Parallel HR » work/life balance

Four Ways to Foster Work-Life Integration for Young Professionals

Guest Contributor — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:01:10 +0000

Young professionals have let go of the unattainable goal of work-life balance. They understand that if you consider work and sleep—it’s just mathematically impossible. So they look for, and stay in, work situations where they can have time for what they care about, or what I like to call work-life integration – having each of the spheres of life, i.e., career, family, friendships, recreation, health, and so forth, honored. Continue reading

Hope Gurion’s Six Tips to Help Overworked Moms Thrive

Amy Chulik — Thu, 05 May 2011 22:43:27 +0000

Choosy moms choose -- work? Or family? That's the struggle many working moms are facing, as many working moms say they're having trouble finding the time to both support their families financially and be home with their families. Although the economy has made significant improvements since we talked with CareerBuilder's Mary Delaney about working moms one year ago, many families are still surviving on just one working parent; more than one-third (35 percent) of working moms and 44 percent of working dads surveyed by CareerBuilder said they are the sole financial provider for their household. In addition to the fact that one parent is often trying to be the sole provider financially while also being physically and emotionally there for their family, the burden may be even heavier for women, more of whom reported they earned a low salary than did male respondents. Just how much lower of a salary? Comparing these two groups, working moms who were the sole provider were three times as likely to earn less than $35,000 (45 percent of moms compared to 15 percent of dads), while working dads were more than twice as likely to earn $50,000 or more (63 percent of dads versus 28 percent of moms) and nearly three times as likely to earn six figures (18 percent of dads compared to 7 percent of moms), according to the 2011 CareerBuilder Mother's Day survey. The survey was conducted among 484 working moms and 836 working dads, employed full-time, with children 18 and under living in the household. Quality -- but not quantity Working moms are still facing less quality time at home due to financial challenges, heavier workloads and longer hours in the office -- and despite an improving economy, this reality has actually worsened. One quarter of all working moms said they spend two hours or less with their children each work day, up from 18 percent in 2010. Twenty-four percent take work home at least once a week. Workers want employer support Many workers are on the search to find that perfect work/life balance -- and for working parents, it's top priority. Despite any existing financial struggles, 31 percent of all working moms said they would take a job with less pay if it meant they could spend more time with their children. For employers, that's a statistic worth paying attention to. Working moms want flexible options to help them spend more time with their families -- and in an environment when many of them are working with less pay, longer hours and extremely heavy workloads, consider the benefits to both them and your organization that more balance in their lives could bring. Happier employees who feel that their needs are valued in an organization are more likely to want to stay with your company and contribute in the long run.

"While all indications point to economic recovery, working moms are still waiting to feel the effects," said Hope Gurion, Chief Development Officer at CareerBuilder and mother of two. "However, these moms possess a great deal of resourcefulness and resilience and continue to provide for their families. While moms say they would give up things, including pay, to spend more time with their children, they are making the most of the time they do have and getting creative in work arrangements.”

Gurion recommends the following tips for working moms who are overworked:

Forbes Magazine Names Utah #1 ‘Best State for Business and Careers’

Kira — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 21:44:54 +0000

SALT LAKE CITY – Under the leadership of Governor Gary R. Herbert, first as Lt. Governor and now as Governor, [...]

Have Fewer Business Trips Negatively Impacted Your Business?

Amy Chulik — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 17:30:05 +0000

If you're like many companies, you, in the spirit of budget-cutting, slowed down employee travel in 2010 -- or even halted it altogether. According to a new CareerBuilder survey among more than 2,400 U.S. employers and more than 3,900 U.S. workers, 30 percent of companies say they cut back on business travel last year -- and it wasn't such a good move for many of them. Of the companies who cut back on travel, more than one-third (37 percent) said it negatively affected their business. Have you had a similar experience? Lack of business trips and the bottom line Budget cuts can often have ripple effects in other areas of the business. Many businesses who cut back on travel in 2010 had fewer opportunities for face-to-face meetings, leading to communication issues, hurdles in fostering client relationships, and, ultimately, fewer sales. When asked how fewer business trips affected their bottom lines, companies reported the following results:

Less effective internal communication: 12 percent
Fewer sales: 11 percent
Less effective execution on internal business initiatives: 10 percent
Less customer loyalty: 8 percent

How will this year be different? Based on 2010's results, will companies alter business travel frequency in 2011? For the most part, it appears they won't. The majority of companies (77 percent) report business travel levels will stay the same as last year. Eleven percent said their companies will take more business trips this year (perhaps to counter the negative effects of cutting back in 2010), while 13 percent said business travel will decrease. Although frequency of travel may be "business as usual" in 2011, many companies have started taking a different direction to help cut unnecessary expense: Altering the way that employees travel.

“Business travel is an important part of many companies’ operations as it lets them stay connected with clients and employees across the globe,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder. “Some companies are revisiting their policies, though, to ensure they’re maximizing the effectiveness of their business travel initiatives.”

How are companies keeping a closer eye on travel expenses?

