WORK & FAMILY: The Redesign
"We are at a turning point. Work has to change for parents to raise
healthy kids and be healthy, contributing employees."
- Ellen Gabriel, Partner, Deloitte Touche
How do we maintain "family" in modern life? Survival needs, debt
and professional interest brings us to the workplace. Commitment keeps us
there.
The redesign of work must encourage innovation and creativity to
both support the family and build a commitment to the workplace. The
workplace then will become a place to integrate our inner and business
selves. The "family" calls for priority, the workplace listens and
responds or pays the price in poor worker performance.
Companies want success, profit, and to fulfill their mission.
With worker productivity the key to successful global marketplace
competition, workplace issues take on both financial and personal
importance.
Diversity is making demands. Employee benefits and opportunities
are increasingly important. What changes does "the redesign" require?
The changes required maybe best be identified as questions:
* Are we working to much? What's the benefit?
"If we are to truly regenerate our communities and our society, we
must also regenerate ourselves and our human enterprises. Acknowledging
the inextricable links between personal growth and economic growth."
- Joel Makower, author
In 1995, Fortune magazine surveyed more than 2,000 of its readers
and found they spent an average of 57 hours a week working and commuting.
[ How much "work" time do you put in? What does your company expect? ]
Many companies today are attempting to help employees balance work
and family. They are enhancing productivity by focusing on the needs of
employees. Every company benefits from a committed workforce. Companies
are looking for new ways to inspire employees and reinvigorate the
workplace - to support "belonging."
Benefits packages attract and hold valuable employees. Attention
to employee needs is profitable. Workers needs: honesty, respect,
openness, compassion, commitment to quality, commitment to the environment
and connection with co-workers.
Benefits packages should includes health care insurance for full
and part-time employees (and their spouse/domestic partner) plus stock
option plans. Starbucks Coffee is a prime example of how taking care of
your employees works! [ Are these benefits part of your workplace? ]
* Does Corporate America care?
Business Week magazine (world's largest selling business
publication), highlighted "Balancing Family & Work" in their Sept. 16,
1996 issue. Companies featured in the article are developing work &
family friendly strategies. These strategies include: Flexible
scheduling/hours, elder-care assistance, job-sharing, adoption benefits,
on-site daycare, fitness centers, telecommuting, and on-site cafeterias.
By doing this companies gain improved productivity and customer service.
The bottom line: the company wants the job done well.
Business Week's 1996 Top Companies for Family Friendliness
(helping employees balance work, family and personal life): Dupont, Eddie
Bauer, Eli Lilly, First Tennessee Bank, Hewlett-Packard, Marriott
International, MBNA America Bank, Merrill Lynch, Motorola, and UNUM Life
Insurance.
* What about Working Mothers ?
Every Fall, Working Mother identifies the 100 best companies for
working mothers. This yearly survey highlights the country's most
advanced and innovative firms helping employees balance work and family.
Overall, the survey shows an upswing in the use of flexible work
schedules, a wider recognition of the child care needs of employees, and
paid leave for new parents. The survey also includes information on: pay,
opportunities for women to advance, different options for work flexibility
(working at home, telecommuting, job sharing, flextime, compressed
workweeks, and part-time) as well as elder care resources.
The Ten Best Companies for Working Mothers in 1996: Barnett Bank,
Eli Lilly, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, MBNA America Bank,
Merck, Nations Bank, Patagonia, Xerox.
* What about Working Women ?
Women in Corporate America; the numbers:
* Women are 46% of the workforce, they hold only 10% of the most
senior jobs in the Fortune 500 companies, 2.4% of the CEOs, chairman,
presidents, and executive vice presidents.
* 105 of the Fortune 500 have no woman corporate officers. But,
one third of Fortune 500 companies now have at least two female directors.
* the 2500 top-earning executives, 50 are women.
[Source: Catalyst, 10/96]
The number of women managers is expected to triple in the next ten
years. Corporate America is beginning to understand that "women bring to
the table a perspective that's increasingly valued" because they represent
such a big share of U.S. investors, workers and consumers.
The top companies that attract & promote women: Avon products,
Colgate-Palmolive, Coopers & Lybrand, Dow Chemical, Hoechst Celanese and
Motorola.
Calvert Group, the largest family of socially and environmentally
screened mutual funds, recently hired Barbara Krumsiek as their new
President and CEO. Ms. Krumsiek brings twenty years of Wall Street
experience to the job. Currently, she is one of four women in the
financial services industry leading a large mutual fund company. Calvert
Group was also named to the list of the Top 100 Companies for working
mothers for the third consecutive year. Currently, Calvert Group manages
over $5 billion in assets.
* Diversity ?
