Workplace Flexibility in the News For the Week Ending 4/18/2009

In the News:

College Tells Women Healthy Balance Is Key (NPR)

A business class at George Washington University aims to teach young women how to balance their careers with their personal lives. Adjunct Professor Kathy Korman Frey and Alicia Buford, a senior business major at the university, is joined by regular parenting contributor Leslie Morgan Steiner, to discuss women and work-life balance.

For Japan’s Young Families, a Little Good News (Washington Post)

For decades, senior officials have been saying that Japan must find a “work-life balance” that produces more children. Several emergency programs have been launched to increase the birthrate. Government spending, though, has not matched baby-friendly rhetoric.

Top Places to Work in Columbus Announced (Inside Indiana Business)

Columbus Young Professionals has unveiled the top places to work in Bartholomew County. The organization sent out a survey to more than 700 young professionals who determined the most important aspects when looking at employers are competitive pay, flexible hours, opportunities for advancement and a positive work environment. Recognition, employee participation, work-life balance and overall company mission are also important factors.

Coddled Millennials can be HR nightmares (Business Lexington)

Family is also important for Millennials, Crane said. However, for the younger generation, that translates into a desire for more time to spend with family and friends rather than more money.

Intelligent Design (Government Executive.com)

One problem the family groups identified involved the lack of information from the agency on work-life balance programs. So Sanders and his team started to give employees DVDs and CDs that explained those programs and could easily be transported home.

Sending the Wrong Message (Human Resources Executive)

Employees with company-supplied PDAs too often think they must be on call 24/7 although most prefer clear boundaries between work and personal time. In addition to fueling resentment, such a situation may lead to litigation.

The Case for Work/Life Programs (Harvard Business Publishing)

The results were clear. In the early 1980s, the stock market would hardly react at all to such fluffy initiatives; if anything the effect of the fluffy announcement on a firm’s share price was slightly negative (-0.35%). However, that changed quite a bit in the 1990s when the announcement of a work-family initiative resulted in a positive swing of the stock- on average 0.48%. Now that may seem peanuts to you, but if you’re a $5 billion company, it means that even one such initiative could increase the value of your firm by 24 million. That’s a lot of peanuts. And a lot of share-holder value.

Panel: women hit hard by recession (Columbia Spectator)

A packed room of SIPA students heard grim prognoses on the current job market, work-life balance, and the gendered nature of professional stress as Sylvia Hewlett, director of SIPA’s Gender Policy Program and founding president of the Center for Work-Life Policy, outlined the effects of the recession on women.

Boost the Troops’ Morale After a Round of Layoffs (Wall Street Journal)

When times are tough, employees don’t always feel there’s room to focus on anything beyond problems at work, says Mr. Schrohe. “You don’t want to create a crisis at home,” he says. While it isn’t a formal policy at Citigroup, he tells his employees: “When you can find the time, take the time.” During some rough periods, a healthy balance may not be possible, says Mr. Schrohe, but you still want your employees to know you’re aware of all they are doing and that the imbalance won’t last indefinitely.

Learning to Balance Work and Family (Washington Post)

Adjunct professor Kathy Korman Frey was online Monday, April 13, at 12 noon ET to discuss the course and strategies for achieving work-life balance. (chat transcript follow)

Millennials may see work and life differently, but they’re every bit as dedicated (Dallas News)

Don’t call them lazy. They work hard, just with a different definition of success. To them work/life balance is more life first, then work.

Flexible options for the rest of us (Fortune)

Look at all the high-powered women who recently left high-powered jobs: Suhkinder Singh Cassidy, who was president of Asia-Pacific & Latin American operations at Google (GOOG); Dawn Hudson, former chief of Pepsi-Cola (PEP) North America; and Susan Arnold, who quit the presidency at Procter & Gamble (PG). Singh Cassidy and Hudson are opting for more flexible positions.

