Archive for April, 2009

The 100th Day

Featured Guest Blogger April 29th, 2009

Amongst all of the discussion about the swine flu, let us not forget that today also marks Barack Obama’s 100th day in office.

Champions for working families have been optimistic about our new President, and here are a few reasons why, thus far:

  • President Obama has showed progress in strengthening the working class.  On January 30th, he established a cabinet-level task force, the White House Task Force on Middle Class Working Families, chaired by Vice President Biden.  The mission of this task force is to raise the living standards of middle class working families and lift the poor out of poverty. It already has held several meetings and town hall gatherings to get input from working families and policy experts. Workers and others can share their stories and comment at the task force website.
  • He has enhanced the voices of workers against discrimination with the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.  Within days of taking office, Obama signed two major bills that had been killed by former presidential vetoes or veto threats. On January 29th, Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, overturning a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision that made it virtually impossible for workers to challenge pay discrimination based on gender.
  • Obama has built a team of worker advocates. On January 20th, President Obama designated Wilma Liebman to be Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). She has a reputation for safeguarding worker rights and a long record of dedication to the Board’s work.  In addition, Rep. Hilda Solis was confirmed as Secretary of Labor on February 24th. Secretary Solis will refocus the Department on its core mission: to defend workers’ basic rights in the workplace. Throughout her 15 years of public service, Secretary Solis has demonstrated a commitment to defending workers’ rights and has been a passionate advocate for working families.

While some people have criticized the slow pace of the Employee Free Choice Act in moving through Congress, others remain hopeful that this will soon be passed.  As AFL-CIO President John Sweeney stated, “Over their first 100 days in office, President Obama and Vice President Biden have laid down a foundation of change for America’s working families. They have taken big, concrete steps on the economy, health care and the protection of workers’ rights that will build a more prosperous and fair future for working people and America. We look forward to working with the administration to pass the Employee Free Choice Act and comprehensive national health care reform in the near future.”

We look forward to seeing what the next 100 days has in store!

If I Knew Then What I Know Now…

Featured Guest Blogger April 27th, 2009

In 2008, Christina Barlowe founded LifeWork Alliance. Nearly two decades of professional corporate experience, coupled with an MBA and a Masters in Social Work, form the well-rounded skill set necessary to head the innovative organization that is LifeWork Alliance. This combination of extensive real world expertise with a comprehensive education results in a keen understanding of, and passion for, the needs of individual parents as well as the expectations of the organization. Christina has a four year old son who has reshaped her life and has been her source of inspiration. Please note that the views of our guest bloggers do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sloan Work and Family Research Network.

When I was in college and even graduate school (the first time), I had great ideas about what my life would look like. The career, the husband, the kids, the house, the trips and then BAM !

And so it all came, not necessarily in that order. The only problem was integrating those parts of my life proved challenging, or more like close to impossible. Not only was I having trouble balancing it all, I was firmly planted in my new reality but not enjoying any part of the dream. My identity became compartmentalized for thw sake of self preservation as I was thrust either by choice or circumstance, into my various new roles of boss, employee, friend, mother, wife, daughter, professional, and student. Finally, the roller coaster came to a screeching halt after my son turned a year old. I was clueless where I was and how I got there.  It was time for change but I had no idea how to navigate it and the definition of what I wanted changed daily.

This new reality is more prevalent today than ever. Women coming out of college have decisions to make in order to chart their course of establishing their careers and lives. If they are forward thinking, they are looking at how to integrate those careers into a future partnership, extended family unit, and possibly motherhood.

How do you know what form of work / life balance is right for you? Each person is unique and therefore each person’s needs are different. We can and should educate this next generation with our own road maps. You can stay on the main highway, take the scenic route, or make a detour either willingly or because life just has a way of doing that to you.  Would it not be a critical part of their decision making as they construct the framework for their lives?