Taking out the extravagance: Nearly one-third (32 percent) of companies are placing specific restrictions on business travel for employees since the recession, asking them to fly coach, lowering entertainment budgets, and having them only travel domestically.
Virtual meetings: Forty-two percent of companies said they rely more on phone/Web conferencing now to conduct business with clients, with 31 percent saying they get just as much out of virtual meetings as face-to-face meetings.

Tell me -- has your business cut down on employee travel, or otherwise changed policies around travel to cut costs? What has worked well -- and what wouldn't you do again?

Is it Your Responsibility to Make Work/Life Balance Work for Your Employees?

Amy Chulik — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:45:40 +0000

If you're asking author, advertising CEO and performance coach Nigel Marsh, the answer would be an enthusiastic (and Aussie-accented) "No." In Marsh's TED talk (you can watch the video at bottom of this post), in which he shares his thoughts on work/life balance and asks the oft-raised question, "What does a life well-lived look like?", he argues that it's not up to corporations or outside interests to determine employees' work/life balance -- it's up to the employees themselves. Work/life balance (or whatever phrase you want to use to refer to the idea) is often on the minds of employers and employees alike, and it's an idea that continues to evolve as technology seeps into more and more aspects of our existence and workplace/personal lines are getting even blurrier. Marsh tells the story of his own transformation from a "classic corporate warrior" who was eating, drinking, and working too much and neglecting his family, to someone who turned 40 and decided to turn his life around and spend a year at home with his family -- to a man who has, for the seven years since, spent his time struggling with studying and writing about striking a balance between "work" and "life." Marsh's observations during the last seven years have led him to make four observations about work/life balance: 1) If society is to make any progress on this issue, we need an honest debate. The problem, Marsh says, is that all of the discussions about work/life balance involve people complaining about the phrase itself. He also argues that discussions around perks like flex time and dress down Fridays only serve to mask the core issue: That certain career choices are fundamentally incompatible with being meaningfully engaged on a day-to-day basis with a young family. According to him, we need to start acknowledging the core issues and thinking about the issue on another level if we really want to see change. 2) We must be responsible for setting and enforcing the boundaries that we want in our lives. We have to take responsibility for the type of lives we want to lead, Marsh argues -- not rely on others to do so. In his words, "If you don't design your own life, someone might design it for you -- and you might not like their idea of balance." Translation for employers: it's the job of your employees (and, in your own career, yours) to decide the boundaries needed to make work and personal lives work in harmony -- and that formula is going to be different for everyone. 3) We have to be careful (read: realistic) with the time frame upon which we choose to judge the balance in our life. We need to elongate balance, Marsh says, without falling into the trap of, "I'll have a life when I retire" -- or of "I'll do everything in a day." It's not realistic -- we must find the middle road, Marsh says. We can't necessarily achieve everything we want to in a day, but at the same time, we can't wait until our personal lives have fallen apart because of work to find that perfect balance. And speaking of finding that perfect balance... 4) We need to approach balance in a balanced way. We must attend to various aspects of our lives, including the intellectual, emotional and physical. And the great thing is, Marsh points out, it doesn't always take a major overhaul to strike more of a balance in our lives -- small changes can radically transform the quality of our relationships and of our lives.

Might As Well Face It, You’re Addicted To… Work? How to Help Yourself — and Your Employees — Deal

Amy Chulik — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 23:37:08 +0000

Are you one of those people addicted, not to love as Robert Palmer once claimed you were, but to work? Or worse yet, are your own employees stuck to their ergonomic yet stifling cubicle chairs, desperately looking for you to help them regain a sense of balance? You might have caught my recent blog post about the increased usage of mobile devices, and how the technologically "on" mentality these devices spur is affecting the way many people work -- even when they're not actually at work. While access to mobile devices may add pressure for workers to be available at all times of the day or night, it's just one of many reasons people are spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about, talking about, and even dreaming about Ryan Reynolds work these days. A new CareerBuilder study of more than 3,100 workers examines signs of work addiction, takes stock of how many workers are suffering from it, and explores ways workers can find a happy medium between work and personal time as we dive into 2011. Can you identify with any of the following signs of work addiction?

You spend most of your day – including your free time – thinking about work. (24 percent of workers surveyed reported that when they’re at home or out socially, they’re still thinking about work. Nineteen percent say they often dream about work.)
You're more concerned about what your boss thinks than your own family.
You would rather be in your cubicle than in your home. (15 percent of workers surveyed said they feel this way.)

Working on Mobile Devices During Non-Work Hours: The New “Overtime”?

Amy Chulik — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:30:31 +0000

A recent article in the Chicago Sun-Times about Chicago Police Sgt. Jeffrey Allen's lawsuit against the city of Chicago piqued my interest -- not because he was suing the city of Chicago, but because he was suing due to the fact that he hadn't gotten compensated for the off-duty time he spent working on his Blackberry. As we've mentioned before on The Hiring Site, access to mobile devices are changing the way people work -- employees are working from their smart phones while driving, on the train, or in the grocery line -- and even if they don't want to be working during all hours and from all places, bosses often expect them to. Some workers, particularly of the younger Millenials generation, are even sleeping next to their smartphones for fear of missing out on a single minute of Internet action. And now, with this lawsuit, a new question comes to the forefront; a question that we've been building up to as the use of smart phones in workers' every day lives has rapidly increased: Should workers be compensated for the work they do on company-owned mobile devices during non-work hours?

