Tomorrow is the last day to enter Recruitingblogs.com “My Future in Recruiting” contest.  So in typical me fashion…I entered…just before deadline.  Would I like a trip for 2 to Mexico?  Sure.  But more importantly I think HR and Recruiting are doing a great job of evaluating themselves and the changing workforce during this recession.  I also think if you’re interested in the discussion…you should jump in.  “Listening” is definitely necessary but talking is as well and it’s nice to see so many discussing this subject in a substantive way.

Some of the great articles I’ve read recently that influenced my answer include:

Candidate Experience: UR DOIN IT WRONG by Punk Rock HR

Interviews Are the 3rd (Really 9th) Best Way to Select People by The Staffing Advisor

Talent Camp And The Possibilities For HR By Rehaul by Lance

How to Go from Small to Super By Harvard

My Future in Recruiting…Share your’s and win a vacation! By I’m So Corporate

Google Gives HR Something New To Worry About By John Zappe on ERE.net

And for another opportunity to discuss the future don’t miss tomorrow’s HR Happy Hour radio show…it’s not about the future of recruiting but HR…and it should be a great discussion.

I first came across Jason Seiden thanks to this great article “Screw Your Career Path, Live Your Story.“  I found it to be smart and informative and an idea not often thought of…many just go along with the status quo…this was turning the status quo on its ear.  He continues that tradition here.  After my appearance on HR Happy Hour Jason tweeted: “@leanneclc Great points on #HRHappyHour yesterday. My take: To chase balance is to chase mediocrity.”  I was intrigued.  I’d been talking about this concept for over a year, was I chasing mediocrity?  The more I thought about it…the more I thought he had a point.  If everything is in equilibrium and nothing is challenging you or pushing you forward…perhaps that is mediocrity…and I certainly do my best work when challenged.  I asked Jason to clarify…he did…I’d love to hear what you think:

Work/life balance? Ha! That’s a funny one. (And don’t let’s pretend like changing the phrase to “work/life choices” makes the idea any less hilarious!)

Why is this phrase so funny? Because there is no such thing as work/life balance, and no such thing as a work/life choice—that’s why.  To believe that there is either is to perpetuate intellectual dishonesty; to make either the foundation for career decisions is to ensure mediocrity in life.

Let me repeat that: to strive for work/life balance is to ensure mediocrity in life. That’s not a joke, by the way. I’m not being funny, ironic, sarcastic, or witty here. I’m dead serious: work/life balance is a juvenile, incomplete, ill-constructed doctrine. Which is why when I speak about How to Self-Destruct, “work/life balance” is my lead-off.

For starters, the language of work/life anything guarantees failure. “Work/life?” With a slash? As if these two things are discrete items that can be weighed against one another? Excuse me?!

“Life” is all encompassing. It includes everything from my first breath to my last, maybe more. Which makes me wonder: if life is everything, then what the hell is this “work” thing that we’ve separated out from it? If there is a work/life choice what could work possibly be that I’d choose it over life?! These semantics subtly and profoundly frame our impression of work in the negative, and describing our world in this way guarantees a certain amount of stress.

You know what else guarantees stress? The extreme language we use to describe a lack of “balance.” Is your schedule “insane”? Is your client work “blowing up” this week? Are you “crazy busy”? Does your boss “drive you nuts” with all those last minute requests? Do you really think it’s possible to find balance in a world in which scheduling challenges make you “insane,” “crazy,” or “nuts”? Here’s a clue: no. It’s not. Not even if you had all the Calgon in the world could you escape that sort of intensity.

(Think I’m making too big a deal of semantics? Remember the story of Tower of Babel, which God put an end to not by robbing men of their architectural abilities, but by making it difficult for them to communicate with one another. Language matters.)

And then there is how people implement “work/life balance”—whatever the hell that means. I particularly love the exercise of looking at the 168 hours in a week and figuring out where to spend them all.

“OK now… I want to sleep 7 hours a night… that’s 49 hours down… then there’s commuting time, meals, workouts, entertainment, meetings, phone calls…” Pretty soon, you realize that Peter Gibbons from Office Space was right: when you look at the world that way, you really can only get about 15 minutes of real, actual work done in a week.

There is no such thing as a balanced day. Or a balanced week. Sometimes, whole months—or even years—are spent focused on singular pursuits. The idea is to surround yourself with your passions (even better, cultivate your passions from out of what you currently do!) so that wherever you are, it’s someplace you like being. When you surround yourself with passion, you can make each day what it needs to be for you to be successful.

