Flexible Work and Flexible Employees

Netflix ($NFLX) recently made a radical switch when it came to their employee benefits.  They are giving salaried men and women paid employee leave for a year when they have a child if they work in the streaming division.  Netflix is trying it out.  If it works, they will expand it company wide.

I find this highly interesting.  So does Gotham Gal.  Back in the early 1990’s when my children were born, I took a couple of days off.  Since my first daughter’s birth was a planned C section, we picked the day she was born.  We picked it around the Martin Luther King holiday to give me an extra day off work when the markets were closed.  The second one was normal.  We didn’t know the exact day, it just happened.

My wife was a top salesperson with her company.  She tried to figure out a way to work half time, or part time for them.  The company wouldn’t budge.  That was the early 90’s.  Of course today it’s different.  The company would probably find a way to work with her to keep her engaged.  The fight for talent is especially hard in sales.

The nature of work is certainly changing.  At my first job, I never went into an office.  I was a sales person and totally autonomous.  Today, I would find sales a lot more restrictive with all the virtual ways people have to keep tabs on everyone.  Back then, as long as I hit my marks I never got into any trouble.  I also had a great boss who would work with me once a quarter or so.

Of course, if you are an independent worker, you don’t have the luxury of corporate benefits.  If you don’t work, you don’t eat.  There is still a way to build a support network for yourself.

Co-working spaces are cropping up like weeds all over the world.  There are at least 2200 of them at last count.  Nextspace has a concept called NextKids in Potero Hills, CA that families love.  They have created a unique culture.  It’s not exactly like daycare.

It’s not just work that is changing, but commercial real estate is clearly changing.  There is a bifurcation in business growth today.  Large corporates are growing, and small 1-5 person boutiques are growing. Traditional commercial real estate contracts, leases and other conventions in commercial real estate don’t match up to the market.  Corporations take up huge chunks of real estate.  But, the Solopreneurs and small consulting shops don’t want to be tied into long term leases.  They are often on the move, and having an office is too large a fixed expense for them.

At the same time, it’s really important to be out of your house and in the presence of people.  Going to a coffee shop stinks if you want to get actual work done.  Hence the rise of the co-work movement.  But, co-working isn’t just for independent employees.

I was reading an article in Ad Age about Leo Burnett.  Clearly, Leo Burnett has always been on the cutting edge and a trend setter.  I think they are again.  They have adopted Deskpass for their employees.  Deskpass is a new feature of Desktime.  For a monthly rate of $200, you can work up to five times in a month at any of the co-work spaces signed up on the Deskpass directory.

That’s awesome for people, and it’s pretty sweet for co-work spaces too.  Often times it takes time to find a space you like.  They aren’t all the same.  Deskpass eliminates the risk of choosing.  Any co-work space that signs up for Deskpass has an automatic marketing engine.  The other interesting thing about Deskpass is it was built for mobile.  The entire UX was designed with an eye toward people on the move.

Let’s go back to the people that just became new parents.  They are hanging out at home, figuring things out with their new addition to the family.  The first few weeks are pretty crazy and hectic.  But, there becomes a point where things get settled and a routine develops.  What if both of those new parents had Deskpass?  They could get out of the house, and away from the chaos for a few hours into a co-work space near their home.  They could get things done.  They could stay in the loop at work.  When the time came, they could use Deskpass and the co-work space network to transition back into being a full time employee.  Deskpass would make the transition more seamless.   Maybe Netflix should buy Deskpass for their employees.