Clear's work-life balance policies 'sheer pragmatism'

By VICKI JANE

It's 4 pm and up on the top floor of Clear's Takapuna headquarters, a couple of casually dressed employees are playing table tennis.

They're in a room which also has comfortable sofas and a TV/DVD player - furnishings chosen by staff on this floor for their "chill zone".

Several similar zones are scattered around the building.

These, plus mountain bikes in the foyer - available to any staff member, any time - cappuccino machines on every floor, and a "kiddies' korner" for visiting youngsters, are more visible signs of the company's work-life balance policies.

More impressive are benefits such as the 18 weeks paid maternity leave provided as a loan that doesn't need to be repaid once returning mothers have put in another year at the company.

In the past year, 12 out of 13 mums have come back and some are now on their second paid leave, says Peter Merry, executive general manager of the programmes office and human resources.

"There is a shortcoming in that this is maternity, not parental, leave. But you have to start somewhere and that seemed like the best place. Our long-term intention is to extend it to parenting in general."

All of which puts Clear Communications streets ahead of any legislative requirements and makes continuing Government wrangles over paid parental leave look a bit tragic.

The whole subject of work-life balance is one about which Mr Merry bubbles with enthusiasm. But it's not just for the warm fuzzies. This, he stresses, is business pragmatism.

"Work-life balance is part of a broader issue for us - that of becoming an employer of choice. It is about keeping the people we have happy and motivated, and being attractive to those out in the marketplace that we are going to need to drive further growth and development."

Two parallel trends are particularly relevant - the fact that worldwide competition for skilled workers is heating up, and growing awareness that workaholism exacts too high a price on families and communities.

A presentation to Clear's senior staff last week by US proponents of work-life balance, John and Jane Covey (see last week's column), reinforced what company research had already revealed. In the preferred employer stakes, work-life balance is a critical component.

"It's a very topical, very real issue," says Mr Merry. "The challenge is to strike the right mix - to meet those needs while maintaining a commercial balance."

That process is worked out with employee input - through surveys and focus groups that were kicked off not long after British Telecom took over what was then an ailing corporate baby two years ago.

Retrenching had swept out 180 jobs, there was talk of another takeover, and employee morale was in the pits.

Mr Merry: "We were haemorrhaging people and we had to shift Clear very quickly from being an old-fashioned telecommunications business to one that had a future in the new internet age. We had to do something dramatic."

Two questions were put to staff: Assuming we have just held a staff survey polling the quality of working life at Clear, what did it tell us?

The second question: Now imagine it's a year later, and this is the best place in the world to work - what did we do to make it that way?

A focus group technique that allowed people to respond anonymously gave management some very direct feedback - and some clear pointers for action, says Mr Merry.

"What came through was that first we needed to fix the basics - ensure people are paid properly and have leaders with good communication skills.

"Then we should address issues confronting people, such as time poverty, the struggles single parents face, the two-income households where work competes with children's needs, the demands of a work environment moving at internet speed, where things change quickly and people work the weirdest hours.

"The message was: 'Give us an environment that is more like a university campus than an office block,' a place where smart people can work in an atmosphere of informality, where they aren't over-managed."

Out of this process eventually emerged a 28-item A-Z list of staff benefits that range from bikes and baby gifts, through death and disability insurance, to gym discounts and sports events.

A 24-hour e-learning centre has been set up with a range of work-relevant courses employers can tap into when they want - the company has committed four full days of learning a year to each employee.

While there's no supervised childcare, kids are welcome to have lunch with parents at the on-site café, or use the kids' facilities.

For some parents, there's the option of teleworking - being able to plug into their desktop from home. Who can work from home and for how long depends on their role and responsibilities.

Each benefit has been carefully considered. You can't afford to do "silly things" when working in a highly competitive industry, says Mr Merry. Of course, a bit of spontaneous silliness doesn't go amiss - like the Irish dancer who staged random reels around the building on St Patrick's Day.

Or the regular themed social events that different work groups take turns to organise.

But at the end of the day, this is also about delivering bottom-line results, says Mr Merry.

"Research has shown there is a sound commercial ethic. Happy employees make for happy customers, who put money in the till.

"We don't want to be as clinical about it as that. We believe a workplace in which people are happy is fun to come to. We work such long hours in such a tough environment, that unless you can have fun at work, what's the point?"

vjayne@iconz.co.nz