ALEXANDRIA, VA-Once upon a time, activities such as telecommuting, cross-training, rotating compressed workweeks and employee autonomy were considered exotic experiments; something interesting to try, but unrealistic tools when it came to organizational productivity.

What a difference a century makes. According to Families and Work Institute president Ellen Galinsky and FWI senior vice president Lois Backon, 21st century  organizations had better be a lot more flexible and innovative when it comes to attracting and retaining talent. Otherwise, those organizations better be prepared to say “buh-buy” to that talent as it finds more flexible places in which to work.

Galinsky and Backon presented statistics from the "2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce" and examples of flexible workplace best practices at a March 30 webinar entitled “The Business Imperative for Building More Flexible and Effective Workplaces.”  The web seminar took place in conjunction with the Society for Human Resource Management.

The statistics showed that today’s workforce is nothing like the workforce of the mid-20th century. Employees are getting older, there are more dual-earner couples and there are as many women in the work force as there are men.

Furthermore, on the “woman power” side, statistics show that employed women in dual-earning couples contributed an average of 44 percent of the family’s income (an increase from 39 percent in 1997)  and that in 2008, more than one in four of women in such couples had earnings at least 10 percentage points higher than their partners.

To top it off, men are pitching in more at home; they’re spending more time with their children and in taking care of elderly relatives.

“The workplace of today is not your mother’s or father’s workplace, or your grandparent’s workplace,” Galinsky remarked.

But Galinsky and Backon pointed out that the workplace of today is a lot more stressful than workplaces of yore, with both men and women experiencing everything from sleep issues, to depression, to health problems. All of this means rising stress levels.

The answer to these issues?

“Employees in effective workplaces have better overall health and well-being outcomes,” Backon remarked. “They have fewer health problems, depression and stress.” This, in turn, leads to more effective business outcomes, she added.

Effective workplaces can, and should, include employee learning and autonomy, a good work-life fit, supervisor task support, a climate of respect and trust and economic security.

Aside from that, Galinsky said, the sky’s the limit in terms of innovation and flexibility. There is no such thing as a “one-size-fits-all” effective workplace. What works for one organization may not be 100 percent effective for another.

“Solutions must fit the problem,” Galinsky said. “It should work for both employee and employer. There’s no one thing that’s right.”

Galinsky and Backon added that metrics for success are essential, as well as involvement of top- and middle-managers in programs, and development of checkpoints to assess results. Don’t be afraid to change things if they aren’t working out, Backon said.

Finally, the speakers said starting small was essential. In using examples of flexible best practices from companies such as Cisco Systems Inc. and Margolin, Winer and Evens, Backon noted these practices started on a small scale, were adjusted, then rolled out as they became successful.