Business has been tough over the last couple of years – specifically for businesses with a significant number of employees. Companies are not replacing the attrition they experience as quickly as they have in the past. In fact, based on our firm’s experience, many companies have a work force that is as high as thirty percent lower than highs in the 1990’s. What does this mean for existing and remaining employees? This has without a doubt resulted in greater workloads, longer hours and less control over work-life balance. And yet, not all companies and employees are facing these issues though.
Recently (as noted in a Toronto Star article by Sheryl Smolkin), the Toronto-based law firm McCarthy Tetrault won several awards for being a family-friendly work place. Based on my personal knowledge, McCarthy Tetrault is a large, very prestigious Toronto firm that employs over 1,500 employees in five Canadian cities. So how do they do it? They offer their lawyers significantly above average maternity benefits that include:
- providing payments during the Employment Insurance (EI) waiting period and bumps during the 15 weeks of maternity leave
- helping with childcare and nanny searches as well as flexibility in workloads and scheduling
More importantly, the firm has changed its culture; where in the past it may have frowned on providing flex time or shortened work weeks in particular situations, it is now open to allowing employees to work alternative work hour options.
During these trying economic times, being more attentive and flexible with your staff can only result in greater employee satisfaction, the ability to retain your higher quality employees and most importantly, happy and thus more productive employees.
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