WOW! I am passionate about this article! I absolutely attribute much of our success at The Riverbend Group to a culture that values flexibility. Giving your team the flexibility to live their life and pursue their interests outside of work is not only the right thing to do for them, but the right thing do to for your business. Happy, balanced, and appreciative team members increase in their gratitude for your company. Their loyalty and their commitment to help your company thrive increase simultaneously. Your people become so grateful for a place to work that not only encourages but celebrates their lives outside of work, then in return they work harder and smarter for you to ensure the company thrives — it becomes a virtuous circle. There is no doubt that workplace flexibly has directly led to our year-over-year success — a happy, passionate team directly impacts our quality output and client satisfaction.
In addition, I LOVE to see the shout out here by Robert Riebroek, chief executive of PepsiCo Australia and New Zealand, that also includes men. I get tired of work place flexibility only being important for women. Men should want, and need, the same flexibility. I will never forget the impact of looking up into the stands back in my high school days and seeing my father there …cheering me on. Dads’ presence at home is pivotal to developing our future generation ….the ones who will be leading and “leaving loudly” just like Robert.
Finally, I’m grateful for his “lead from the top” reminder. It is a big wake up call for me, as a leader, that I probably do not leave work “loud enough,” often enough. I do “loudly” celebrate when my team does, but as managers, we need to make sure our team feels safe to “leave” as they need to. This safety comes from us modeling the behavior.
-d