A non-profit employee works three, 16-hour days for a fundraising event. The 24-hour coverage is banked for later withdrawal. Two valued employees must reduce the number of days spent on the job. Their employer arranges a job-sharing schedule that fits both professional and personal needs.

Another employee is on the job at home via computer, an arrangement that’s worked successfully for four years.

These are just three examples of flexible workplace options used by Chattanooga businesses, as demographic changes and technological advances continue to alter the standard eight-to-five, 40-hour work week.

Seven local organizations were recently recognized as some of the best models of workplace flexibility in the country.

The Chattanooga Area Chamber presented the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility to Chattanooga’s Kids on the Block, First Tennessee, Jewish Community Federation of Greater Chattanooga, G.R. Rush & Company, PC, UTC’s Center for Community Career Education and Tricycle Inc. UnumProvident Corp. received an Honorable Mention.

"We offer a flexible work environment because our mission is to impact the lives of children in the most positive way possible," says Sandra Brewer, executive director of Chattanooga Kids on the Block (CKOB). "Our employees are at their most effective when we enable them to have a balance between work and home life."

CKOB cuts hours in the summer when the workload is lighter; offers time off for legitimate reasons when it doesn’t interfere with programming and welcomes staff children at the office if the need arises.

CKOB staffer Melanie Griffey went through several jobs because of workplace inflexibility pitted against childcare needs. "Last week I worked 52 hours when my children were away, and I reduce my summer work week to three days to spend more time with my children," Griffey says. The flex policies leave her less stressed, more focused in her work and a happier person all around. "All the Kids’ employees share my enthusiasm for the program," she says. " My cousin told me that if Iever leave this job, I’m crazy!"

Her own need for flexibility — as the mother of two daughters and stepmother to three children — influenced Brewer’s decision to accept her position two years ago. Although CKOB already observed fewer summer hours, Brewer introduced even more structured flextime options.

Brewer says the staff responds to flextime options by giving more time and effort — one employee solicits volunteers at church — thereby ensuring the success of the organization, which was recognized as the 2005 Non-Profit of the Year by the Chamber’s Small Business Council.

Flexibility options available to First Tennessee employees include adjusting time and/or place with a flex-time or telecommuting arrangement, a compressed work week, and job sharing, according to Leigh Ann Spurlin, vice president, employee services.

"These forms of flexibility make it easier for employees to attend their children and grandchildren’s school events, take classes toward a degree, accompany a relative to a doctor’s appointment, meet a repair person at their home, volunteer for a special community event, and schedule routine appointments," Spurlin says.

First Tennessee trust officer Fort Jones began taking advantage of the company’s long-standing flex policies last summer. Jones,who has a demanding job, requested a flex schedule so he could spend more time with his two sons.

Jones’ supervisor, Stella Anderson, didn’t bat an eye at the request. "Fort’s been with us for 21 years and he’s a high performer," she says. "Last year he was a top performer in trust, and that was while he was in the flex program."

His flex schedule allows Jones to spend summertime afternoons with sons,Warwick, 14, and 11-year-old Matthew, for fishing, movies or tossing the football in the backyard.  "I was watching my kids grow up before my very eyes," Jones says. "I wanted to spend more time with them."

High-tech devices — laptops, blackberrys, cell phones — make it possible for Jones to leave the office for extracurriculars and yet remain firmly embedded in the corporate loop. "The electronics revolution has definitely played a role in creating the flexible workplace,’’ says First Tennessee executive vice president Keith Sanford.

Flex options have been shaping First Tennessee culture for the past 10 years or more."It definitely influences employees’ job satisfaction and productivity and makes it easier for us to retain staff,"Sanford says."If you take care of your employees, your employees will do a good job for you."

Michael Dzik, Jewish Community Federation executive director, agrees that increased productivity and morale result from the esprit de corps a flexible work environment fosters. "The key is for the manager to work individually with each employee to create the best possible work environment for both the employee and the organization," Dzik says.

