When my colleague, Tonie Chaltas, was quoted in a recent article about women supporting other women at work, it got me thinking: Do companies who value their female workforce appreciate that those who are also mothers need special support? Are there other employers in Canada like Hill+Knowlton Strategies (H+K) -- where I've worked for 12 years -- who value their working-mom employees enough to design benefits just for them? And what are they doing to help them succeed?
All too often, I think we get caught up in details of success that don't actually mean much to moms. I care far less about having a smartphone than I do about the option of using that smartphone to work from home when one of my kids is sick. It's an extra step, but an important one.
When I joined the firm in 2000, I was childless. I didn't join the company for maternity leave benefits or a flexible schedule. I was a consultant, keen to work hard, learn and grow. At that time, being nurtured as a woman employee meant something entirely different; I was eager to work in other cities and H+K helped me tick that box by hiring me in its London, UK office. That experience kept me interested and loyal.
Fast forward a few years, a few promotions and a few kids. As the vice-president of corporate development for our Canadian offices, and the mother of three boys under six years of age, the support I now need to feel nurtured and engaged at work has done a 180.
To be able to properly focus on my work, I need to know that I've put my kids first -- ensuring their needs are met, ensuring they're getting enough of me. I need to know that if one of my sons needs me in an instant, I can go to him -- and do it without feeling guilty. I need to know that I'll be pushed out the office door to make it on time to doctor's appointments and school meetings.
Yes, they're little things. But maybe to moms, that's what counts the most. It's all of these things added together that keep working moms working. Passionately. Sanely.
Work is fulfilling for women, and it satisfies something important inside of us. But once you become a parent, you realize that for it to remain fulfilling there has to be a balance. I can't be fully present in a meeting, for example, if I'm worried that I rushed off too quickly that morning when I dropped my kids off at school because I was afraid that I'd get looked at sideways if I didn't walk through the door by 9 a.m.
Engagement, you see, is as much about the work itself as it is about the environment in which I do the work.
What I think working moms truly appreciate is flexibility without trade-offs. Whether that's telecommuting, a reduced work week, flex hours to accommodate carpools, or a designated work-from-home day, it seems to me that employers who offer these benefits to working moms will find themselves with highly motivated employees who are extremely productive. Because they know how good they have it. Because they're excited to contribute. Because they want to succeed.
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Few of the people pushing this very worthwhile agenda seem to realize that by uniting mothers and fathers more headway will be made, more quickly. And truly unfortunate are those who make men (many of whom are fathers) the enemy.
And, on today of all days, my husband did actually drop my kids off at camp and take one to a doctor's appointment. So, flexibility has to go both ways.
I'm not a working mother, but have a number of working moms working for me. The point of this article is about providing flexible options. No one is expecting others to 'pick up the slack'. One of the dads on my team leaves the office every day at 4.30pm so he can pick his daughter up from her after school program. He then has dinner with his family, and logs back on to work after 8pm. He loves the flexibility and opportunity to work FULL HOURS, but in his time. Deadlines are never missed and he's one of the greatest assets on my team.
Life is changing, the world is changing, and you had better get on board before you get left behind with your bitterness and unfair attitude towards people with different experiences from yourself. Diversity is king!
The woman who wrote this article is a high powered upper management person who is evidently significant enough that her employers will work around her schedule. Most people are cogs in a machine and are expendable. I'm not saying it's "fair" (I really hate that word) I'm saying it's a reality.
In this economy, many businesses are struggling and lost productivity can make or break them. They all do not have the luxury of "nurturing" their employees.
I was raised by parents who developed their work ethic in the 50s and 60s as young adults and they passed that ethic to me. So all this "nurturing" stuff is way new to me and way after my time. That's all.
So I see both sides. But the reality is that "support" means lessened work load and more flexible hours at the expense of non-parenting employees. What the answer is I don't know but when mine were little, there was no discussion. You had to have your butt in that chair, no questions asked. We managed somehow though, I know I did, but it was indeed very hard and very lonely at times.
With the direction the right is taking this country women will be working 10 hours a day 7 days a week with no benefits.