Father-Friendly Workplaces
This Sunday is Father’s Day in the US and it’s a time when our nation celebrates the contribution that dads make to the future through the way they raise their children.
Fatherhood advocates maintain that widening work/life balance programs to address more of fathers’ needs has payback for both families and employers. In a newsletter posted at the HR Daily Advisor, http://www.newsletterarchive.org/from/HR+Daily+Advisor they share timely tips for father-friendly workplaces.
The National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI), an organization dedicated to promoting greater involvement of fathers in family life, promotes involvement of fathers in raising healthy children. A report on their website indicates that children with involved fathers perform better on almost every measure, including higher self-esteem, higher grades, lower drug and alcohol use. And, according to another report, fathers indeed want to be more involved. In fact, they say that 7 of 10 fathers say they would take a pay cut if it meant that they could spend more time with their families. That’s a pretty whopping number!
Unfortunately, working fathers are reluctant to take more time off because they often don’t see the work/life programs (when they exist) as relevant to them and they get in their own way with their attitude. Many dads still operate under the old classic model of the father as the breadwinner while mom is at home caring for their children. And, today, this model is clearly no longer valid due to the growing number of mothers in the workforce and women as breadwinners for their families.
According to a study done by Vanier Institute in Canada, fathers, seeing themselves as family “breadwinners,” do not take advantage of workplace work/life balance programs that may be available, for three reasons: (1) fear of lost wages, (2) fear of losing their jobs or stalling their careers, and (3) guilt that colleagues need to take over for them. What these men and their managers may not realize, says NFI, is that allowing fathers opportunities to take time from work for family reasons is not only good for families, but also for employers.
Here are some suggestions for creating more of a “father-friendly” workplace:
- Allow flexible scheduling so that dads have more control over their schedule, including sometimes where and when they work.
- Communicate policies as family-friendly not for working mothers alone.
- Lead by example. Have executives and senior management serve as role models by participating in programs and actively and visibly supporting from the top.
- Provide education and support to fathers.
- Offer paid paternity leave, to address the issue of fathers fearing loss of income in their breadwinner role.
For more on the National Fatherhood Initiative and to conduct a “Father Friendly Check-Up for Business” on your organization, visit http://www.fatherhood.org/.
Happy Father’s Day!
Warmly,
Coach Natalie Gahrmann
natalie@nrgcoaching.com
Women Leaders Getting Better at Juggling
I read an article yesterday that was published in the Miami Herald. It was in the Balancing Act section and was about how top women business leaders are good at juggling. Although I avoid endorsing juggling as a strategy and opt for rebalancing or integrating instead, the key point that I extracted from the article is about women talking more to each other and sharing solutions. Women today are finding more work/life solutions because we’re supporting each other better!
As women climb the career ladder or start their own business, the importance of having a diverse network of supporters both inside and outside of the workplace increases as does their responsibilities at work. Those who have been most successful at achieving an overall life satisfaction have learned to incorporate effective strategies for enhancing performance and productivity.
Even as women are building businesses and advancing on the career ladder, an ever-increasing number are also achieving work/life balance — A whopping 61 percent of women business leaders interviewed for this article claim they are satisfied with the balance between their career and personal life, up from 51 percent in 2006, according to the 2007 survey released by FIU’s Center for Leadership and The Commonwealth Institute.
Talking with other women and learning about potential strategies that work has helped women adapt effective strategies for better balancing their lives. The universal challenge of findingmore work/life balance is easing as more and more women talk honestly and openly about it and determine creative solutions. As women set more realistic expectations, we they are permitting ourselves to have time for our self and to ask for (and accept) help both inside and outside work, when needed.
Women need to stop hiding behind the facade of being perfect and be real instead. There’s so much more we can learn from each other when we’re open and honest!
From one working mom to many others….
Yours truly,
Coach Natalie Gahrmann
natalie@nrgcoaching.com
Increasing Emphasis on Work/Life Balance is Worldwide
I am constantly on the lookout for trends and stories related to work/life balance. What I find is that this is an issue that spans the globe. It is clearly a global issue. I’ve read about problems faced by employers and employees across the US and in Canada, Australia, India, throughout parts of Europe, and more. Some countries seem to have more policies and support in place than others, yet this is a very broad issue.