5 Tips For Overworked Fathers to Better Balance Work and Family Life — Just in Time for Father’s Day

Amy Chulik — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:54:09 +0000

This Sunday is Father's Day, and while it's a great excuse to spoil dads everywhere with the latest gadgets, grill supplies, or bacon of the month club memberships, a little extra quality time with Dad might be in order this year, in light of results from CareerBuilder's annual Father's Day survey. Survey results among 800 working fathers who are employed full-time showed that a still-struggling economy is causing many working dads to experience more stress, more work -- and, not surprisingly, less time spent with their families. Why the stress?

One in ten working dads said their spouse or significant other has become unemployed in the last 12 months, with 50 percent of those dads indicating it's causing stress at home.
Forty-two percent of working dads said they are the sole providers in their household
Nine percent of working fathers say they have taken on a second job in the last 12 months to provide for their family.

Office overtime on overdrive As many of you know firsthand, leaner staffs have led to fewer people handling a higher volume of work. This has made it more difficult for working fathers to achieve a healthy work/life balance, as many are stuck at the office working longer hours -- and less time with their kids. But just how many hours?

Sixty-three percent of working dads said they work more than 40 hours per week.
Three in ten (31 percent) working dads who take work home reported they typically bring work home five days a week or more.
Thirty percent bring work home on the weekends.

And how much less time with their kids?

Close to four in ten (37 percent) of working dads said they spend two hours or less with their children each work day.
More than three in ten (35 percent) reported they missed two or more significant events in their child’s life due to work in the last year.

How to be a better juggler These are bleak statistics, but as Mary Delaney, one of CareerBuilder's own busy working mothers, has said, there are things you can do to better balance work and family. and now, Jason Ferrara, VP Corporate Marketing at CareerBuilder and a father of two, shares his tips for working dads everywhere to better manage the delicate balancing act of providing for one's family -- and being there as a partner and a father.

A Working Mother at CareerBuilder Offers Six Tips to Better Balance Work and Family

Amy Chulik — Wed, 05 May 2010 20:17:46 +0000

You may have a dozen reasons to celebrate Mother's Day this Sunday, but here's one you may not have thought of -- a tough economy. A recent CareerBuilder survey of 604 women, employed full-time with children 18 and under living in the household, shows that working moms may be feeling more stressed -- and less appreciated -- in our current economic climate. Working moms, many of them recently tasked with the responsibility of keeping their families afloat due to unemployed spouses or other financial issues, have had to become more resourceful than ever. According to survey results:

Twelve percent of working moms said their spouse or significant other has become unemployed in the last 12 months, with two-thirds (67 percent) indicating that it is causing stress at home.
Thirty-six percent of working moms said they are the sole provider for their household.
Nearly one-in-ten (9 percent) have taken on a second job in the last 12 months to provide for their family.

Work/life balance -- what's that again? As a result, achieving a work/life balance can be a lot of work in itself, as moms are working more hours -- which often translates to less time at home with the family:

Forty-three percent of working moms work more than 40 hours per week.
More than one-third (34 percent) who take work home reported they typically bring work home three days a week or more.
Twenty-three percent bring work home on the weekends.
Nearly one-in-five (18 percent) of working moms said they spend two hours or less with their children each work day.
Nearly three-in-ten (29 percent) reported they missed two or more significant events in their child’s life due to work in the last year.

So what can working moms do to achieve more balance? CareerBuilder's Mary Delaney, a working mother herself, offers other working moms her thoughts and tips:

Employees Are on Smart Phones While Driving – But What’s An Employer Got to Do With It?

Amy Chulik — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:13:59 +0000

There are six words that, when used together, can cause a bit of anxiety (no, I'm not talking about So You Think You Can Dance?). Consider this scenario: Your employee is rushing to get to work. He or she is driving a car, one hand on the wheel -- and one hand on the smart phone. Every once in a while your employee anxiously glances down at the phone, anticipating the inevitable work correspondence. Your employee doesn’t have to wait long, because five minutes into the drive, you, the frazzled boss who’s up early and thinking about a project, decides to e-mail said employee, knowing full well your employee will check the message right away – and feel compelled to respond. You type those six very important words: What is the status on this? You hit send. This type of situation may be more of a problem than you realize. Whether you’re a boss who’s always connected and expects the same of your employees, or you’re an employee who feels pressured to be “on” at all times, even while driving – you may need to slow down a bit. According to the results of a new CareerBuilder survey of more than 5,200 workers, more than half (54 percent) of workers who have a smart phone or similar device said they check it when driving a vehicle -- and many are risking safety on the road because they feel pressured to respond. Which Industries are Most Connected On the Commute?