work+life fit, inc.

This post is part of a blog carnival taking place through Labor Day on MomsRising.org to celebrate the publication of The Custom-Fit Workplace: Choose When, Where and How to Work and Boost Your Bottom Line, by Joan Blades and Nanette Fondas (Jossey Bass).

In 1995, I graduated from business school and began working for Families and Work Institute developing and implementing work+life strategies.   I often joke that I’m probably the first, and last, student to walk the halls of Columbia Business School publicly professing the desire to become a work+life strategy consultant.

But my previous experience as a line manager at a bank had opened my eyes to an irrefutable truth:  it’s a strategic imperative to help employees flexibly manage the way work fits into their lives day-to-day and at major career and personal transitions.  It’s not just a nice thing to do.  Unfortunately, my conviction was often greeted with a confused, “what?”  Remember, this was 1995.

Undaunted, I began my work at FWI with gusto.   But two seemingly insurmountable roadblocks continued to stymie progress:

1. Every time we talked to leaders about “balance,” they’d visibly physically shutdown.  Heads bobbed and eyes glazed over.  And, they weren’t alone.
2. Individuals were paralyzed by the frustration of never achieving “balance.”  No matter how many programs were offered or flexible work arrangement policies were written, “I don’t have balance” or “I’m out of balance.”

“Balance” wasn’t working.  So, I tried to redefine it.  For leaders, I’d patiently explain, “Balance doesn’t necessarily mean working less.  It means working better, smarter, more flexibly.”  For individuals, I’d point out, “There’s no right answer or 50-50 split between work and life.”  But to no avail, the reactions were the same.   Something had to change.  But what?  A tiny word, “fit.”

#1 Reason Work+Life Fit* Matters and Makes a Difference: Everyone at all levels becomes part of the same conversation.  They recognize the uniqueness of their particular “fit” and the business benefits of greater workplace flexibility.

Finally, one day, a senior executive saw my “balance” struggle and took pity.  He candidly confessed,

“Look, Cali, no matter what you say every time I hear ‘balance’ all I hear is ‘work less.’  Plus, I don’t have any kind of balance.  In my job, I never will.”

Suddenly, I heard myself say,

“Exactly, you have a work+life fit that works for you and your circumstances, and everyone in this organization has a unique work+life fit that’s going to change many times over the course of their careers.  The trick is to create a flexible culture and operating model that allows all of these different work+life fit realities to coexist in a way that meets the needs of the individual and the business.”

That’s all it took.  Miraculously, for the first time, a line leader not only listened to the importance of giving employees greater flexibility, but he was engaged.  “Actually, you’re right, “he said, “I do have a work+life fit,” and he began to share aspects of his personal life that he consistently tries to fit into his busy job.  He also understood that his circumstances (e.g. plenty of financial resources, stay-at-home spouse) were different from many others in the organization.

Simply adding “fit” replaced disinterested defensiveness with understanding recognition.   The result was a more productive conversation about work-strategies that would create a more flexible culture and way of operating.  Roadblock removed.

#2 Reason Work+Life Fit Matters and Makes a Difference: Individuals stop focusing on what they don’t have, “balance,” to see the work+life “fit” they could have. (Click here for more)

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Do a quick search in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and you will find numerous articles by very smart people pronouncing that only “innovation” will lead to an economic recovery.

Yet, it’s ironic to read these articles at the same time that Hewitt releases its most recent quarterly global employee engagement survey. In the first quarter of 2010, the trend lines of companies reporting increases and declines in engagement converged and crossed. For the first time in 15 years, the companies experiencing declines far outpaced those reporting improvement. Houston, we have a problem. As Hewitt correctly states in their report,

“This highlights the growing tension between employers—many of which are struggling to stabilize their financial situation—and employees, who are showing fatigue in response to a lengthy period of stress, uncertainty and confusion brought about by the recession and their company’s actions.”

Yup.

