In the News

Accountability Resources president still her own woman (Austin Business Journal)

“I realized that I wanted it all, and knew I could have an exceptional career and be a great mom,” Arsenault said. “I knew I was extremely efficient and talented at recruiting, but also that to be successful, you didn’t have to block off 8-to-5 Monday through Friday. I felt that would have me miss too much time with my kids.”  Arsenault had professional reasons urging her to make a change as well. She had reached a plateau, it seemed, which left her feeling bored.  “Working for someone else lacked challenge and creativity for me,” she said. “So I walked away from a hundred-thousand-dollar position to follow my dream.”

Innovation on a dime (Business Lexington)

Businesses reap large rewards for little to no cost:  Through offering employees greater flexibility in scheduling and telecommuting, Moloney said, “our firm has found that we can take care of our business and  our employees by allowing them to be more fully productive at their work but also involved family and community members.”   Frankfort Regional Medical Center, another 2009 award winner, offers flexibility to employees through self-scheduling, flexible hours, and job sharing. Chip Peal, CEO of Frankfort Regional Medical Center, stated, “Flexible scheduling has allowed us to align our hospital’s goals with the career goals of our employees, creating a healthy environment that fosters growth and prevents burnout.”   Providing a flexible work environment also allows Frankfort Regional Medical Center employees to take advantage of a tuition reimbursement program. This program has not only enlarged the pool of employees who can be promoted but also offers them greater career flexibility.

Diversity – Law Firms:  Practicing Diversity: A 25-Year Tradition At Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP (The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel)

Life/Work balance is indeed a very challenging issue for the legal profession. We have maintained our focus on our flex-time program for associates, counsel and partners, and we have expanded our parental policy to cover both women and men who are new parents, including adoptions. Our goal is not only to have policies on the books but to ensure that we have a culture where attorneys can utilize these programs without fear of stigma.

In the Blogs

Workforce Flexibility Just Makes Good Business Sense for Desautel Hege (Greater Spokane Incorporated)

Our founder, Jim Desautel, knew the importance of work-life balance, particularly ensuring one had time for an appropriate amount of golf.  All kidding aside, we work in a demanding business and have high expectations of all our team members.  Our work often includes evening and weekend commitments and periods of converging deadlines.  We have always felt strongly about providing our team with flexibility, both because it’s the right thing to do for our people AND because it makes good business sense.  Our team members have full lives, with families, interests, volunteer commitments, hobbies and passions outside the workplace. We believe that supporting them in their ability to balance these things with their jobs is good for our company—it creates satisfied employees, happy clients and a more productive workplace.  Over the years we have developed programs ranging from flex-time to modified work weeks, we have created training and continuing education programs, supported team member’s pursuit of degrees and professional credentials and have worked to create a family-friendly and life-friendly work place.

The imbalance of work-life Balance (Balance)

To achieve work-life balance in any organization or institution, a work-life balance initiative must be based on three levels: the programmatic level, the cultural level, supported on an individual level.  Here’s an overview of what a holistic approach to work-life –Net initiative similar to this:

A Super-Scientific Study on Work-Life Balance (The Hip Mom’s Guide)

So I did a super-scientific study based on lots of empirical evidence started paying attention.  I watched and listened and I asked lots of questions.  The stunning results are in: each of us thrives—and breaks—under different levels of stress.  (We’re talking good stress here.  Let’s leave bad stress for another time.)  The key is understanding what these levels are for ourselves, and not worrying about what everybody else is doing.

America’s Unhappy Workers – Inclusion, Creativity, Flexibility Key to Turning Things Around (The Inclusion Paradox)

A truly flexible organization embeds this value reciprocally with its employees, applying flexibility to its job design, hiring policies, career management, and benefits. This flexibility can prove vital in attracting and retaining talent by supporting employee aspirations. HR needs to be more creative in coming up with a genuine menu of options in these areas. After measuring the organization’s demographic and cultural profile, HR should drive experimentation. One area where a more flexible approach is needed, for example, is in recruitment and talent management. Typically, individuals are hired to fit a job description. Companies might achieve better outcomes if they try to identify individuals with a history of achievement, intellectual and emotional intelligence, and the commitment and alignment to become a good employee.

Top Priority: Good Jobs (Huffington Post)

Here’s what I mean by that: a good job supports a family by increasing incomes, narrowing the wage gap, and allowing workplace flexibility. It is safe and secure, and gives people a voice in the workplace. A good job is also sustainable and innovative (for example a green job), helps rebuild a strong middle class, and provides access to a secure retirement and adequate and affordable health coverage. If it’s not already clear, making good jobs the norm is one of our top goals.

