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

HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#PracticesThatPay–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