In India, I read that there’s an increasing emphasis on work life balance across companies. As a result, human resources are being viewed by most organisations in a more holistic manner. Work life imbalance and stress feed on each other. Happier employees are more productive and more loyal. Flexible working opportunities and a platform for employees to maintain a healthy balance between work and home benefit everyone. Having an engaged employee is largely dependant on the ability of the organisation to keep pace with changing employee expectations and providing a platform to strike that perfect balance.
This is no different from anywhere else….or is it?
Yours truly,
Coach Natalie Gahrmann
What’s on Your Plate?
I’ve taken 3 months off from Blogging because I had too much on my plate. Now that things are winding down with the extra commitments I’ve taken on due to my daughter getting a role in a play, my son starting baseball season, and the regular routine of work and life commitments, I’ve re-committed to regular weekly or bi-weekly blogging to support super busy people and delivery of my e-newsletter twice monthly.
Ironically, during March, a colleague had advised me to use my expertise to develop a timely program specifically for Administrative Professionals during Administrative Professionals week the end of April. I came up with a program called “There’s Too Much on My Plate” that helps super busy professionals clearly acknowledge everything on their plate and begin taking ownership and control for everything there is to manage at work and home.
I had the pleasure of visiting American Standard and delivering a keynote to inspire better control of the balancing act. And, now, I’m working with teams at several key corporations to deliver customized programs to meet the needs of their super busy administrative professionals.
One thing I learned first-hand from the last few months is the absolute importance of staying very focused on the most important things and declining other requests and opportunities. Even when there was time to attend another meeting or networking event in the evening, I found that by pushing and having too much on my plate, I was exhausted and wasn’t able to apply the focus and energy to those things that mattered most.
When deciding what’s most important, realize that it may not be forever, but it’s for now. My daughter’s had rehearsal for her play usually 3 days a week for 2-4 hours at a time almost an hour from home. I often brought work with me to do while I waited, dialed into a conference call for my own professional development, or shopped in the local area. It was a great experience for her but the lesson for me, put more boundaries around my time, seek more help, and accept the help that’s offered. And, importantly, negotiate expectations, communicate fully, and be fully present where ever I am.
As my program for “There’s Too much on My Plate” continues to evolve, I will have many experiences to share from participants and from my own experiences. Stay tuned!!
Sincerely yours,
Coach Natalie Gahrmann
natalie@nrgcoaching.com
Women in Leadership
I read an article in the Star Ledger last week (Thursday, Feb. 22) titled “Ms.-Fortune for women in leadership: Slip from long-term trend; state’s top ranks suffer loss”.
The trend I read about in the article regarding the decreasing number of women at top leadership positions is disappointing. Although this wasn’t something that I ever wanted, I know many powerful and bright corporate women who could fill corporate officer and board director positions. Fact is, we even have our first women (a mother!!) running for the Presidency and a somewhat slow growing number of women in government leadership positions at the local, state, and national levels.
However, in the Fortune 500 companies the numbers of women in officer positions shrank from 16.4 % in 2005 to 15.6 % in 2006. And, where I live (NJ), we can no longer claim a single one of the 23 women CEOs in the Fortune 1000 since Lucent’s Patricia Russo transferred to Paris to retain her job with France’s Alcatel when the companies merged.
My experience working with women in the highest leadership positions reveals the ambivalence these women sometimes face between wanting to climb the corporate ladder and wanting to be with their kids more. The demands of higher level positions are usually heavy and difficult for those with a family. Many of the women in the highest leadership positions have partners who stay home with the kids and/or full-time live-in nannies who handle much of the childcare and household responsibilities.
Women are the ones who have the kids and are genetically set to do most of the nurturing. Women leaders tend to make many sacrifices. “Work/life balance is a big challenge; we are the ones who have the kids, and that’s not going to change. Corporate careers are complex and women have a lot of choices, and that’s a good thing; if we want more women to stay
More and more women are opting out of corporate America and starting their own business where they can set their own path and achieve more of what they want when they want it!
