A how-to-be-a-happier-staffer toolkit is here and being promoted on Capitol Hill next week. In a partnership between the Society for Human Resource Management and the Congressional Management Foundation, the “Workflex Toolkit for Congress ” educates staffers about how to implement workflex in their offices and careers.  

Workflex is the idea of a flexible work environment, according to CMF, which is becoming prevalent in the private sector.  

The toolkit includes a survey of what makes staffers happy in their jobs and how congressional operations could be improved. It also sheds light on what Congress is like as a workplace, according to CMF. It compares the Hill to the private sector with insight from staffers and members paired with comparative data.  

SHRM will lobby for human resources March 16, including their concerns with the impact of the Labor Department’s overtime proposal, which they think will result in more employees moving to non-exempt status and have fewer opportunities for workflex.  

To coincide with that initiative, the group plans to share the guide. Staffers can breathe a sigh of relief when they see this group coming to help — it won’t be be there asking for something.  

The guide includes worksheets and explanations of what workflex could mean for staffers. While private sector companies are increasingly implementing workflex, SHRM’s goal is to bring it to the Hill.  

Starting in 2011, CMF and SHRM surveyed a random sample of lawmakers and all House and Senate personal office staffers. In 2015, they conducted research on workflex policies in both chambers and are now releasing the data, followed by training sessions. SHRM’s Lisa Horn, a former Hill staffer, is the brains behind the operation.

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