Balance is something that happens over the long term. It is an outcome of always being surrounded by passion. And it is has to do with managing the tension across all the subplots of your life… not just one of them. Balance is not something to shoot for day-to-day.

Strive for passion, achieve balance. Strive for balance, achieve… jack squat.

So, when it comes to work, do you really want “balance”? The “choice” is yours.

Jason Seiden is the author of How to Self-Destruct: Making the Least of What’s Left of Your Career and Super Staying Power: What You Need to Become Valuable & Resilient at Work. His recipe for career success is simple: screw your “career path,” live your story.

What a great hour.  There was lively discussion with many callers and guests.  I agree with Chris Ferdinandi that we only scratched the surface and deeper discussion on work/life would be welcome.

Some things I learned and the great people I learned them from:

I will now be using the term “work/life happiness” instead of work/life flexibility thanks to @ewmonster .  After all that is the goal.

To chase work/life balance is to chase mediocrity.  This idea came from Jason Seiden after the show…and the more I think about it…the more intrigued I am by it.  More on this idea here soon.

Honesty is wonderful.  Thank you Jessica Lee for saying what many HR practitioners won’t but what most of us striving for work/life happiness already know.  Asking HR about “balance”during the interview process is deadly.

Which leads to one of the best points of the night by Chris Ferdinandi.  If you find the right fit at work…and have it at home…all will be well.  And I agree, we all need to spend more time in the interview/courting process to decide what the right fit is for each of us.  Even a great company like Zappos is not the right fit for everyone.  But add to that, that we all need to have honest discussions with each other.  If we are afraid to ask questions that really matter to us as employees, how can we find the right fit?  And also, the one area I think HR truly doesn’t always get…this is a courting process.  We are interviewing you as much as you are interviewing us.  Which is where I think Gen Y makes you uncomfortable.  They are asking the tough questions and expecting answers before they’ll agree to work with you.  That’s how it should be.

Steve Boese is a master ringleader.  He managed to keep the conversation moving well, fit many, many callers into the mix and didn’t have any one person dominate the conversation.  An amazing job!  I look forward to watching HR Happy Hour grow and grow.

Finally, many thanks to all who reached out to me during and after the show.  I have been a bit frustrated with how slowly my community is building.  But this experience has shown me I am wrong.  I have built a great, vibrant community.  Perhaps you’re just not yet discussion forum people. I do think the ability to discuss all the work/life issues and many more that were brought up during HR Happy Hour on the Career Life Connection site is valuable and I will continue to work on making that happen.  But in the meantime, I know many of you are listening and supportive and I thank you!

In case you missed my tweets here is the study I mentioned by Harvard about employee engagement and work/life happiness. If you are like my husband and your attention span just cannot handle the Harvard study…this WSJ article about how working less might mean working better is a good synopsis.

Take care all…and thank you again…it was fun!

Is sure to take place tonight on the HR Happy Hour radio show:

Why?  Because the hosts Steve Boese and Shauna Moerke have invited Chris Ferdinandi and I on and we are pretty passionate about this subject.  I know some of you are to, so please call in and let’s all talk about it.

Things I hope we get to discuss:

• The word “balance” – we need to stop using it.
• Work/life flexibility is different for all.  There isn’t a quick/easy solution
• It’s not about mommies!
• ROWE – I like it…but it doesn’t work for everyone and it’s just one way to offer flexibility
• Flexibility for hourly workers

And finally is the corporate work world shifting and becoming more flexible or am I just delusional.

If you have questions, thoughts or a story on work/life we’d love to hear from you tonight.

If you can’t make it tonight you can download the show later and of course, I’d love to hear what you think!

I have been known to be tough on HR practitioners on this blog.  But there are many out there who are forward thinking and understand the crossroads the work world is at.  After all it affects their work/life more in many ways than the rest of us.  And many of them face the same challenges as the rest of us.  Today’s guest post comes from a recruiter.  His take on what may happen to his work/life after the recession and how it currently impacts him I found very interesting…I hope you do as well:

A lot has been running through my mind over the last few weeks regarding what our workforce will do once the economy turns around.  So much that it has been literally keeping me up at night.