It is with this inspirational journey that LifeWork Alliance was formed. The organization was formed to address the paradigm shift that is reshaping today’s workforce. The mission is to institute and promote open dialogue between organizations and working parents. I found a distinct void in any such service or community for that matter when I was working my way up the proverbial ladder, and especially when I started my family. I was confused and stumbling, and when I asked for guidance the expectations of my performance were even more demanding now that I was a mother. Luckily, I used that transformation to create a community both online, in corporate settings, and in off-site workshops where people can not only express their challenge with adjusting to their new lives, but also gain valuable tools and insight. There is nothing more powerful than validation and mutual respect.

Thought Leadership from HR to Navigate the Global Financial Crisis

Featured Guest Blogger April 24th, 2009

Juliet Bourke, BA, LLB, LLM (Hons), is a partner at Aequus Partners in Sydney, Australia. Aequus Partners is a highly respected management consultancy that combines the disciplines of psychology and law to assist organizations with flexible work practices, diversity and well-being. This blog originally ran on the Huffington Post on April 6, 2009. Please note that the views of our guest bloggers do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sloan Work and Family Research Network.

Since December 2008, Aequus Partners has been tracking the response of human resource (HR) professionals to the global financial crisis (GFC) — in terms of agility (how quickly can HR turn on its toes and change tack — e.g., from talent acquisition to retention?) and thought leadership (how can HR help pull businesses back from “knee jerk” retrenchments?). In particular, we have been looking at whether and how HR professionals have been able to wrap their minds around a new agenda for flexibility and the centrality of that agenda to business survival.

Of course we have been looking at public reports, but to identify under-the-radar practices, we facilitated a workshop on “Navigating rocky business waters with flexibility” at a national conference of HR professionals  in early April in Sydney, Australia. Our intention was to stimulate a discussion among HR leaders about the strategies they have been using to position flexible work practices (e.g., reduced hours, taking voluntary leave and working from home) as critical and viable alternatives to layoffs, because these practices can help reduce capital and labor costs yet retain talent for the upswing.

Our bottom line proposition was that the global financial crisis provides HR with a unique opportunity to demonstrate its value to business — namely, how to survive, if not thrive, under extremely challenging conditions. One hundred percent of the HR attendees agreed that talking about flexibility was relevant to their business’ needs, so what was distressing was the lack of quality of the discussion among this group about what they are doing (indeed 77 percent said that the information we provided was new to them so they were nowhere near the “how to” phase ). It’s as if they are looking for someone else to lead the way.

To be fair, we are all working this out as we go along. But what I want to say is: this is the moment HR has been waiting for, so seize the day. Lift your heads up from processing layoffs to think strategically. HR can be the business partner it should be by developing a sophisticated flexibility versus layoffs equation (which takes into account the obvious and hidden costs — e.g., the lower levels of engagement demonstrated by “survivors”), and then presenting business with clear, step-by-step, flexibility implementation options. Those options include developing a flexibility policy with an authentic statement of intent (i.e., communicating that flexibility is good for business because it will help to navigate the GFC), offering flexible work practices to staff across the board, skilling up managers to be able to implement the new agenda (e.g., by addressing their negative mindset or lack-of-confidence issues), and looking at job-redesign. As the Chinese proverb says, a crisis in an opportunity riding the dangerous wind. It’s not rocket science that is needed right now, but smarts and the courage of HR professionals to step up and demonstrate that we can help navigate this crisis with thought leadership.

Family Responsibilities Discrimination (FRD) Case is Found to be Viable

Julie Schwartz Weber April 22nd, 2009

Stereotyped assumptions about working women and families are very much alive and well.  And, importantly, they can lead to viable lawsuits, where employers unlawfully discriminate against workers – for example, fail to promote a worker-mom - because of the employers’ perception that caregiving responsibilities outside of the workplace will interfere with the workers on-the-job performance. A recent decision by the First Circuit Court of Appeals on a Family Responsibilities Discrimination (FRD) case, Chadwick v. Wellpoint, Inc., speaks directly to this idea.

The case history of Chadwick v. Wellpoint, Inc. is as follows:  Maine resident Laurie Chadwick worked at WellPoint, an insurance company, for 9 years. Due to her excellent track record, she was encouraged by her supervisor to apply for a promotion to be Team Lead.  However, after Laurie applied for the promotion, and before the employer filled the Team Lead position, the hiring manager learned that Laurie had 4 children at home, 1 child, age 11, and triplets, age 6.

