourself, “Thanks Mark!  Great start to my Monday morning.  Real uplifting stuff.”  Sorry about that.  But here’s the good news – many employers have been heeding the cry for relief by deploying alternative work schedules (AWS).  

• Saving Energy: Marion County (Florida) just approved a 4-day work week measure, which by their estimates will save about $250,000 in electricity through the remainder of 2008.  
• Saving Oil: Calculations by energy site The Oil Drum estimate that taking one commute day off the books would save about 8.3 million barrels of oil.  
• Saving Employees: If you want to take this idea to the fullest, embrace the work of CultureRx and their Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE), which declined voluntary turnover rates by 90%.

All good stuff, but what do the academics have to say about AWS?  According to the Sloan Work and Family Research Network (Boston College):

• Fifty percent of employees who have high access to flexible work arrangements on the job report high levels of life satisfaction (Bond, Thompson, Galinsky, & Prottas, 2002, p. 39).
• According to the National Study of the Changing Workforce, “employees who have more access to flexible work arrangements report fewer mental health problems” (BTG&P, p. 39).
• 32% of wage and salaried workers with high availability of flexible work arrangements report no interference of job and family life (BTG&P, p. 38).
• 34% of wage and salaried employees who have high access to flexible work arrangement report “low levels of negative spillover from job to home” (BTG&P, p. 39).

So If you have AWS policies, it may be time to dust them off and begin to promote their utilization.  If you don’t, look to a variety of sources (including the Office of Personnel Management) for assistance.  At a time when employees need to look to their employers for solutions, taking this proactive and empathetic step can make all the difference.

Let’s keep the conversation going.