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Sunday Morning News

Employees Prefer Free Time to More Money

Aired April 1, 2001 - 9:14 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Time is money, we've all been told; but many workers are saying phooey to that; how about more time off, instead? Well, a Ronstat (ph) employee review found 51 percent of workers would stay in their current job rather than switch if they were offered more flexible working hours; 62 percent prefer an employer who understands the need for time off for personal reasons; and 51 percent prefer flexible hours over advancement opportunities.

Well, joining me now from our Chicago bureau this morning is Ray Baumruk of Hewitt Associates, a worldwide management consulting firm specializing in human resources.

Hi, Ray.

RAY BAUMRUK, HEWITT ASSOCIATES: Hi, how are you?

PHILLIPS: Very good; thanks for joining us.

BAUMRUK: No problem at all.

PHILLIPS: All right, why are people saying time is better than money, right now?

BAUMRUK: Well, I think most are saying that because time has really become the thing that's most scarce, it's -- people seem to be able to make enough money to make ends meet and do the things that they want to do, but what's happening is that they're not having the time to do those things -- or at least not a lot of flexibility in that time.

PHILLIPS: So does it really boost morale more? Are you seeing that in companies that give time versus money?

BAUMRUK: I think we're seeing a tremendous amount of benefit to the company and to the employee when there's flexibility given around time, whether it be flextime, telecommuting, compressed workweek types of situations. We're seeing boosts in productivity from 5 to upwards of 20 percent from workers who are allowed to use their time in a little bit more appropriate ways.

PHILLIPS: All right; let's talk about some of these programs that companies are implementing. First of all, there's gift of time -- for example, certificate -- gift certificates for weekend getaways versus a bonus check of cash. Tell me what companies are doing it. BAUMRUK: Well, companies are using a variety of creative ways to do that -- you mentioned a couple there. Many also are allowing employees to take paid sabbaticals, kind of to recharge their batteries a little bit. And sometimes those sabbaticals also are to learn some new skills or take some new classes which ultimately benefits the organization.

So there's a lot of creative things that organizations are doing in order to keep their people, in order to motivate them, and to attract others. It's still a scarce talent market out there, so companies are competing for the best and trying to do creative and interesting things to keep people.

PHILLIPS: What about this new wave of concierge services? I thought this was sort of interesting.

BAUMRUK: Those are really fun things and, again, it is about time and convenience. Concierge services, which allow people to, say, maybe get tickets to certain things -- so instead of spending, you know 1/2 an hour or 45 minutes on the phone talking to ticket brokers, you may be able to have a concierge do some of those for you, or get your car repaired, or have somebody be at your house for a repairman who has to show up; and we always know that those don't always come at exactly the same time that you'd like them to.

So really that, again, helps the organization because the worker is more productive, and it helps the employee because they're able to handle a lot of the personal commitments that we all have to deal with.

PHILLIPS: Ray, can you give me, like, say, a top 5 list of some of these companies that are leading the way with regard to reducing work stress and trying out some of these new flexible time ideas?

BAUMRUK: I think there are so many good ones. We certainly see Stass (ph) Institute in North Carolina, who has a lot of these kinds of programs that they've put into place. A lot of the professional service firms. Our own organization, Hewitt Associates, does a lot of those kinds of things. Earnst and Young is -- has been written up quite a bit -- Charles Schwab. Several of these organizations and many others that probably would be too numerous to mention have many of these kinds of programs in place.

PHILLIPS: Where's CNN, Ray?

BAUMRUK: Well, CNN -- I think CNN is probably trying real hard.

PHILLIPS: OK, thank you so much, Ray Baumruk of Hewitt Associates, take the day off, OK? Relax.

BAUMRUK: Thanks a lot.

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