Upon learning of Laurie’s 4 young children at home, the hiring manager and two other interviewers made a series of remarks that the First Circuit found to be critical to Laurie’s case:

  • Shortly before determining who would be Team Lead, the hiring manager learned of Laurie’s triplets and sent Laurie an email saying, “Oh my – I did not know you had triplets.  Bless you!”
  • During Laurie’s interview with her former supervisor, she was asked how she would respond if an associate did not complete a project on time.  Frustrated with Laurie’s response, her supervisor stated, “Laurie, you are a mother[.] [W]ould you let your kids off the hook that easy if they made a mess in [their] room[?] [W]ould you clean it or hold them accountable?”
  • Ultimately, the hiring manager passed over Laurie, and chose a woman with inferior qualifications and less experience to be Team Lead.  When Laurie asked why she did not get the job, the hiring manager said: “It was nothing you did or didn’t do. It was just that you’re going to school, you have the kids and you just have a lot on your plate right now.”
  • Laurie was also told by the hiring manager after the decision was made, “if [the three interviewers] were in your position, they would feel overwhelmed.”

While Laurie’s lawsuit was originally dismissed for failure to state a claim, the First Circuit Court of Appeals recently reviewed the lower court’s decision, reversed it, and remanded the case for trial.   

When rendering its decision, the First Circuit Court stated:

“ [A]n employer is not free to assume that a woman, because she is a woman, will necessarily be a poor worker because of family responsibilities. The essence of Title VII in this context is that women have the right to prove their mettle in the work arena without the burden of stereotypes regarding whether they can fulfill their responsibilities.”

Laurie’s story appears to get to the heart of caregiving discrimination.  Laurie was objectively found to be an excellent, hardworking employee over 9 years, and there had never been any allegation or insinuation that her work suffered because of her child care responsibilities.  Still, when the hiring manager learned of her caregiving responsibilities outside of the home, including care for triplet 6 year olds, it seems there was an assumption that her work could suffer, as Laurie’s “plate was full.” Ultimately, it appears that it was the hiring manager’s assumptions (interestingly, the hiring manager and fellow interviewers were all women) about Laurie’s caregiving needs and how they would interfere with Laurie’s work, and not Laurie’s long term work track record, that were the basis for the hiring manager’s decision.

Flexibility for the Road

Featured Guest Blogger April 20th, 2009

Thursday Bram is the author of the forthcoming book, Working Your Way Around the World. She has also written extensively about productivity and entrepreneurship at such sites as Stepcase, Lifehack, and her own Thursday Bram.com. Please note that the views of our guest bloggers do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sloan Work and Family Research Network.

Balancing work and a home life is enough for some of us to meet our ambitions at life. But when your goals don’t look like a classic climb up the company ladder, flexibility can make all the difference in how well you’re able to balance everything. When your plans include different geographic locations, flexibility become the only option.

The idea of a location independent lifestyle — the ability to take your work with you and head wherever you want — is becoming increasingly popular. With it, though, comes new questions about work-life balance. If your entire office is your laptop, how do you leave it behind at the end of the day? If you’re exploring a whole new city, or even a country, every few months, how can you guarantee that your work gets done?

One answer to these questions is simple flexibility. If you can be flexible about your current schedule, your ability to handle both your work commitments and your ‘home’ life won’t vary from a French bistro to a Thai internet cafe.

Hand in hand with that flexibility, though, you’ll need certain other skills. The ability to make a schedule (and stick to it) takes on an added level of importance when your biggest client is located in Eastern Standard Time and you’re ten hours ahead. Even with the amazing communications that technology has made possible, no one will be willing to get out of bed to get you the numbers you need.

The ability to follow through on your commitments is equally crucial. More and more families are going on extended trips for months at a time; if you’ve promised your son or daughter that you’re going to go explore the local castle or historical ruins, it’s time to put the laptop away. Choosing to take your loved ones on the adventure of a lifetime may be expensive enough that you need to work along the way, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t experience the thrills of exploration just the same.

