A local group of diverse business leaders have joined forces with the High Country Human Resource Association (HCHRA) and The Youth Foundation in an effort to ensure that Eagle County is not only the best place in Colorado to live and work, but also to raise a family.
The newly created ‘Business Champions’ partnership is committed to help local businesses increase productivity, innovation and customer satisfaction and thereby grow their bottom line. The partnership will do this by providing data, resources and tools to business to increase workplace flexibility options throughout Eagle County. “Workplace flexibility is no longer an employee benefit or an accommodation – it is fast becoming a winning business strategy,” said Lisa Ponder, president of HCHRA and Director of Human Resources at Eagle County Government. “At its core, workplace flexibility is about improving business results by rethinking how, when, and where people do their work – and that is what the Business Champions partnership would like to do for Eagle County.”
The group will launch this free program on Monday, February 25th with a countywide employee survey designed to find out what kinds of flexible work arrangements employees in Eagle County already have and what types they would most want to see their employer consider implementing. The survey will be open for all employees in the county to take for a three week time period, from February 25th – Monday, March 18th. Participants in the survey will be entered to win one of two iPad minis. The survey will be distributed via e-mail through the Vail Valley Partnership and with access to an online link shared on various local websites, in the papers, and on local radio and TV.
“I’ve seen firsthand how successful appropriate work-flex and family-friendly options can be in a company,” said Beth Slifer, owner of Slifer Designs and spokeswoman for the program. So I fully support the efforts of the ‘Business Champions.’ I wouldn’t be involved unless I truly believed in how impactful those changes can be for both employees and the business at large.”
The findings of the survey will be reported back to interested community businesses in a lunchtime meeting at the end of April. Local human resource professionals have agreed to volunteer their time and resources to assist businesses select the right work-flex options for their company’s industry, size, budget, and current culture. “Our hope is that company owners here in the valley will see this as a win-win for their business and their employees,” explained Angelo Fernandez, president-elect of HCHRA. “Once a company, no matter how large or small, has agreed to participate, any and all information will be at their fingertips.”
The ‘Business Champions’ concept is a result of the Youth Foundation’s Early Childhood Initiative team’s focus on children from birth to age three. ‘Business Champions’ was created in an effort to promote family-friendly practices in the workplace in order to help young families with their work-life balance. As the Youth Foundation dug deeper into how to put these concepts into practice, “Business Champions” quickly became far more global in its reach. While the Youth Foundation’s mission was to help those families with young children, they soon realized the concepts could also help employees without children, as well as business owners and even the bottom line.
“When we began this journey, we wanted to create family-friendly workplaces for young families, specifically with children under the age of three,” offered Kathy Brendza, Early Childhood Specialist for the Youth Foundation. “What we quickly discovered, however, is that if these best practices are implemented, it could change the entire face of business in Eagle County.”
Any and all employees in the county are encouraged to participant. To take the survey in either English or Spanish, go to: Survey – English or Survey – Spanish
For more information on the “Business Champions” program or to include your company as a participant, contact the High Country Human Resource Association, Lisa Ponder at lisa.ponder@gmai.com.