Articles I have read say that over 40% of those currently working will leave the workforce in the next year and 20% of those 40% will leave in the next six months.  That is a frightening number of people depending on how large your workforce is.  As a Recruiting Manager it is even scarier because the 20% referenced above will most likely be you’re A-Level Talent.  When I usually ask the question, “What are you doing to prepare for the rebound as it relates to talent?”  I get a deer in the headlight response.  Case in point, I was on a great Twitter-based Talent forum called Talent Net Live (#TNL) last Wednesday and was asked to lead a section of the two hour tweet-a-thon.  I asked the same question several times to get the conversation away from our current topic, but no one responded.  Now either my topic was not of interest or as my good tweet friend said, “They don’t know where to start or what to do.”

One of the first things talent leaders need to consider is your current workforce and your company’s current philosophy around employee need.  Flexible work arrangements, job sharing and balance will become more of an expectation from your workforce.  Think about the current issues your employees face – they are working twice as hard because peers and managers were laid off, they have not received a merit increase or bonus in the last year and may not see one for the next two until revenue forecasts become actual dollars. I don’t know about you, but I am tired.   There is not much work-life balance going on right now, but the Executives at forward thinking companies should be looking at this issue prior to the upturn.  Why?  Because your current employees will be former employees headed to a company who understands we need flexibility in the workplace.  We need time to ourselves and flexible time will be a key attraction to your new employees as positions open.

Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric told the SHRM National conference, “There’s no such thing as work-life balance.”  (Here is the full article published in the Wall Street Journal.)  I wonder if we were to ask CEOs under the age of 50 at different sized organizations what they would say?

Is there a way to refute Mr. Welch’s claim? Absolutely!  Companies should sell Flexibility in the workplace as available with everyone from the C-Suite to the customer service rep having access to flexibility.  Companies should be engaging their employees around Work/Life through surveys and manager to employee conversations (that is a face to face conversation by the way).

The focus of why I work is to provide for my family so that we can eat together, learn and grow together and most importantly spend time together whether we are on a staycation or a vacation.  Therefore, in my world, family comes first and foremost.  The great news is that my company respects that, and I appreciate that very much.

Michael Goldberg is a Talent Acquisition Leader who is passionate about bringing the best talent to an organization based on fully understanding the company’s business and aligning hiring with their goals.  His focus is on recruiting strategy, metrics management and building long standing partnerships with his hiring managers.  Michael currently leads the Recruiting function for a global convention and event management company.  Michael has been published in the July/August 2009 ERE Corporate Recruiting Journal, spoken at the 2009 Spring Kennedy Conference and will be speaking on Thursday at the Kenexa World Conference on “Preparing for the Recruiting Rebound.”  He can be found on Twitter @superrecruiter.

The statements and views made by Michael are his views only and not the views of his current employer.

I listened in on a webinar yesterday with Ellen Galinsky of the Families and Work Institute about “The State of Health In the American Workforce.”  Two of the best nuggets I took away were:

Weightlifting is to work as…Think about those who lift weights that you know.  They are dedicated not only to the days they lift, but to the days they rest and recover so their muscles can work at their best.  Workers can’t be expected to be at their best, either, if they don’t have rest/recovery time.

The health care debate is not only about health insurance.  It is about how to lower costs and get a healthier nation.  Health insurance companies don’t control this.  Humans do.  Yes, health insurance clearly needs reforming…but so do attitudes and wellness programs.  Being able to drop your dry cleaning off at the office is NOT a wellness program.  Having a discounted gym membership that you never have time to use is NOT a wellness program.

Here are some of the study’s findings that stood out to me:

• The downward trend in employee health over the last six years cannot be explained by age
• Less than one third of employees (28%) today say their overall health is “excellent”—a significant decline of 6%.
• The majority of employees do not exercise on  a  regular  basis.
• Nearly two out of three employed  individuals (62%) are overweight or obese.
• One third of the workforce shows signs of clinical depression.
• Four out of  five couples are dual-earner couples today.

Gender shifts:

• In  2002, men were significantly more likely than women to report excellent overall health—37% of men compared with 31% of women… In 2008, 28% of men and 29% of  women reported their perceived overall health as excellent.
• Work-life conflict  has  increased especially among men—by eleven percentage points from 34% in 1977 to 45% in 2008. In comparison, the percentage of women experiencing work-life conflict has increased by five points from 34% in 1977 to 39% in 2008.

And finally:

• Employees’ physical and mental health, stress levels, sleep quality and energy levels all significantly impact important work outcomes of interest to employers, such as engagement, turnover intent and job satisfaction.