It’s worth noting that depending on what parts of the world are on your itinerary, you may find yourself in a culture with very different ideas of work-life balance than your own. It’s rare to find a place where people work as many hours as the U.S. — and you may not need to work quite so many hours to still successfully travel.

In the end, even the ability to consider making your career mobile takes a certain level of mental flexibility. We all tend to start out thinking that the way we have been working is the only option. Even when we actually get on the road, it’s hard to shake the idea that we have to be at our desks from 9 to 5. But that flexibility is worth it. Thinking up new ways in which you can get the most out of your work and your life, in balance, only helps you reach other goals, like packing up and heading to South America.

What’s New From the Sloan Network?

Karen Corday April 17th, 2009

New from the Network:

New, free work and family content on the web:

Domestic Violence in the News

Judi Casey April 15th, 2009

Unfortunately, we continue to hear about cases of domestic violence in the local, national and international news almost every day. As you probably know, domestic or intimate partner violence affects people in all walks of life  from low-income families, to blue collar and middle class families, to high earners and celebrities. It is a pervasive societal problem that impacts individuals and their families of all races and religions from around the world. It is a serious criminal justice, economic, public health and mental health issue.

A (2008) World Health Organization Fact Sheet on Violence against Women reports that a 10-country study on women’s health and domestic violence found “between 15% and 71% of women reported physical or sexual violence by a husband or partner,” and “many women said that their first sexual experience was not consensual (24% in rural Peru, 28% in Tanzania, 30% in rural Bangladesh, and 40% in South Africa).”

A 2006 study by the United Nations …finds that, in all nations of the world, violence against women persists as a pervasive scourge, endangering women’s lives and violating their rights. The study says that such violence also impoverishes families and communities, drains government resources and restricts economic development.

The Sloan Network has compiled information about domestic violence. In particular, we’ve focused on the impact of domestic violence at the workplace in the April 2008 Network News, an issue of the Effective Workplace Series, a Topic Page and a Fact Sheet. We just posted a new Work and Family Encyclopedia Entry: Domestic Violence and Work: Legal and Business Perspectives, by Marcy Karin and Paula Shapiro.

For public policy or advocacy groups, we’ve compiled a Policy Brief on Supporting Workers Experiencing Domestic Violence as well as a 2005-2007 Legislative Summary Sheet of US Bills on Domestic Violence and the Workplace (link).

Flexibility: A Research Wish List

Featured Guest Blogger April 13th, 2009

Sandy Burud, Ph.D., is a researcher, consultant and author on human capital and work-life. She is the Chief Strategy Officer for FlexPaths, a flexibility-focused software platform for employers and employment portal for individuals. Please note that the views of our guest bloggers do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sloan Work and Family Research Network.

I’m usually out in the trenches, talking with employers about flexible work practices or others who monitor their attitudes. As I hear their questions and hunt for answers, I notice some that seem to not yet have been answered. So, I pass them on to those of you who do research and discover answers so well. I should say up front that if anyone’s already doing this work, I’m eager to know about it. Let’s get the word out.

I’ll mention three in this blog:

1. Who Requires What Type Of Flexibility?

Overall, it would be great for research to now get very specific. We know most people (across genders and generations) want more flexibility in general, but we seem to know less about how important specific forms of flex are, especially informal flexibility and the newer forms of flex, like reduced work schedule options and career flexibility. We also don’t know much about those preferences by the types of jobs or education level. It would be great to show employers that highly skilled or people in shortest supply (engineers, medical technologists or IT people), for example, crave a reduced work hours option or some other option. Employers understand that flex is valuable, but not how valuable, what types of flex exactly, for whom, and in what situation.

For example, what is the importance of flexible options or a flexible climate in whether an employee chooses to stay or leave? In these days of job loss it’s easy for employers to think that people will work in whatever way the company requires. To enlighten them, it can help to show if and for whom flexibility is a requirement rather than a “nice-to-have.”

