American Workplace

Logo for the organization ChildFree Families

Equity for Childless Workers
Monday, October 23
Links and Resources

In this fourth segment of October's The Changing Face of America series, we investigate complaints from childless workers who argue that "family-friendly" benefits such as on-site day care discriminate against employees with no children. Some childless employees say since they don't have children, they want equal treatment for their pets. Others claim that childless workers are asked frequently to work late or on weekends and say they don't have equal access to flexible work schedules. This report will examine the backlash towards workers with children and how employers are responding.

Listen as NPR's David Molpus talks to workers on various sides of this debate as they discuss the issues, raise concerns and offer solutions.

Merck workers 'spin' to cut stress

Work-Family Conflict
Monday, October 16
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Despite record low unemployment, general prosperity and widespread job satisfaction, most Americans say there is something fundamentally wrong with work. With the advent of wireless technology, work has become far more intrusive in our hours away from the job. Increasingly, workers have less time for family, for their communities and for themselves. One company, though, is trying to change that. Merck, the drug corporation based in New Jersey, is redesigning the way work gets done and providing amenities to reduce workplace stress.

NPR's David Molpus talks to people who are trying to cope with the demands of work and life. A successful, high-energy mother of four who is a sales rep for Merck, has had to change the way she works. She's reduced her hours, but accomplishes just as much as she did before. Nevertheless, she's still busy from dawn till midnight. "My husband and I will sleep when we die," she says.

A meeting of Flex-Time Lawyers in Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Experiment
Monday, October 9
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NPR's David Molpus examines law firms in Philadelphia, PA, as they begin to offer flex-time options to lawyers in an effort to keep them on board. With 43 percent of new lawyers quitting their firms within three years, turnover is a major problem and firms are finding that various forms of reduced working hours is one way to increase retention.

We'll hear from a group of part-time time lawyers from several Philadelphia firms about why they are doing it, why other lawyers don't, how flex-time often hurts career advancement and what could make the current flex-time system better.

Whole Foods Market

Collective Management
Monday, October 2
Links and Resources

Morning Edition goes to Austin, Texas, as it examines Whole Foods and how its commitment to employee teamwork and information sharing helped it grow from a single grocery store into the largest natural food grocery chain in the country.

Whole Foods is a funky little health food store that has grown into a nationwide chain of 112 stores with more than $1.6 billion in annual sales. Today Whole Foods, which also operates under the names Bread & Circus, Fresh Fields and Wellspring Grocery, is a virtual empire by natural grocery standards.

The main key to their success has been sharing control of day-to-day operations with rank-and-file employees. Workers are divided into small teams. They vote on who gets hired. They have a voice in almost everything from product selection to display, from recipes to pricing. They have access to virtually any financial information about the company, including salaries of every individual in the corporation, and whenever a team increases sales or reduces costs, the company shares the extra profit and savings with the team members. Listen as NPR's David Molpus reports for Morning Edition.


Collective Management
Links & Resources

Books
The Human Equation: Building Profits By Putting People First by Jeffrey Pfeffer, published by Harvard Business School Press
The Loyalty Effect: The Hidden Force Behind Growth, Profits, and Lasting Value by Frederick F. Reichheld, published by Harvard Business School Press

Organizations & Websites