I’m curious, what are your thoughts about the decline in top leadership positions by women? Would this be something you’d want? Email me to share your views.
Yours,
Coach Natalie Gahrmann
natalie@nrgcoaching.com
Re-aligning your Priorities in your Super Busy Life
If you find there’s little time left at the end of the day, you’re not alone! Here’s a remedy I found on the internet (Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Indra_Books) for those who want to maximize their time:
1. First evaluate the amount of time you actually spend working, commuting, sleeping, eating, spending time with your family, attending children’s activities (i.e. baseball, dance lessons) , running errands, visiting friends/relatives, making purchases, etc.
2. Make a list of all of the things you do that take up the non-work related remaining hours
3. Sort the tasks by type of activity. Feel free to make up your own categories.
o Family
o Home Repairs/Maintenance
o Errands/Shopping
o Social Activities
o School Activities
o Other
4. Asterick the ones you would rather not do.
5. Estimate how much time it takes you to do each task (per week).
6. Make a list of all of the things that are on the perpetual “to do” list that never seem to get done. Sort this list, as well. (Having things that are constantly waiting to be done, does nothing but add stress to your life.)
7. Now here comes the difficult part. Giving up control to get control. You are really going to have to put on your positive change attitude to make this work. Ready???? If so, circle the items that can be hired out. The possibilities are endless. If you are serious about change, then you will not be making excuses at this point as to why someone else cannot do the job. Do NOT, use money as an excuse at this point. You can’t afford to do that. This is your life you are talking about. Here are some suggestions:
o Lawn Care
o Home Repair Specialists (painters, handyman etc)
o Errand Service
o Personal Shopper/Concierge
o Nanny/Babysitter
o Car Specialists
o Financial Specialists
8. Make another list of things you would like to do but never have time to do.
9. If you successfully completed Step 7, you should now be able to make a new list of things to do each week that include your “wants.” Can you replace the “have to” items with the “want to” items? If you answered yes, you did a great job and are well on your way to taking back control of your life. If you answered no, then we still have some work to do.
Now some of you are probably saying, this is easy for her to say. Well, no it isn’t. I have helped many clients do this so that they can have time for the items at the top of their priority list. I, myself, had to hire out some things in my business that I don’t have the skills or expertise to handle and I really don’t enjoy doing.
Stop now and take stock of your life and priorities. You may find that when you reprioritize you only need some reorganization or you might have bigger problems that would benefit from the regular commitment with a professional coach, organizer, or life management consultant.
If we at N-R-G Coaching Associates can be of assistance, please contact us to discuss your needs.
Best regards,
Coach Natalie
Fighting Addiction
A newspaper article last month described how, in an ironic role reversal, many professional working parents, when home, are sneaking their Blackberries (or a similar device) into the closet or the bathroom to check e-mail so their children and spouses don’t catch them. These parents are e-mailing while at their kids’ school events and at home during “family time” (including dinner.) In shame they take to hiding their dirty “habit.”
The Blackberry (also unaffectionate called “CrackBerry” because of its sometimes addictive nature) is a hand-held device that provides 24/7 connection to your job. The Blackberries are the workplace cyber tool of the new millennium which enables you to always be in touch with work e-mail and the Internet. It can be both a blessing and a curse.
It can be intrusive and can eliminate any remaining boundaries of work-life balance, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Life is full of choices and any tool can be misused or abused. A shovel is a marvelous invention, but you wouldn’t use it to clear snow off your car’s windshield — or at least not very often. Some employees or managers have addictive or obsessive-compulsive personalities and get hooked on things like this.
So, beware of your possible addiction to these tools and know that you’ve probably gone too far when you take it to bed with you in fear that you might miss something important! Set reasonable limits and boundaries so that it’s a tool to help increase your effectiveness not a device that always needs to be on and ruling your life!
Work-Life Initiatives
In analyzing the needs of today and tomorrow’s workforce, work-life balance is high on the list of issues facing both employers and employees. It is a critical issue at the forefront for both families and for Corporate America (actually not just Corporate America…it’s a global issue!)