The Interview with Giovanna Bertazzoni, Head of Impressionist and Modern Art in London (Christies.com)

You have had a leadership role in the Work/Life initiative – tell us a little about that project? I understand as well as anyone the challenges in balancing a role as a mother, a wife, a daughter and being a professional. There are real pressures at home and being the head of Impressionist Art in London is a challenging and pressurized job. The project I undertook with the team on the Work/Life initiative has been an incredibly exciting and rewarding one. We spoke to colleagues of all ages, both sexes and from all over Christie’s to get their input on what Christie’s could do to support Work/Life balance and to date we have helped support the introduction of a global Flexible Working policy and this week we see the launch of Emergency Dependent Care in the UK for all employees. I also work to help support working mothers going on maternity leave and returning to work as much as possible, as it is a lot to juggle!

Baby on Board (Chambers President’s Blog)

In addition to all the activites we do a the Chamber, we also try to be a bit of an experiment tank for the business community.  We have an employee (Dot) who “telecommutes” with a flexible office schedule to accomodate taking care of her two children under five.  If you have employees that could make this model work, it is great andwe are more than happy to answer questions you might have about it.  And if that isn’t enough, we are starting a new experiment.   [Bringing] Tess (newborn) to work with her (the employee) for the first six months.  Are there times when it could be a distraction? Sure.  But probably no more than we encounter on a daily basis around the office.  As I considered this idea before I asked Katie about it, it really occured to me that it is a new day in the work world.  Today’s parents really do focus on the work-life balance.  If we can accomodate that focus and work with it instead of against it, there is a win-win scenario.

Overworked, Under-Protected, and Under-Funded (Care.com)

When you break things down by salary, there are three types of families in America today: low, middle, and upper class. Parents in all three groups face different (but equally huge) challenges while trying to balance work life with child care responsibility. What’s more, things aren’t getting better. In fact, over the past 30 years, the challenge of providing child care has gotten harder for American families. “Work-family conflict is much higher in the United States than elsewhere in the world,” reports The Three Faces of Work-Family Conflict, a new study released this week by WorkLife Law and the Center for American Progress. “Not only do American families work longer hours; they do so with fewer laws to support working families.”

What running can teach you about the work-life balance (Startup Cafe)

Ultimately, everyone wants to get ahead. This is understandable since we’re constantly told that few startups survive. The statistics are against us. We need to move quickly, react and keep moving. Driven by the sense of urgency, we want to go fast, often working long hours and little time for R&R.

Work/Life Policies Can Enhance the Bottom Line — Fem 2.0 Wake Up! Campaign (PunditMom)

I think we’ve all pretty much figured out by now there is no such thing as work/life “balance.”  It would really be nice, but with the pressures of work, and trying to make sure we keep our jobs in this difficult economy, and the ever-increasing demands of our families, balance is elusive at best and non-existent at worst. But that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be evolving work/life policies to ease up on everyone, including paid maternity/paternity leave, paid sick leave and the ability to work more flexibly.

Is Work/Life Balance Possible In Social Media Careers? (Brazen Careerist)

Look at all the social media A-listers. They’re blogging–frequently. They’re tweeting constantly. They’re traveling all the time, doing speaking engagements. They’re getting book deals. They’re reading masses of stuff–blog posts, books, articles. They’re on pretty much all the time. How do you live that life and have time to devote to family or friends or spouses or kids.  I’m nothing close to a social media A-lister, but I do have a social media career and I’m here to tell you that finding a way to work 8 hours a day, blog, read, socialize either online or off and just stay on top of the things I need not only to do my job now to the best of my ability but also hopefully ensure that I stay gainfully employed for the next 25+ years in what’s becoming an increasingly lucrative and competitive field….it’s exhausting.

‘Young’ may be a label, but smart firms covet Gen Yers (Democrat and Chronicle)

Employers also are looking beyond the jeans and faux hawks and tapping into the strengths of younger workers. Some companies even tout things like “small company feel” and “workplace flexibility” to attract and retain Gen Yers. In the recent Fortune “100 Best Companies to Work For” list, companies like Wegmans and Marriott — which encourage and reward employees for developing innovative approaches to workflow — have won over the Millenials.At Xerox, it isn’t uncommon for a Gen Yer to help a colleague (old enough to be his dad) learn to use interoffice instant messenger to make communication more efficient, says Maribel Zayas, manager of the Xerox internship program. And without knowing it, the older work force at Xerox has helped Gen Yers realize the importance of face-to-face communication and feedback — something Millenials don’t get much of in this age of texting and online gaming.

Discussions

Interesting Q & A on LinkedIn about how to know when you are allotting enough time to family vs. work.

Also on LinkedIn: How can we reframe work/life balance to be inclusive?

Events

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 Best Practices – February 25, 2:30-4:30 – University of Kentucky, Lexington Campus – free

Work Life Conference – March 25-26, Washington, DC

Join us on March 25–26, 2010 for our annual thought–leader conference for work life, HR, diversity and talent management professions. This year we will explore the “New Normal” in the Global Economy: What is it and what are the implications for work life and talent management?

Workplace Flexibility Summit – April 7, Dallas, TX

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

Work Life Balance Strategies on Career Life Balance Radio featuring Leanne Chase, Founder and President of Career Life Connection.

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.

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.