Now we could argue the point about employers are “struggling to stabilize their financial situation” when 3,000 non-financial firms hold an estimated $1.6 trillion (yes, trillion with a “T”) in cash and equivalents, but I want to focus back on one simple question:

How do companies across the globe expect to innovate on the backs of an increasingly demoralized workforce that’s stressed, overworked, undercompensated, unrecognized, lacks career opportunities, and doesn’t trust leadership?

As I said before, how do we square this circle?

Now, I’m not an expert on innovation strategy, but I’m pretty sure that it’s not, “Be sure to overwork and undercompensate your employees. Make them really afraid. And then, when they no longer trust you, put everyone in a room and let the magic begin!”

So, what’s the answer?

Let’s go back to the articles begging for more innovation written by those very smart people. What do they say?  (Click here for more)

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Work+Life Flex “How to” in Pictures: #1 Don’t get stuck on innovation curve

Work+Life Flex “How to” in Pictures: #2 Change requires employee+employer partnership (some gov’t) and shift in broader cultural conversation

Work+Life Flex “How to” in Pictures: #3 Focus on fact that same flexibility keeps business open in a snowstorm, cares for aging parents (and more)

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AND, more specifically….

Work+Life Flex “How to” in Pictures: #1 Don’t get stuck on innovation curve

Work+Life Flex “How to” in Pictures: #2 Change requires employee+employer partnership (some gov’t) and shift in broader cultural conversation

Work+Life Flex “How to” in Pictures: #4 Making it real takes more than traditional policy, toolkit and training

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How Employees Can Partner with Employers: Work+Life Fit in 5 Days Series

Work+Life Flex “How to” in Pictures: #1 Don’t get stuck on the innovation curve

Work+Life Flex “How to” in Pictures: #3 Focus on fact that same flexibility keeps business open in snowstorm, cares for aging parent (and more)

Work+Life Flex “How to” in Pictures: #4 Making flexibility real takes more than traditional policy, toolkit and training

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Work+Life Flex “How to” in Pictures: #2 Change requires employee+employer partnership (some gov’t) and shift in broader cultural conversation

Work+Life Flex “How to” in Pictures: #3 Focus on fact that same flexibility keep business open in snowstorm, cares for aging parents (and more)

Work+Life Flex “How to” in Pictures: #4 Making it real takes more than traditional policy, toolkit and training

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This past weekend during the BlogHer panel, “Screw Work/Life Balance, We Need Work/Life Policy,” an attendee raised her hand and said, “I know from personal experience that when I work from home I am more productive.  I wonder if anyone has done research on whether this is true more broadly?”

I’ve been immersed in work+life flexibility for so many years that it’s easy to forget that most people don’t know about the stacks and stacks of research that proves that flexibility not only increases productivity but benefits businesses and individuals in many other ways.

In an effort to answer the question, I’m sharing a few of my favorite pieces of flexibility research.  I’ve also included a list of resources that have been studying and advocating for greater flexibility for more than a decade.  Many are on social media.

Great Flex Research Links (no particular order):

• CFOs See Business Impacts of Work-Life Flexibility, But They Can’t Execute for Strategic Benefit (Flex+Strategy Group/Work+Life Fit/BDO) our landmark study of the top 100 CFOs published in World at Work Journal
• Workplace Flexibility: Finding from the Age and Gender Study (Sloan Center for Aging and Work), very comprehensive.  Conducted by an excellent team of researchers.  One of my favorites.
• Workshifting Benefits: The Bottomline (Citrix/Telework Research Network)
• Flexible Work Strategies: Attitudes and Experiences (Corporate Voices for Working Families)
• Measuring the Impact of Workplace Flexibility (Boston College Center for Work and Family)
• National Work+Life Fit Reality Check series of studies we’ve conducted that measure what individuals are thinking about work+life flexibility (here, here and here)

Great Resources…that I know personally and who seriously understand the underlying research-based business case for supporting work+life fit and flexibility (no particular order):

• Sloan Center for Aging and Work at Boston College
• Psychologically Health Workplaces
• Alliance for Work-Life Progress/World at Work
• Families and Work Institute–When Work Works
• Sloan Work and Family Network
• Boston College Center for Work and Family
• Institute for Workplace Innovation
• Telework Research Institute/ Undress for Success

Do you have a favorite piece of flexibility research you’d like to share?  Add it to the list in the comments section.  And spread the word!  Flexibility in how, when and where work is done and life is managed benefits everyone…individuals and business.