I wish I could say I was surprised by the findings but I wasn’t. I mean after all, don’t most of us work or know people who do?  Are these above facts really surprising based on people you know, personally?  They’re not for me.  So I began to think about what the webinar didn’t cover.  Which is why this is and how to turn the tide.

Pointing fingers is not the purpose here.  But I think we need to understand how we got here and what to fix in order to move forward so here goes:

Human Resources is broken.  Just look at the name…viewing humans as resources over being individuals is part of the problem.  I wish I could say I’m the first to come up with this notion but I’m not.  A couple of great minds in the HR industry are ahead of me on this one, both good reads from inside the industry.  From Punk Rock HR “HR is Dying.  Yes? No?” and from HR Guy “Is Human Resources Fatally Flawed”

Your work/life is in your control – yes we are in a recession and people need their jobs to keep a roof over the heads.  I get that.  But there are people who are more financially comfortable who can  just say “no” when workplaces are unreasonable.  And why wouldn’t the workplace ask for more and more and more from workers.  They don’t say “no.”  Think of toddlers.  My little one would read “just one more book” all night if I allowed it.  But she has a set bedtime and she knows the rule is 3 books/night.  So how about making your own rules.  Like: I will be home for dinner with my family, I will take vacations and the office will not crumble without my presence, my parents health and well-being is important to me, so I will take time to care for them as they age, and if your corporate partner does not allow this…walk.  Find another.  If we collectively decided to only work for and buy goods from organizations that treated us humanely…the others would go away.  They simply would.

Corporations need to listen. Seriously!  Is this report really a surprise to you?  In the go-go good times you made profits on your workers’ backs without really increasing their wages and benefits.  So now that times are lean and you need them to understand your woes they’re not as understanding as you’d prefer.  Perhaps if you ever listened to their woes…they would be more understanding.  Besides, working them to the ground is not good for business.  Isn’t that what you’re all about?  What’s good for business.  It turns out working less, works more.

We all need to talk to each other.  Not at each other, not to our HR cliques, not to equally disgruntled co-workers.  But truly come together, discuss what ails us, and work toward a solution…together.

And there is some good news from this study:

• Employees’ personal or family life is more likely to have a positive impact on the level of energy they bring to their work than the other way around.

So let’s take the time to re-energize.   It’s important.

Let me know what you think of the reports findings.  It really is quite a good read and does offer examples of solutions that are working in the workplace today.

The little one is feeling yucky today and is staying home from school to cuddle with mommy and get lots of TLC so the first guest blog post will have to wait. But this came out today…a radio interview I did on the trade show floor of the ERE Expo with @ChrisRussell. It really helps explain what I’m trying to do with Career Life Connection and why. Let me know what you all think!

I was back in a booth at ERE Expo this year.  Which kind of sucks…you don’t get to go to the sessions and hear all the good stuff going on around you.  You miss a lot.  Like the fact that Laurie Ruettimann was announced as the Social Recruiting Summit’s Chair.

But that being said…who says you can’t make the booth babe experience work for you.  And I did.  And it was much better than I expected.  I am not a marketing genius…I just thought it through.  Here are some tips:

What bugged you at the last show…solve it for all of the attendees

In San Diego in March I had to walk off-site to the Marriott to buy a soda…and I’m a Pepsiholic.  Thankfully the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, Fl is a Pepsi vendor.  It was heaven for me with soda an arm’s reach away in my booth (even though I’ve been trying to quit) and judging by the amount of soda we went through, it was a hit for many.

It’s hard to eat standing up so bring some chairs…and a compressor to blow them up.

If you’re going to be lonely…hire a friend

And if he wears your logo on his T-shirt all day, takes pictures, twitters, facebooks and does a live streaming show from your booth…all the better.  Not to mention the ability to be at 2 parties at once later that night.  While I was wine tasting and chatting it up…my walking billboard was at the Indeed party with my logo on his chest.  I’m guessing he needed to explain that some.

Think outside the booth

I’ve been to this show many times, I’ve seen many booths.  Most are pop ups with graphic panels and a podium.  The reason mine was so interesting is because it was not that!  My booth could have gone a whole different way.  It could have been totally cheesy.  I was a little concerned.  But once I saw the chairs and figured out the banner sign and Jason Sadler agreed to come and keep me company, I figured I could make it work.  Still the night before, looking at a very large trade show booth box in my living room I might have freaked out a little…or a lot.

