Four Chattanooga organizations received the Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility for 2007: The Center for Community Career Education at UTC; Management Recruiters  International Chattanooga (MRI); Reading Education for Adult Development (READ) of Chattanooga, Inc.; and Unum. The awards were presented by the Chamber during its Annual Meeting on August 29 at the Chattanooga Convention Center. The Sloan Awards are part of When Work Works, a national project on workplace effectiveness and flexibility from the Families and Work Institute in partnership with the Institute for a Competitive Workforce, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Twiga Foundation. The Chattanooga Area Chamber was the local sponsor for the 2007 awards. "Workplace flexibility is an essential tool for helping businesses solve their challenges attracting, developing and retaining the talented workers they need to innovate and prosper," said Chamber President and CEO Tom Edd Wilson. "The When Work Works initiative is not just an award, it's a nationwide education campaign to demonstrate the value of workplace flexibility as a sound business decision." Chattanooga is one of 24 communities across the country that present the Sloan Awards. Recipients are recognized for flexible scheduling, job sharing, telecommuting and encouraging employees in continuing their education. Award winners have undergone a rigorous analysis that measures them against a representative sampling of  employers across the country.     Lori Hairrell of READ and MRI's Al Clark display their Sloan Award statues. Sandy Cole of UTC and Tom White of Unum also collected Sloan Awards at the Chamber's Annual Meeting. Photo by David Andrews. The Center for Community Career Education at UTC -- a career and educational counseling and training center – provides a variety of flexible benefits, including sick and annual leave, flexible work schedules, compensatory time and time off for volunteering. "Having the flexibility to adjust working hours enables staff to find the time for themselves and their families and be able to  re-energize for the next day," says Center Director Sandy Cole. "We are delighted with a second Sloan Award and will continue to pursue processes that improve our organizational climate and make the center a preferred place for employment.” At MRI, office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. but the timeframe is far from rigid, according to MRI managing partner Al Clark. "If an employee needs to be out for an appointment or a kid's game or to get a few things done around the house, they have the freedom to do so," he says. "The schedule is based on accomplishment more than set hours." MRI also offers a "working moms" program that targets professional women returning to the workforce after staying home to raise their children. The program allows them to arrive at work after the children leave for school and return home by the time the school bus drops off the youngsters at their houses. "Much of our work can be done with a phone and computer," Clark says. "If there are things that need to be done, the employee can do them from home as time allows. A happy family means a happy employee, so we strongly encourage balance between our employees' personal and professional lives."   READ Executive Director Lori Hairrell says her employees, who teach people to read, are extremely dedicated to their clients. "That means they often spend a lot of time and energy helping beyond what our program can offer," she says. "So it is important to ensure that our employees are happy and appreciated.   "If an employee is sick, they stay home. If there is a family emergency, we make sure their responsibilities are covered. If a break from the stress of work is needed, we encourage a vacation." Hairrell says READ employees contribute so much to their clients' quality of life that it is only good business to protect and support the employees' quality of life.   Unum, 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.   The company's Call Center allows a number of employees to work from home (telecommute) by leveraging specific programs and technology. Other arrangements, such as job sharing or flex scheduling, have also been implemented.   “With this ‘menu’ approach to flexibility, Unum has been much more successful than a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach would have been,” Clements says.   Unum offers other programs that contribute to work/life balance and allow employees to manage their lives more effectively. These include offering a child care subsidy to employees with low family incomes and an employee assistance program to help employees deal with other issues.