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The other day, as I read Sharon Meers’ (author of Getting to 50/50) clear and compelling article in The Washington Post, “How Joe Biden Can Help Working Parents,” I had two conflicting reactions:

1. First was, “Go Sharon!” because she did a great job laying out the powerful data that support why we all benefit from helping parents manage their work and life. And she honestly addressed the common roadblocks that get in the way. But then …
2. I thought “Are we still having this same conversation 15 years later?!” You see, I could dig back through my files and probably find a similar article making many of the same arguments from 1990.

I’m becoming more and more convinced that the power of parenthood alone to catalyze a radical change in the way business, individuals and government approach work and life is limited.

No matter how many smart people, like Meers or Vice President Biden, join in the conversation, no matter how many pieces of research objectively state the need and benefits, we just can’t seem to move the needle.

We need a game changer. We need something that breaks us out of the rut we’ve been stuck in for 20 years and takes the debate to the next level. We need an issue that drives home the reality that finding new and better work+life strategies is not optional, or a “nice thing to do in good times.”

We need … to include the aging population. Why? It’s one of the greatest challenges both those who are aging and their caregivers (and, in turn, employers) are going to face in terms of the sheer number of people affected. Turns out, I’m not the only one who feels this way. Last week in The New York Times, David Brooks ranked “the aging population” first in the list of “deep fundamental problems” we are facing as a county.

As the parent of two beautiful children and as someone who can recite the bottom line benefits of work+life strategies in her sleep, am I frustrated that the argument for supporting parents hasn’t been enough to make more meaningful change happen? Yes, very.

But I’m also a realist who knows that at the end of the day change happens when people understand the “WIFM” or what’s-in-it-for-me. Adding the challenges of an aging population to the argument expands the base of people who “get it” and who are, therefore, invested in seeking solutions.

Here are some of the reasons I believe the work+life debate will finally get teeth if we add the challenges of aging. I’d love to hear your thoughts as well: (Click here for more)

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Last week, The New York Times included a quote from me in a great article, “Taking a Positive Approach to an Employee’s Maternity Leave.” Because this is an important topic that many employers struggle with, here are a couple of the key points from the article I wanted to highlight and expand upon:

Of all of the inevitable work+life realities a workforce will experience, maternity should be the least feared.   Unlike illness, accidents, eldercare or spouse relocation, you can plan for it in advance.

Every small business owner should take note of how effectively and proactively the leaders in the article addressed the work+life issues of their employees.  Unfortunately, this is still unusual.  From my experience, most employers refuse to acknowledge and build into their day-to-day operating model contingencies for dealing with the intersections between work and other parts of life even though they are inevitable.  Everyone has a personal life.  Everyone.  Not just women who become mothers.

I’m always baffled by the panic of these same in-denial business owners every time someone becomes pregnant, takes care of a sick parent, has a heart attack, or stays home because of their child’s snow day.  By facing the reality that work+life conflict is a business issue, they’d create a culture that encouraged an open, ongoing, problem-solving dialogue about how to flexibly manage and adapt.  Everything would run so much more smoothly.

Whereas eldercare, illness, accidents, swine flu and snowstorms are usually unexpected, in most cases maternity gives you months to plan!  As the article shows, companies benefit from an open dialogue even if a new mother decides not to come back to work or returns on a part-time basis.  And it’s important to note that new mothers aren’t the only ones who may choose not to come back to work or who would be helped by a phased return after a work+life challenge.  People with elder care responsibilities, a long illness or accident can also benefit.

Prepare employees with the skills and tools to create a solution-oriented plan.

