Workplace Flexibility in the News for the Week Ending June 27, 2009

In the News

City offers flexible work schedules (Suffolk News Herald, Virginia)

The city of Suffolk plans to offer some flexible scheduling options to its employees beginning next month, the city’s human resources director said.  “We want to provide employees with what we call a work/life balance,” said Human Resources Director Ronnie Charles. “It helps them with child care, elder care, a number of different issues.”

Cisco Touts Telecommuting (InfomationWeek)

In a generally glowing report, the networking company found that telecommuting improved employee productivity, job satisfaction and work-life flexibility. The average Cisco employee spends two days telecommuting each week…While it’s implicit, Cisco didn’t state the obvious fact that increased workforce telecommuting would boost bandwidth usage, which in turn could stoke additional sales of networking equipment.[For Cisco]

Kelly Services Says Technology Drives How We Work and Where We Work (Ajax World Magazine)

The ability for employees to work anywhere, at any time is a motivating force behind improved employee engagement and a better balance between work and personal life. The findings are part of the Kelly Global Workforce Index, which obtained the views of approximately 100,000 people in 34 countries covering North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

Work-Life Balance:  Ignore at Your Peril (About.com)

Today’s new article recognizes the most significant component of our June celebration of Professional Wellness Month: work-life balance. This topic has consumed my writing for several weeks because it is a major recruiting and retention factor for younger employees.

Microchip, Intel, CGCC win awards (East Valley Tribune, Phoenix)

The award, which is given to firms nationwide, recognizes them for offering excellent workplace flexibility policies.

Poll: Fewer fathers want to be stay-at-home dads (CNN.com)

Working dads, like so many employees in today’s workforce, are facing heavier workloads and longer hours as businesses struggle to do more with less. If you’re feeling pulled in opposing directions by your job and family, talk to your supervisor. Employers are more willing than ever to help employees strike a work/life balance that benefits both the individual and the company. Yet, nearly half of working fathers don’t take advantage of the flexible work arrangement they have available to them.

New-style dads: involved, cool and a little nervous (Courier-Journal, Louisville)

Those who study fatherhood say today’s dads are forging a new identity, as working women press for a more egalitarian home life, and workplace flexibility makes it possible for dads to have more time with the kids. Dads today aren’t the stuffy or clueless fathers portrayed on TV.

Metro Firms are Top Employers (New Brunswick Business Journal)

The top 25 were unveiled at a luncheon in Halifax with 11 new companies making the list. A driving force behind the recognitions were how the companies excelled in creating a healthy work-life balance for their employees, from letting workers bring their pets to the office on Fridays, to offering very flexible work schedules.

Bruce GM Tops Best Places To Work (Chronicle-Herald, Halifax)

A driving factor in this year’s roster is that most of the companies excel in creating a healthy work-life balance for their employees.

Exhausted, guilt-ridden, torn between career and children. No, not YOU, girls. Having it all is even harder for us men (Daily Mail, UK)

So can men have it all? The answer, for those of us who have to work for a living, is probably not. You’ve got to keep an eye on your BlackBerry while you’re at your child’s football match, and leave it on vibrate during a crucial meeting in case the babysitter calls. The notion of work-life balance appears as untractable as ever.   Of course, that makes us no different from the women who have been valiantly trying to keep the plates spinning for considerably longer. At long last we have equality  -  whether it’s the parity we’d all hoped for is another question.

Happy staff, happy days (Business Day – Australia)

The best staff will stick around if there are flexible conditions and they feel part of the decision-making process.

In the Blogs

Jumping Back on the Ladder: Talking With Harvard’s Christine Heenan (Huffinton Post Women and Work Blog)

“Our flex policy was fairly organic. When it was just me and my neighbor we traded off aspects of work and time with the kids. The way we ended up having so many moms working flexibly was that’s what we became known for. At any given time at the firm, there was at least 50% of the staff working flex schedules. It wasn’t always women- for example we had a male colleague whose new wife was beginning a brutal schedule as a resident in Boston, and he worked two days a week [from his home] in Boston.”

Are Dads the New Moms? (MediaPost Publications Blog)

This younger generation of dads is naturally more inclined to be involved with child-rearing than those before them. To many fathers today, sharing parenting responsibility is the norm rather than the exception. Working mothers expect it. Telecommuting and workplace flexibility have enabled it. And right now, the recession is making it almost inevitable.

Options, Not Obligations: Being a “Family First Entrepreneur” (Web Worker Daily)

Warnke says that Wal-Mart and Sam’s Warehouse Club Founder Sam Walton’s last words were, “I blew it.” How could one of the richest people in the world think this? According to the author, Walton wasn’t reflecting on his massive wealth and business successes, but rather on missing family time.

Interview with SHRM’s China Gorman: Workplace flexibility (Job Search Examiner)

On Friday I interviewed China Gorman, Chief Operating Officer of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), about her testimony in front of the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections on June 11. China was called upon to discuss SHRM’s comprehensive plan for Workplace Flexibility.

Dads working longer hours and second jobs (Perfect Labor Storm 2.0)

Adecco Group North America offers the following tips for employers to reduce stress felt on their employees:   Focus on productivity over face time:  Employees should be evaluated by their work over simply the time they are in the office.  Allowing more flexible work arrangements will help working parents better manage their work-life balance.

Work. Life. Balance? (Meli-Mello 2009)

I’m starting to think I’m not great at this whole balance thing – it’s kind of all or nothing for me and I really need to work on that.

Three Lessons on Work/Life Balance, from a career-centric 22-year-old woman; or, how to choose the best sorority for you! (Ideaing’s Blog)

The silver lining here is that I’ve realized these work/life balance lessons at age 22 and not somewhere down the line.  Hopefully, when I’m older, I’ll still remember what a wise, kick-ass lady I was in my early twenties, and I’ll heed my own advice.

More Baby Time Costs Natasha Kaplinsky (UK News Anchor) £300,000 (BabyChums.com – UK)

A source said of Kaplinsky: “She knows that she will not keep her big salary and she is not worried about that. It’s about getting the right work-life balance.”

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