At the Jewish Federation — which serves as the central body of Chattanooga’s Jewish community providing programming and social services for Jews in Chattanooga — part-time employees determine their daily schedules and family caretakers may work flex-time.

Office manager Sheila Nunley was thrilled when flexibility options were introduced about five years ago. Comparing life before and after flex-time, she says: "It’s the difference between day and night."

This was especially true last year, when Nunley’s elderly mother needed care. "I took her to the doctor frequently and later settled her into a nursing home. I missed work for this, but flexibility lowered the stress level and I made up the lost time later." She adds, "I actually tend to work more than before flex-time. You’re inclined to do that in a workplace that trusts you."

G.R. Rush and Co., an accounting firm, established a flex-time policy in 1992 to accommodate C.P.A. Leigh Sullivan, a new mother wanting to re-enter the job market but not at the expense of being a parent. The company worked out an arrangement that Sullivan, now tax manager at the firm, says, "gave me the opportunity to stay in my profession and be a mom, which is my Number 1 job."

In fact, G.R. Rush’s flexible work schedule led to a tax department that includes eight, part-time seasonal "moms" with C.P.A. designations and accounting and master’s degrees.  They have 20 children among them, work 50- 60 hours during tax season and have their summers off. The department, with its very low turnover rate and high sense of camaraderie, is a strong team, Sullivan says.

"There is, of course, a level of trust and competence, necessary for a flexible workplace to be effective," she goes on. "Supervisors must know that employees are not going to leave the job undone — and communication is critical.  Employees must let supervisors know where they stand so they know exactly where you are on a project."

Depending on the demands of their position, other G.R. Rush employees may work at home using a virtual private network if they need to. "I wanted to avoid daycare when my children were small but sought professional work with my MBA," says tax accountant and marketing coordinator Sallie Brooks. "When I saw an ad in the paper about seasonal tax work with a company offering a flexible environment, it was perfect."

Executives of Tricycle, which provides surface simulation and design technologies to the textile industry, say they believe the best work is accomplished when employees enjoy work assignments.

"Employees with a large measure of control over their hours, process and methodologies will not only be more engaged in their daily duties, they will also care more about the product and performance they deliver," says CEO Jonathan Bragdon."Flexible hours and the ability to work offsite when appropriate are just two policies that encourage employees to bring their best efforts to the table every day."

Tricycle’s accounting manager, Nicole Striker, had previously worked in corporate settings with strict 8 to 5 hours. She was excited when Bragdon described flexibility options as one of the perks in her present job.

"He even provided a laptop so I could work from home when necessary," Striker says, "which is what I did two weeks ago when my daughter was ill and I needed to be with her." Striker appreciates Tricycle’s emphasis on the project rather than the clock. "We’re not chained to our desk all day but treated like professionals entrusted with accomplishing the task," she says.

The UTC Center for Community Career Education, a career and educational counseling and training center within the College of Health, Education and Professional Studies, provides a variety of flexible benefits, including flexible work schedules, compensatory time and time off for volunteering.

"Before flextime options were available, I was often frustrated," says assistant director Nancy Geren.

"Customer demands made it very difficult to get away at the end of the day and many times I had to stay late." Now Geren works late three days a week and leaves early the other two. "I’m much more productive, I’m fresher, I’m less stressed," she says.

UnumProvident, the nation’s leading disability insurer, has created and implemented programs that allow workplace flexibility within the context of business needs, says Marie Clements, assistant vice president of employee relations.

"I actually supervise a jobsharing team," Clements says.  "One of them works Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and the other Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; there is some overlap when they’re both working the same day in order to pass off information.

"It’s a win-win situation," she says. "I’ve been able to retain two very valuable, seasoned people by working out a scheduling option to fit them both. They would have left to find other positions, perhaps, without the job satisfaction they enjoy at UnumProvident."