Work-life news for week of 1/17-1/23

In the News

Recession blamed for more stress and longer working week (Cambridge News)

Work/life balance is even more elusive these days according to new research from Clydesdale Bank.  One in seven workers in the East of England believe the downturn has made them feel more stressed at work, while over half (51%) feel it has made it more difficult to achieve a balance between work and their private lives.  Nearly a quarter (23%) also claim to be working longer hours, in some cases up to 11 hours more a week, than they did before the recession hit.

Manning the house: Paternity-leave fathers seek better work-life balance (SanLouisObispo.com)

Nevertheless, taking child care leave in Japan is still a daunting prospect for most men. The government is aiming to increase the percentage of men who do – its goal is 10 percent by fiscal 2017 – but a variety of factors are working against it.  “Before taking a year off work, I looked down on housekeeping and child-rearing,” said Yamada, now 42 and deputy mayor of Yokohama. “By the end of that year, however, I’d learned how tough it is.”

Recession bites in workplace for family-friendly policies too (Irish Times)

The need for family-friendly workplaces does not go away when times are tough. No matter how grateful parents of young children are for being in a job, they can’t be expected to turn their backs on the family until the recession ends.  Yet authoritarian employers, a climate of fear and increased competitiveness among colleagues fosters the culture of long hours and “presenteeism”. Some workers make sure they are at their desks first thing in the morning and last thing at night to show how much they are needed.  There is a lot of pressure on people to stay longer than they are being paid for, says Lynch, which has consequences for families and is particularly difficult for parents rushing to collect children from creches or childminders.

Gen-Y creates ‘parallel careers’ (Whig Standard)

Many are willing to trade high pay for fewer billable hours, flexible schedules and a better work/life balance. “They may work three days a week in one thing and two days a week in something completely different,” Luft says. “I’ve seen some people so strategic that one (of those jobs) may be recession proof and the second may be a hobby or something they love to do.”  A growing number of organizations recognize that flexible work arrangements boost employee morale. Provincial governments are also paying attention. “In Alberta, you’re starting to see the government being very proactive in helping students going through the curriculum trying to find different angles — not so much emphasis on one type of career path but perhaps two,” Luft says.

Public office in Colorado puts squeeze on families (Denver Post)

Work-life balance has become a key talking point in local political circles since Gov. Bill Ritter announced he was dropping out of the election because his wife and kids needed him more than the electorate did.  And before Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and his notoriously private wife, Helen Thorpe, decided to thrust themselves and son Teddy, 7, further into the spotlight, they spent hours talking about how they could avoid the pitfalls oft discussed by Ritter and his wife, Jeannie.  “We were both seeing if we could get comfortable with this,” Thorpe said after Hickenlooper announced he would seek the Democratic nomination for governor. “I wasn’t comfortable with it right away, but I am now.”

Michelle Rodger: Everyone’s a winner when you achieve a work/life balance (Business Scotsman)

Press Releases

SAS Ranks No. 1 on FORTUNE Magazine’s Annual 100 Best Companies to Work for List

SAS has long been recognized as an innovator in encouraging employee work-life balance. Employees at SAS headquarters in Cary, NC, enjoy on-site amenities including free health care, subsidized child care, a free 66,000-square-foot recreation and fitness center, and programs that promote employee wellness. As a result, SAS employees are unusually loyal. Annual turnover is about 4 percent in an industry in which 22 percent is the norm. This low turnover translates into long-term relationships with customers, knowledge retention, and low recruitment and training costs.

Events

Wake Up, This Is the Reality!: A Fem2.0 Campaign to Shift the Public Narrative Around Work/Life

From January 25 to February 5, 2010, Fem2.0 will present a blog radio series – one program a day, each zooming in on how today’s work environment and policies are impacting a particular community. The series’ purpose is to demonstrate how work/life is NOT just a women’s issue but everyone’s issue. There will be more details about each segment very soon.

Career training series resumes Jan. 27 (Washington State University, January 27)

Helping employees enhance their careers, jobs and work-life management is the focus of a training series that continues this semester with “Career Assessment and Planning”…The courses will cover: workplace communication, ethics, computer security, work-life balance and more.