And even when setting up the day before I was unsure if this would all come together.  Once set up, I literally had 4 blow up chairs and a banner stand…in a double booth!  Thank goodness for the catering staff at the Westin and the soda set up.  It turned out wonderfully.

Don’t be afraid to change the plan

I had no idea the blow up chairs would be such a hit.  Truly.  However my little one’s reaction should have tipped me off.  She is insisting one will live in her room forever now.  So when 3 or 4 people asked if I was giving them away…I decided to.  I had no intention of giving one away…but why not!

So what went on at the booth that has been called the “Expo highlight?”

• HireVue tipped over (it was a contest…and he went too far)
• People kept pulling the plug on the chair in the aisle so it would deflate as people sat in it
• Tried to pimp out my friend Shannon…she just moved to Miami from Boston and was in college recruiting…anyone in Miami looking for a great recruiter…anyone?
• Was way too wired on cold-caffeine and am pretty sure Mike Grennier thinks I’m cracked as I had Shannon stop him from leaving the soda area because I thought he looked familiar (he was a very popular speaker at ERE, duh!)
• We did a live streaming show for about 3 1/2 hours…about…nothing and everything as far as I can tell (Go Jason!)
• Learned The Recruiter Guy thinks big brother is watching…a lot
• Got my first video interview for this blog when Sarah White talked about her workplace flexibility (below)
• Was lucky enough to have most of these fabulous women hang out and talk with me
• Learned that popcorn cannot compete with alcohol and appetizers
• Talked about work-life balance and workplace flexibility with really interesting people who all have a story

That is my mission of the day.  To talk about it, record interviews with those who live it, and to be on iwearyourshirt.com’s live show – perhaps the most flexible job I know…albeit with a pesky dress code.

And inevitably I will be asked “What is your definition of workplace flexibility?”

I’m at ERE Expo, a recruiting convention and I understand.  Executives and HR like nice, easy, clean solutions.   One definition, one answer, something that you can pull out of a box and start to implement.

But humans aren’t that simple.  We all have different needs, wants and likes and while our desire for flexibility may be more common, the kind of flexibility we are looking for may differ greatly.  So, I’m sorry, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for either companies or employees.  There are many options though…and they’re really not that difficult to implement.

ROWE – Results oriented work environment.  No rules, no cubes, work together, get the job done, be judged for your work

Job Share – 1 job, more than 1 person to do it.  Requires coordination and communication and can work really well.  Often customers rave about having more than 1 employee pay attention to them, and employees like it, too!

Telecommute – This is the one many think of when workplace flexibility is offered.  It  can mean working from a remote location full-time, part-time or as needed.  Many small non-profits do this very well…what’s stopping your organization?

% work for % pay – For example 4 days a week = 80% work for 80% pay/benefits or what has been traditionally known as part-time work.   It’s just often more career-oriented today.

Plain old flexibility  – allowing employees to take time as needed as long as they get work done.  Nothing formal or set in stone on this one, just everyone be reasonable and understanding

Workplace flexibility isn’t rocket science or brain surgery.  It’s just life.  And it shouldn’t be this hard.  It should come naturally if you want to attract and retain quality talent and increase the bottom line.  To the workplaces in the above articles who have taken the leap it already is a no-brainer.  You will hear more employer/employee stories here in the coming weeks in the form of video interviews, guest blog posts, and articles.  You will see how and why they flex and hopefully you can glean some knowledge and information from their stories to help you individually, to help your company, your friends and your family juggle/struggle with this work-life equation to define workplace flexibility.

And if you are at ERE Expo…stop by booth #205 for a chat.  I’d love to learn more from you about your realities in the world of work.  Hey, I could be wrong maybe it isn’t a no brainer…I just don’t think so…

Disclaimer:  this is a special offer for employers…not a usual article

Fill out Career Life Connection’s

Employer Form by Sept. 30

Get 3-month job board listing

We are excited to soon be offering a job board where employers who flex can promote their jobs and their employer brands.   But we have a few requirements…first, you need to flex, so please fill out this form and let us know how your company supports a balanced work environment or is moving in that direction.

This is not a democracy but it’s also not a tyranny.  If the form doesn’t work for you, please let us know – we’re  still tweaking.  Our goal is to build a better community/job board for both employers and those interested in working more flexibly.  We need your help to achieve this goal.  Please do not hesitate to give feedback, ask questions and air concerns.

Career Life Connection is an online community/job board focusing on research, discussion and job listings for people interested in workplace flexibility.