"After finding all the diversity among us now is the time to find
the commonness, the unity of what brings us and holds us together."
- Margaret Wheatley, author
The number of women and minorities in the workplace is increasing.
By the turn of the century, 85% of new entrants into the work force will
be members of minority groups, women, and immigrants; only 15% will be
white males. Overall the workforce will be 47% female and 26% minority.
Corporations are adapting to the diversity of their customers, the
communities where they do business and their employees.
We feature three progressive companies recognized for their trend
setting commitments and accomplishments:
* Motorola - Revenues increased from $9.5 billion to $27 billion
from 1989 to 1996. During that same period, the number of female vice
presidents increased from 2 to 37, and the number of U.S. vice presidents
of color increased from 6 to 41. The company was named by Business Week
magazine as one of the Ten Top Companies for Family Friendliness in 1996.
* International Business Machines (IBM) - In 1996, IBM became the
largest company to extended health benefits to employees with same-sex
partners. The plan including dental, vision and general health benefits.
Business Week magazine (October 7, 1996) applauded IBM's decision stating
"fairness and equity are two values we strongly support, and we applaud
Corporate America for its courage in extending them to its entire
community." The company was named by Working Mothers magazine as one of
the Ten Best Companies for Working Mothers in 1996.
* Bank of America - Currently women make up 25% of senior
management, minorities 11%. Bank of America recently announced it's
granting of stock options to all employees (full- and part-time) and an
expanded health care coverage plan to include the spouse or domestic
partner of employees. The new health care plan goes much further,
allowing employees to choose to extend health, dental and vision coverage
to any other "qualified" adult member of their household in a place of a
domestic partner or spouse. Kathi Burke, vice chairman of human
resources, says "By expanding the definition of those eligible for
coverage, we're supporting the differing needs of our employees and
helping to create a workplace where they can do their best work." Bank of
America was presented with Business Ethics magazine's 1996 Award for
Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethics in the areas of general ethics,
environment and community banking.
In Closing-
Hope for Corporate America (and the rest of us):
"individual energy and creativity are unleashed when changes in
work practices benefit employees' personal lives. At a time when
corporate America is being assailed for putting profits above all else, it
is gratifying that the best business strategy recognizes that greater
employee satisfaction means greater productivity and, in turn, better
business results."
- Paul Allaire, CEO, Xerox Corporation
* Work & family/ Women & Diversity in BusinessResources *
Women's Business Organizations:
* National Foundation for Women Business Owners at (301)495-4975 or web
site at- www.nfwbo.org
* Dept. of Labor Women's Bureau at (800) 827-5335 or web site at-
www.dol.gov/dol/wb
* Catalyst - works with business to effect change & advancement for women
at (212) 777-8900.
Recent articles on Women, Business & Diversity:
* Investing for a Better World (March 15, 1997) article on diversity at
the Intel Corporation
* Business Week (February 17, 1997) cover story on women breaking through
in corporate America
* Forbes (Dec. 30, 1996) cover story on educated, experienced &
well-capitalized women of the high-tech world
Work and Family Organizations:
* Families and Work Institute - is a center for research-based solutions
addressing the changing nature of work and family life. Identifying
emerging work-life issues with a commitment to fostering mutually
supportive connections among workplaces, families and communities. Call
(212) 465-2044 or web site at- www.familiesandwork.org
* Work/Family Direction - is a leading provider of corporate work/life
services, helping companies develop programs that increase employee
commitment to business goals. Call (617) 278-4000 or web site at-
www.wfd.com
* Great Place to Work - is a research and consulting firm that helps
companies transform their work places to improve the quality of employee
work life and corporate performance. Call (415) 776-5566 or web site at-
www.greatplacetowork.com
Recent Corporate Research Report:
* Relinking Life and Work: Toward a Better Future is a major report
released in November 1996. The 40-page report is based on a collaborative
research project with three corporations - Xerox, Tandem Computers, and
Corning over a six year-period and was published by the Ford Foundation.
To order call (212) 573-5169.
Recent magazine articles on Work & Family:
* Working Mother (May 1997) article on family-friendly policies making
companies more competitive
* Fortune (March 17, 1997) cover story on is your family wrecking your
career (and visa versa)
* Fast Company (February/March 1997) article on strategies for balancing
work and family
Upcoming Event:
* The 1997 Work/Family Congress & CEO Summit sponsored Working Mothers
magazine and Xerox is scheduled for September 15-16 at the NY Hilton &
Towers, New York, NY. For more information call (800) 447-2900. The 1997
winners of the 100 best companies for working mothers will be announced and
in attendance.
--cliffgmj@on-ramp.ior.com (cliff feigenbaum)
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>