Fully Engaged:Achieving Work/Life Balance and High Performance – February 23rd, 8:30-4:30p, Kent State Stark Prof. Education and Conf. Center, North Canton, OH.

Workplace Flexibility: Flexibility in a Multigenerational Workforce

Ann Arbor IT Zone
330 E. Liberty
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104

“Work, Life, Balance: No Excuse!” February 4 Lunch Program – Century House Hotel & Conference Center,
997 New Loudon Road – Route 9 Latham, NY 12047

A Conversation on Workplace Flexibility Research Pt 2 (Georgetown Law event)

Video

Career Life Connection News and Events

Leanne Chase of CareerLifeConnection.com will be at the #Connect HR event on January 27 in Washington, DC.  If you are in the DC area and interested in meeting with her you can connect by commenting here, on twitter @leanneclc or by emailing her:  blog at careerlifeconnection dot com.

Success: Advancement and Caregiving–Challenging Work+Life Fit Roadblocks (Fast Company)

Really challenge what a good mother looks like for you personally.  Not what your mother says it is.  Not what the media says it is.  What do you say being a good mother looks like to you, based on your unique work and personal realities that are unlike anyone else’s.  Here are some of my favorite resources broadening the conversation about what it means to be a “good” mother:

• The Mama Bee Blog
• Morra Aarons-Mele at WomenandWork.com
• Joanne Bamberger at PunditMom.com
• Kami Lewis-Levin at The Fence, a Working Mom’s Blog
• Leanne Chase, CareerLifeConnection.com
• Chrysula Winegar at Work.Life.Balance

What is a Mommy Blogger? (TheMamaBee)

Earlier this week Babble came out with it’s list of the fifty best “mommy bloggers.” In a lot of ways it’s a great list — I read many of these women and have linked to some of them, notably The Mommy Blog and Silicon Valley Moms Blog. But the list also left me a little conflicted because almost none of the blogs listed were issues-oriented…And yet, I would have loved to see a blogger like Morra Aarons-Mele (Women and Work, MomsRising), Joanne Bamberger (PunditMom), Kami Lewis-Levin (The Fence, A Blog for Working Moms), Leanne Chase (Career Life Connection) or Cali Yost (Work Life Fit) make the list. All are moms, all are successful bloggers, all write about issues core to mothering — and yet, somehow, they are not in the “mom blog” space.

Career Life Connection will be exhibiting at the Massachusetts Conference for Women on December 10, 2009 at the Boston Convention and Exhibit Center: Come on by and talk work/life balance/flexibility/fit at the annual conference where women can connect, be motivated, network, get inspired and build their skill base. Last year the event brought together more than 5,000 women for the day. Also be sure to check out the career fair raffle where Career Life Connection will be looking to put more balance back into your life with a one-hour massage gift certificate to Bella Sante.

Social Recruiting Summit – November 16 – NYC

Social media is rapidly becoming more than just another tool in a recruiter’s toolbox — it’s an important part of the future of the talent acquisition profession. The goal of #socialrecruiting summit is to have an industry conversation about these tools, talk about tactics and strategies that are already in the field and working, not pie-in-the-sky ideas. Leanne Chase of Career Life Connection will be part of that conversation. If you are attending the Social Media Summit or just in NYC and would like to talk about social media, workplace flexibility or work/life happiness with her contact her at chase at careerlifeconnection dot com.

Career Life Connection will be attending the OnRec/Kennedy Information Recruiting Conference in Chicago November 3 & 4th. If you’d like to meet Leanne Chase and talk work/life with her contact her at chase at careerlifeconnection dot com. You can also catch her and many HR professionals talking about how to fail spectacularly in business at this fun industry event.

Leanne Chase of Career Life Connection spoke about #work/life with Human Resources Professionals during the October 8th Episode of HR Happy Hour: The WorkLife Show.

ERE Interviews: Career Life Connection (JobRadio.fm)

Last week we stalked some of the job search vendors at the ERE Fall Expo in Hollywood Florida. This is the first of several interesting interviews from the expo floor. Meet Leanne Chase from Career Life Connection, an online community all about finding flexible work.