Workplace Flexibility in the News for the week ending June 6, 2009

In the News

No Business is Safe While the Legislature is in Session (Kitsap Penninsula Business Journal)

On a federal level, there are many bills being introduced that require paid family leave. The breadth of these bills and the cost to business is staggering. On a positive note, the Society of Human Resource Management, in collaboration with other interested stakeholders, has introduced the 21st Century Workplace Flexibility Policy. This voluntary policy advocates employers implement a leave policy built on five main principles, which would provide a safe harbor for employers who participate.

Pushed to the Brink (Success Magazine)

These business owners fell out of whack in one or more areas and paid the price. But through vigilant, conscious living, they reinvented themselves and reconnected with what matters.

The Case for Womenomics (Washington Post)

Workers who put a value on their time don’t have to work 60-hour workweeks, Shipman says. “It’s not only a male-female issue. Younger workers — Gen X and Gen Y — all want a much broader life. They want more time. They’re not willing to be slaves to the corporate ladder. They value things outside of work and see themselves as more balanced, family-oriented human beings.

Womenomics: Can Women Blend Work and Family Better with Flextime? (ABC News)

Womenomics is the notion that women can have great power in the workplace, and that their desire to work differently is finally bringing down the old order and creating huge new opportunities based on newer, more flexible rules.

KPMG recognised amongst top employers for working parents and carers (Consultant-News.com)

KPMG has been named on Working Families’ first ever list of employers that do most to support their working parents and carers today. KPMG is the only Big Four firm to be named in ‘Top Employers for Working Families’ list.

Get A Life:  Marley and Life (Federal Computer Weekly)

Private companies striving to retain and recruit valuable employees recognize the need for work life balance. The key benefits are flexible hours and flexible workplaces such as telework.  Government is catching on. Legislative proposals being considered by the Congress this week would provide paid parental leave for birth or adoption of babies. Another would expand telework, a benefit that the Office of Personnel Management is also promoting.

Investing In Balance (Business Report)

“In the future, I think we’ll see even more family-friendly policies at all companies,” says Donna Bodin, the hospital’s vice president of employee services. “Employers are realizing that employees need more work-life balance to be the most productive.”

A place for kids (Akron Beacon Journal)

InfoCision opens new child-care facility to retain its valuable employees

For InfoCision, which is the second-largest privately held teleservices firm in the country, the turnover meant looking for new talent and the expenses of training the new person.  But a new child-care facility, InfoKids Early Learning Center, which opened two weeks ago, will help the company retain and recruit mothers and fathers seeking a work-life balance, Albright said.

Job Sharing That Works (The Lawyers’ Weekly)

It’s mind-boggling, how a young mother can work full-time in the demanding legal profession. But Jessica Yeung and Anne Lau have managed to find an ideal work-life balance. The two lawyers at the Vancouver office of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) share everything except their name-plates and in-trays: They have the same assistant, computer monitor and desk. And their clients are happy with the set-up as they are billed for the price of one lawyer, but have access almost 24/7.

She works too hard for the money (Salon.com)

The authors of “Womenomics” challenge professional women to say no to overly demanding jobs — even in a recession.

In their book, the news veterans call for women to say no to 60-plus-hour work weeks and overly demanding jobs that yank them away from their families. Instead, they urge working women to use their clout in the workplace to demand fewer hours at the office, turn down non-family-friendly assignments, and take control of their time by working from home more, checking e-mail less and avoiding meetings whenever possible.

Work/Life Balance … I’m Working on It (The CPA Technology Advisor)

Is it Work/Life balance or Life/Work balance? I guess that’s the question. Work is definitely a big part of my life, but I heard once that we should engage in our work in order to support our life, family and the causes that are important to us.

Older employees valued in fast-paced IT world (Computer World – New Zealand)

The engineer’s retirement “was going to leave a significant gap, because he had a lot of valuable knowledge that could not easily be replaced”.  The answer was an arrangement whereby he is available to IBM on a casual basis when required.  “There are certain times of the year when he isn’t available, due to his new lifestyle, but the rest of the time we can continue to tap his unique skills and knowledge by being able to offer him the flexibility he really wants”, Hellyer says.