2. Flexible Rightsizing vs. Layoffs

There are great conversations now happening about the advantages to employers of ‘flexible rightsizing’ (using flexible work options to reduce personnel and other costs) in lieu of layoffs. I’m participating in an effort spearheaded by WorldAtWork that identifies the various savings from across-the-board layoffs vs. the advantages of flexible rightsizing.

If an organization chooses flexible rightsizing and invites, for example, employees across the board to choose a reduced work schedule or to take time off without pay with job protection, there are direct and indirect benefits. All are ripe for research. An earlier study by Wayne Cascio (Responsible Restructuring, 2002) found that organizations that downsized unilaterally weren’t even more profitable in the short run, let alone the long run. An update of that analysis would be very valuable. Research exploring the other effects would be incredibly valuable right now, especially if it can be done quickly. For example, researchers might look at how layoff survivors behave (perhaps less risk-taking) vs. the greater focus, sense of security and reduced stress of employees in organizations that use flexible rightsizing. I’m especially curious about whether allowing people to take unpaid downtime or work on a reduced schedule for a while gives exhausted people (which is most of us) a chance to rest and rejuvenate. I wonder if it’s true that they are qualitatively more effective from this break, and in what ways, e.g., more focused, creative or relating to coworkers and/or customers differently. It makes sense to me, but it would be great to explore and document.

3. How to Do it Well – Flexibility

There has been much research groundwork laid about why it’s important for organizations to transition to a flexible way of managing people. What has been investigated less is what it means to do it well and how doing it in specific ways impacts desirable outcomes for employees, teams, and organizations. We know that culture and communication matter, but it would be great to take it another level and get very specific for those seeking to apply research findings in their organizations.

I celebrate and appreciate the important research you all do and invite your comments or questions.

What’s New From the Sloan Network?

Karen Corday April 9th, 2009

New from the Network:

New, free work-family content on the web:

Women Lawyers Still Barred From Parity

Julie Schwartz Weber April 8th, 2009

As a lawyer -mom, who knows first hand how challenging it can be to balance law and family, I was not surprised by the new Catalyst Quick Takes Report, “Women in Law in the U.S.” This report reveals that female lawyers have yet to achieve parity in position and salary to male lawyers. Highlights of the report include:

  • While women make up almost half of the student body at most law schools and nearly 1 out of every 2 law firm associates, they account for only 1 in 6 equity partners.
    *     Catalyst predicts that women will not achieve parity in law firm partnerships until 2088.
  • Women were general counsels at 82 (16%) of Fortune 500 companies in 2008.
  • “Women lawyers made 80.5% of men lawyers’ salaries in 2008.”
  • “90% of law firms reported that their highest paid lawyer was a man.”
  • “Nearly half as many men lawyers as women lawyers (44% v. 84%) have a spouse that is employed full-time.”
  • 1 in 8 women lawyers work part-time, while only 1 in 50 men lawyers do so.
  • Women of color face additional barriers, as they represent only 10.7% of all associates and 1.9% of all partners.

Unfortunately, the back story is not new: Women lawyers are opting out or being pushed out of traditional legal positions due to competing responsibilities, or perceived responsibilities, in the home arena (childcare, care of the elderly, tending to the home) and/or due to their exclusion from traditional male networks and mentoring opportunities.

Still, there is good news–there are a number of groups that have a continued and impassioned interest in helping women achieve parity and work/life balance in the legal field. For instance, the Project for Attorney Retention (PAR) works to “reduce unwanted attrition among lawyers, a benefit for both legal employers and lawyers, by promoting work/life balance and the advancement of women in the legal profession.” Similarly, FlexTime Lawers consults nationally to “law firms, corporations and lawyers on work/life balance and the retention and promotion of women attorneys.” Even law students, male and female, are getting in on the action, and seeking change in the legal work structure.

Some people say that the legal profession is not able to change, and that the profession, by its nature, is “a jealous mistress and requires a long and constant courtship.” Others, however, think differently:  Can the “long and constant courtship” still occur against the backdrop of flexible work arrangements and alternative career paths? Shouldn’t these flexible courses be available to both men and women? Isn’t this good for men, women, and families?

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