Health before wealth for Asia’s top-earners – survey (Reuters – India)

Rich Asians believe staying healthy is more important than being wealthy, with a regional survey showing the majority are also keen to spend more time with family and friends than at the office.

MEPs back EU maternity leave increase (The Parliment.com – UK)

Plans to increase maternity leave and introduce paternity leave provisions will help women achieve a better work-life balance and “indirectly” increase female participation in higher positions…

Time to get your act together (Pharma Focus – UK)

I have a confession to make. Sometimes, when I’m on a training course, I think I might be better off at circus school. I have to juggle my career, family and other commitments, balance work and life, and occasionally jump through flaming hoops into the unknown. And then there is the occasional lion, hopefully metaphorical, to deal with. But this is all part and parcel of being in a two-career family with small children and ageing parents, something that many of us have to deal with in our working and daily lives.

A Woman’s Work Is Never Done (The Times – South Africa)

Working mothers also do not have to hide their family commitments anymore. “People are talking about it more. Corporate values have changed and people understand the demands of a working mom’s life. Bosses have become more aware of the work- life balance,” said Czakan.

Press Releases:

CEOs Plan More Layoffs While Most Employees Willing to Save Jobs with Schedule Change or Pay Cut

…a new survey finds 94 percent of full-time employees willing to save jobs by changing or reducing their schedule, or taking a pay cut. The finding is from the 2009 Annual Work+Life Fit(TM) Reality Check, a telephone survey of a national probability sample of 757 full-time employed adults, sponsored by Work+Life Fit, Inc. and conducted by Opinion Research Corporation March 26 – 30.

Social Networking Goes Corporate

For many office workers finding a work-life balance isn’t easy. People are becoming increasingly unfit and stressed due to being overworked and lacking motivation. More than 7 out of 10 people struggle to find the recommended 30 minutes exercise a day.

In the blogs:

Toward A New Definition of Work-Life Balance (National Post – Canada)

We’ve gained a much greater understanding in recent years of how work spills over into the home and vice versa. Interest in work-life balance has expanded as both work and family pressures increase.

How to Move Your Stock Price Up (Young Women Misbehavin’)

Flexible work schedules need to be viewed as a positive and productive approach to 21st century workplaces, not simply an accommodation for a few.

Trends in State Legislatures: Guns, Immigration, Time Off (Your HR Resource)

Laws requiring workplace flexibility are “moving fast,” Coleman said, with at least 16 states “grappling with some form of expansion of paid or unpaid leave.”

Amazing Practices in Recruiting — ERE Award Winners 2009 (Part 1 of 2) (ERE.Net)

They have four key brand pillars including Learning and development, Workplace flexibility, Inclusive community, and Opportunity.

Deep in the Trenches of Phase 2 (The Young Texas Lawyer)

I expected the competition I experienced in law school to extend into the profession. And maybe it does, but I haven’t encountered it yet. Established attorneys are more than happy to offer you any advice whether it be with the actual practice of law, business management, or with work-life balance. All you have to do is ask.

Are You Happy With Your Work/Life Balance? (My Global Career)

Most people tend to connect work/life balance with time or hours spent at work.  While that can be part of it, I would like to challenge your thinking on a deeper level.  I believe it’s about the quality of how you spend your time, not just time itself.  I ask myself: “How rewarded do I feel by what I did today?”

The importance of giving yourself time off from your Business (Small Business Examiner)

Cultivating an effective work-life balance may not always be easy, but it is important, for avoiding business burnout, and also making time for what you genuinely enjoy.

Work Life Balance Tips For Home Based Business Owners (Betternetworker.com)

Work life balance is commonly talked about today, studied at universities world wide and increasingly offered to employees, knowing just how to achieve the best balance is difficult especially if you are the owner operator of a home based business. These 3 simple steps will ensure you make the most of your work life balance.

Events:

Step-by-Step Best Practices For Engaging, Developing & Managing Generation Y (4/20/2009 – audio conference)