» Network Home

Last month, Teresa Hopke (Director of Talent Management, RSM McGladrey) and I presented a session at the WorldatWork Conference, Take the Work-Life Quiz: Know What You Need to Know to be Effective.

The session focused on six true or false questions that get at the heart of some of the most CRITICAL AND CHALLENGING work-life issues. For each question, I presented research data and Teresa shared best practices from RSM McGladrey and other organizations. Recommendations and action steps were offered as well as input from attendees on successes and challenges. We concluded with a discussion about “the one step that you will take when you return to the office.” References for the research data as well as additional resources were provided at the end of the presentation, which is provided here:

| View | Upload your own

The questions we discussed:

1. In order to increase productivity in this competitive global economy, employers of choice try to get the most out of employees by adopting the philosophy, “the harder and longer you can get them to work, the better.”

2. Work-Life is an attractive perk that makes employees happy, but is not one of the critical factors in an employee’s decisions to take or stay in a job.

3. Although everyone seems to want flexibility and flexible work arrangements, research data does not confirm that flexibility really benefits employees or their organizations.

4. There have always been differences about expectations and behaviors between workers of all ages at the workplace and the current situation is not that different.

5. The best way to support employees with their work-life issues is to secure a spot on one of the prestigious “Best Lists.”

6. In most organizations, working mothers take advantage of work-life programs, but working dads typically don’t utilize or value them.

How did you do on the Work-Life quiz? What do you think are the critical questions for work-life practitioners?

• Workplace