Balance is really about being in control and feeling comfortable with your choices not about a juggling act. There are numerous studies I have read. They indicate a direct correlation between strong support of work-life balance practices and positive employee retention, productivity, and customer service ratings. Even so, work-life balance is not simply something a company can do for its individual employees. It also includes what individuals do for themselves in attaining meaningful achievement and enjoyment in everyday life.
However, keep in mind some inherent realities I picked up from a BLOG called “Brother in Arms” that I tend to agree with wholeheartedly:
• Not everything is of equal importance in your life, and perfect balance probably does not mean equality.
• Your life is constantly changing and you constantly need to reallocate your resources.
• Things happen that are out of your control, but it is up to you to respond to these external forces.
• Change in one area probably impacts all others, so be flexible and proactive.
• Recognize and accept that you will probably drop a ball or two now and then.
Explore your corporate and organizational work-life initiatives. When both company and employee efforts are complementary and sincere, true work-life balance can be achieved.
Workplace Policies for Super Busy Parents
Just this week, a new study came out with Harvard and McGill University researchers saying that “workplace policies for families in the United States are weaker than those of all high-income countries and many middle- and low-income countries.” In a related article in USA Today, it was reported that the US lags the rest of the world in government support for family oriented work policies.
“More countries are providing the workplace protections that millions of Americans can only dream of,” said the study’s lead author, Jody Heymann, founder of the Harvard-based Project on Global Working Families and director of McGill’s Institute for Health and Social Policy.
Among the study’s findings:
* The U.S. is one of only five countries out of 173 in the survey that does not guarantee some form of paid maternity leave; the others are Lesotho, Liberia, Swaziland and Papua New Guinea.
* Fathers get paid paternity leave or paid parental leave in 65 countries, including 31 offering at least 14 weeks of paid leave. The U.S.: none.
* At least 107 countries protect working women’s right to breast-feed; the breaks are paid in at least 73 of them. The U.S.: no federal legislation guaranteeing the right to breast-feed at work.
* At least 145 countries provide paid sick days, with 127 providing a week or more annually. The U.S. provides unpaid leave through the Family and Medical Leave Act, which does not cover all workers; there is no federal law providing for paid sick * * At least 126 countries have laws mandating that employers give workers a day of rest each week. The U.S. does not have a maximum work week length or a limit on mandatory overtime per week.
Truth is, the US leaves it up to companies to decide what kinds of benefits, including family-oriented ones, to offer to workers. The belief is that in a free market, if perks like these are really desired by enough workers then companies will offer them.
Many big companies in the US offer lots of family-friendly benefits, but this study shows that in the aggregate we lag way behind the rest of the world.
It’s time for American companies to step up!
Managing the Homefront in your Super Busy life
I’ve been coming across more and more women who have husbands who have left the work force to be home with the kids. For some, this is the perfect solution. This tends to work real well when there are more career opportunities and ambition by the woman but a desire to have the children primarily cared for by their parents.
What I find happens in some cases is sort of a disconnect. There’s somewhat of a role reversal to the former traditional model of the father as the bread-winner for the family. This may create feelings of resentment, jealousy, frustration on the negative side or feelings of appreciation, support, encouragement on the positive side. Neither feelings are right or wrong.
The problem comes when these feelings are not discussed honestly and openly. Someone feeling negatively really needs to be heard. Otherwise, this may adversely effect the relationship, and ultimately the family unit.
Many of the women I know who are the bread-winners of their family tend to be controlling. Not necessarily a ‘control-freak’ or not necessarily consciously but by default. Husbands in the role of a stay-at-home dad may relinquish their role and behave in a subservient manner. The frustration for women comes when they not only work long hours in their career but are also expected to oversee or manage the household despite having someone capable at home.
I don’t think there are any quick solutions but a need for constant communication. Both parents need to be clear about their roles and contributions to the family unit. They need to be in touch with their feelings and recognize when they’re not feeling good about something; then address it without placing blame or judgment.
Beings this seems to be a growing area of interest and concern, I’d love to hear from those of you in this type of situation. Please email me to describe your situation as well as what’s working and what’s not. I’ll continue updating a BLOG discussion on this topic as I hear from more of you.
Thanks,
Coach Natalie