The article does a good job emphasizing the need for employees to start the conversation by thinking through an initial solution (for a contrasting example of what can go very wrong when an owner/manager tries to figure out the right answer for a pregnant employee, click here).

But knowing how to create and present a well thought out plan is a skill set.  Most employees need to be shown “how.”

A step-by-step process for developing a win-win flexibility plan is outlined in my book “Work+Life: Finding the Fit That’s Right for You” and is a great place to start (excerpted in the Work+Life Fit in 5 Days blog series).  In fact one of the reasons I wrote the book five years ago was to give small business owners a resource to help their employees create win-win flexible work+life fit solutions.

A one-size-fits-all, across-the-board “policy” related to how maternity or any other work+life reality will be addressed doesn’t work.  BUT, it is a good idea to have a consistent process in place to which everyone has equal access.

This consistent process should outline the unique circumstances of an individual employee’s job and life that they should consider to determine the solution that will work for them personally and for the business.  Even though the outcomes will vary, a clear process maintains consistency by virtue of the fact that everyone had access to the same approach and parameters.   Again, check out the work+life fit process in my book to get started.

What do you think?  How do we get more companies of all sizes to come out of denial and face the fact that work+life realities are just part of their day-to-day operating reality that they need to plan for?  And how do we get them to embrace an ongoing, process-based, solution-oriented flexible response?

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The world is literally awash with ideas and information.  How do you standout?  What makes you unique and different to clients, in a book proposal, in a blog post or to prospective employers?

What’s your “special sauce?”  Mark Levy, marketing strategy expert and author of the updated and newly re-released, Accidental Genius, shows you how.

I’m a living case study of Mark’s magic.  Last fall I spent some time working with him, and the process not only transformed the way I think and talk about my business, but also helped me finally take a book idea I’ve had for years to the next level.

His unique approach to problem solving helped me find my “special sauce.”  And I’ve incorporated freewriting into my day-to-day decision making and blogging.  Now, with Accidental Genius, Mark’s skill is available to everyone.

I recently spoke with Mark Levy about:

• Why it’s more important than ever to find your “special sauce” and standout in the crowd,
• How Accidental Genius and the process of freewriting can help, and
• A trick to craft a distinctive elevator speech!

CY: Welcome Mark!  Why is it more important than ever to find your “special sauce” and standout in the crowd?

ML: You’re at a networking meeting and someone comes up to you and asks, “What do you do?”  You know you do great work, but as you’re talking, the stranger begins to look over your shoulder because what you’re saying doesn’t get at the magnificence of your work.

Not only do you lose a potential client, but you feel bad about your business…and life in general.   This actually happened to me years ago when I worked for a book wholesaler and I vowed it would never happen again.  Now, when someone asks me what I do, I describe one of my areas of expertise by saying, “Consultants and entrepreneurial businesses hire me to increase their fees 2000%.”  Very clear and vivid.  Like an elephant gun.

Finding what makes you different is your competitive advantage.  It means getting very clear in your mind about where you are delivering meaning and value for others.

Most people base their work (e.g. business, writing, etc.) on commoditized, 10th generation thoughts and “me too” ideas.

We all need to be thankful for the ideas and thoughts of others. Even if you start with someone else’s idea, make adjustments.  Add the work you’ve done and your own experience.  Those adjustments become your unique quotes, stories, and philosophy.  You don’t need to make it gimmicky.  You simply standout, if you are very clear.

What do I mean?  As you know, I encourage people to “open up” words.  This involves looking at and writing about common words that have become jargon.  What are the images when you hear the word?  What’s happening?  Go from jargon to the story ideas behind the word.  So let’s start by defining “special sauce.”

To most people, special sauce is what makes you distinctive, standout, and memorable when other people aren’t.  Not surprisingly I have a slightly different take (as you would expect from me!).

My take is that some people try to contrive how they are different based upon what other people are doing.  Really they need to create a new, standout angle or need.

The intersection between the things that have personal meaning and that have meaning for whomever you’re trying to reach, that’s your special sauce.

CY: How can Accidental Genius help?” (Click here for more!)

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