Houston Business Community, University of Houston Faculty Join Forces to Support Families in Workplace

HOUSTON--()--Recent research, including a study conducted by a University of Houston business professor, supports the idea that companies that provide flexible policies for employees who are increasingly balancing work and family obligations will see bigger returns than those that don’t.

C. T. Bauer College of Business Assistant Professor Tony Kong says, “Employers are competing for talented employees, and those who increasingly provide non-standard, customized employment arrangements stand to attract, retain and develop valued employees.”

Businesses like Google are leading the charge, providing flexibility to employees that allow them to customize their work schedules outside standard 9-to-5 hours. This modern approach, Kong said, reflects a workforce that is anything but “one size fits all.”

UH administrators are putting those ideas into action, with Bauer College’s Working Families Initiative, which allows faculty, staff and students to collaborate with the business community by discussing what companies can do to support today’s workforce, where both partners work full-time in six out of 10 families.

“How many times do you hear people say, ‘We want a more inclusive workplace,’ and yet if you look at the statistics, there is a mismatch between the rhetoric and the reality,” Bauer College Dean Latha Ramchand said. “At Bauer College, we’ve decided to do something about it.”

Next week, Bauer College will host business community leaders, students, faculty, staff and alumni for “Practices That Pay,” an interactive panel discussion exploring best practices for working families, family-friendly policies that companies have already implemented and the impact a diverse workforce can have on a business’s bottom line.

The panel for the July 26 event includes Texas Children’s Hospital vice president Diane Scardino as moderator, along with Winston & Strawn, LLP Managing Partner (Chicago Office) Linda Coberly; KPMG Managing Partner Tandra Jackson; Shell Oil Company Equal Opportunity and U.S. Diversity and Inclusion Manager Joanna Nolte; and C. T. Bauer College of Business Management Professor and Department Chair Steve Werner. NRG Retail and Reliant President Elizabeth Killinger will provide opening remarks.

For more information about the Working Families Initiative, or the July 26 event, click here.

Contacts

C. T. Bauer College of Business
Jessica Navarro, 713-743-4348
Mobile: 713-419-5486
jnavarro@bauer.uh.edu

Release Summary

Bauer College’s Working Families Initiative allows faculty, staff and students to collaborate with the business community by discussing what companies can do to support today’s workforce.

Contacts

C. T. Bauer College of Business
Jessica Navarro, 713-743-4348
Mobile: 713-419-5486
jnavarro@bauer.uh.edu