In the Blogs

Is clocking out by 5 p.m. back in style? (NW Jobs Blog – Seattle Times)

According to a recent Forbes piece by Hannah Seligson, some burned-out executives have gone from considering 2 a.m. “prime e-mailing time” and vacations “a different setting in which to work” to reclaiming the 8-hour workday.

Audit Report Says “Could Do Better” (Safety At Work Blog)

The white collar public service, in particular, has a high incidence of stress-related claims.  The reality of the hazard has been acknowledged through preventative guidance notes from the OHS regulators and the general growth in the work/life balance movement.  Yet in 2009, the workers’ compensation agents  are criticised for giving this hazard insufficient attention.

Flex Work for Whom? (Economix, NY Times blog)

While the report is chock full of good ideas, it doesn’t directly acknowledge that what some workers call “flexibility”, others might call “vulnerability to pay cuts.”

Goodbye Economy, Hello Balance (Law.com)

It may seem counterintuitive, but flexibility and balance-oriented policies are tools that can help firms survive the conflagration. “Eat what you kill” is traditionally associated with the most cutthroat, ­internally competitive firms. A compensation system where one’s career survival depends directly and constantly on the dollars one brings in the door has been seen–historically, anyway–as inflexible. But “eat what you kill” and “work/life balance” (with its “work less, make less” compensation system) share one goal: to pay lawyers only for work that enhances the bottom line. As a result, the two systems can live together very well.?? Layoffs cost firms, both financially (the lost investment in laid-off lawyers, and the premium often paid in ramping back up) and in terms of reputation (from “They’re going under” to “Remember what they did to associates back in ’09?”). When those costs are taken into account, scaling back lawyer hours starts to look better and better.

Press Releases

WorkSmart Wins 2009 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Workplace Flexibility

WorkSmart, a leading provider of Information Technology services and solutions in North Carolina, has announced that the company was selected as a winner of the 2009 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility for the greater Durham area.

Hughes Named One of Maryland’s Excellent Places to Work

For the ninth consecutive year, Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), the global leader in broadband satellite networks and services, has been named one of Maryland’s excellent places to work. The company was recently awarded the ‘Workplace Excellence’ Seal of Approval and the ‘Wellness Trailblazer’ award from the Alliance for Workplace Excellence.

Durham’s Partnership for Children wins Sloan Award

Durham’s Partnership for Children, a Smart Start Initiative, announced Monday, that the organization was named a winner of the 2009 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility distinguishing the early childhood organization as a leading practitioner of workplace flexibility in Durham and across the nation.

Events

Flexible Work Options: How To Maximize The Benefits And Overcome The Challenges (June 29 2-3:15p) Audio Conference

In tough economic times, flexible work options can be quite compelling for both short-term and long-term success, especially as companies embrace work that’s more results-based and less rooted in face-time.

Career Life Connection News and Events

Small Business Expo and Career Fair, May 21, Quincy, MA

Leanne Chase of Career Life Connection to speak on Social Networking:  Linked In, Facebook and Twitter

Career Life Connection Founder featured on Workplace Flexibility teleseminar

Flexibility Isn’t All About Mommies: Why Flex is a Cross-Generational and Gender-Neutral Issue; summary of teleseminar discussion on Workplace Flex.

Advice Isn’t Always Good For You (MSNBC)

Leanne Chase, president of Career Life Connection, was excited about attending a SCORE meeting in Boston, but didn’t end up with much help. Despite that, she plans on attending again next week.

New Nanny Math (Forbes)

Leanne Chase, 40, mother of a 3-year-old and owner of a business, Career Life Connection,

Twitters Work-Life Balance Tips (BusinessWeek.com)

It takes many villages – 1 at home to help with family life, 1 at work to fill in as needed, 1 full of friends to keep you sane #worklife

Career Life Connection on You Tube