Jobs and Moms

Telecommuting Tips

Interested in securing a telecommuting arrangement at your job? Here are four tips to help you successfully prepare to discuss this option with your employer: (excerpted from our instantly downloadable e-guide, FlexJobs: Your Work, Your Life, Your Way! )

1. Investigate Company Policy: Look at the policies and procedures manual for any written telecommuting guidelines. If there are none, make an appointment to speak with the Human Resources department and get their input. Many companies don't have official policies on this issue, so be sure to check with other employees to get a sense of how the "unofficial" policy works.

2. Be Specific About What You Want: Carefully analyze your needs before approaching your boss about a telecommuting arrangement. It's best to come up with a few workable alternatives - your boss will prefer a well-thought out series of options over a "yes or no" ultimatum.

3. Prepare, prepare, prepare: Before meeting with your boss, get your facts in order. Think about your proposal from the company's standpoint and be prepared to explain how your job will still get done when you telecommute. Write a thorough proposal outlining your request , put it away for a few weeks, and then read it again. Anticipate objections your boss might have and practice your responses to those objections.

4. Select a strategically advantageous time for your meeting: While no time is perfect, most managers have periods during the day (or week ) when they are more easily accessible than others. Schedule your meeting for a time when you are least likely to be interrupted -- early mornings or after five o'clock tends to be best for most managers.

Flexible Scheduling: A Benefit Worth Keeping

An analysis of Fortune’s list of America’s 100 Best Companies to Work For conducted by Workforce Management notes an interesting trend: Even the most employee-friendly firms are trimming back benefits. In 2001, for example, 33 companies on the annual list paid 100 percent of employees’ health care premiums. Today, 14 do. Since last year, 27 companies on the list have cut what they pay in health care premiums. And the number of companies on the list offering a defined- benefit pension to new employees has dropped from 40 to 27 in three years.

But at the same time, more companies on the list are adapting inexpensive, employee-friendly ideas--like personal con­cierge services and flexible work policies. In 1999, just 18 companies on the list allowed telecommuting, compared with 79 today. Only 25 firms on the list in 1999 offered compressed workweeks, such as four 10-hour days with Fridays off. Today, 81 companies do. "

Such benefits do make a difference," Fortune writes, "and they’re a lot less expensive than health insurance."

Looking for a Family-Friendly Employer? Think Small!

For years, I've maintained that one of the best ways to find a flexible employer is to target small employers. A recent study (2005 National Study of Employers) conducted by the Families and Work Institute confirmed my observations. The study revealed that small businesses are helping to drive changes in the structure of work, offering employees more opportunities for workplace flexibility, while large employers are providing more benefits that have direct costs.

According to the study, small employers, defined as organizations with 50 to 99 employees, tend to offer their employees greater flexibility, such as flextime, returning to work gradually after childbirth or adoption, taking time off for education or training to improve skills or phasing into retirement. In fact, the study concluded that small employers are significantly more likely to offer flexibility to all or most employees than employers of other sizes.

Why is this true?

Small business owners have discovered that flexible scheduling is a relatively low cost benefit that helps them to recruit and retain top-level talent. While small companies can’t offer the same level of benefit offerings as their corporate counterparts (i.e. health insurance plans, 401k’s, etc.) they can offer more flexibility than their larger competitors.

The hiring manager is typically the owner of the company who can quickly make exceptions to policy and approve alternative scheduling arrangements. In big corporations, exceptions to policy must go through several layers of management (and lots of political maneuvering) to be approved.

Savvy small business owners are bottom-line oriented. They are quick to recognize the tremendous value offered by hiring top-level talent without the overhead of full-time salary and benefit costs.

Here are some tips for finding employment with small businesses:

1. Networking is critical to success. Speak with friends, alumni groups, volunteer contacts and business associates for leads.

2. Call your local Chamber of Commerce or small business advocacy group and ask if they have a membership directory for sale. These types of directories are an excellent tool for sourcing local businesses.

3. The local newspapers often feature stories about “up and coming” businesses. Go to the library and do some research about local companies.

4. Peruse the classifieds to see who is hiring. Even if a company doesn’t have a current opening in your field of expertise, use the information in the ad as a way to learn about small business employers in your area.

5. Contact venture capital firms to see if they are working with any emerging companies who might be interested in hiring you on a flexible basis.

For lots more advice, resources, and strategies for finding flexible work options, click here.

Flexible Jobs for Moms

If you've been running into a brick wall trying to find flexibility in a traditional corporate setting, now may be a good time to transition into a healthcare or educational work environment. With the increased demand for healthcare professionals and teachers, salaries and advancement potential are on the rise.

Please understand that I am not suggesting you go back to school and train to become a nurse, physical therapist or an elementary school teacher just because they are growth fields (unless you are so inclined). However, I do recommend that you look at job openings in hospitals, universities and public/private schools where flexible scheduling tends to be much more widely practiced than in the corporate sector. These institutions need people in management, development, human resources, accounting, finance and other support roles to function efficiently.

While salaries in these settings tend to be lower than in the corporate arena, the benefits packages offered by educational and health institutions can sometimes be quite lucrative. Perks offered by private schools or universities (such as tuition reduction for dependents) can make a real difference in the value of your compensation package.

FYI, some states offer very strong financial incentives for teacher training. According to an August 18, 2006 article in Careerjournal.com, "So far this year, 18 states, including Illinois, Connecticut, Virginia and Kansas, have passed measures encouraging teaching, according to the Education Commission of the States, which tracks education policy for state governments. The initiatives ranged from luring teachers out of retirement to offering scholarships to programs that forgive education loans."

Want to learn more about flexible work options? Check out our updated report, FlexJobs: Your Work, Your Life, Your Way!

Cool New Blog

In my work with clients, we often discuss our frustration with the "1950's mentality" so many corporations seem to harbor regarding workplace flexibility. But there are some smart players out there who "get it" and they should be recognized for their efforts.

One fine example is Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, who last week launched an external blog -- the first corporate blog to explore the issues and personal experiences women and men face in pursuit of career advancement and work/life balance. The blog provides a forum for candid discussions that aim to help professionals enhance their careers and find ways to make flexibility and choice a staple of the workplace. This is a surprisingly candid, open and entertaining corporate blog. The blog is located at www.deloitte.com/us/winblog .

Recent studies indicate that 86 percent of women cite workplace pushes (such as inflexible jobs) as a key reason for their decision to leave their jobs. Those study results come as no surprise to Career Counselor and Founder of Jobsandmoms.com, Nancy Collamer. “For the past ten years, I have worked with hundreds of “opt-out” moms who felt conflicted about their choices to leave the workplace. Many of these highly-educated women would have continued working, but felt that their employers could not, or would not, give them the flexible work schedules they required.”

Collamer advises women who want flexible work environments to evaluate potential employers carefully during the interview process. She suggests moms use the following five questions to help determine if a company has a clear commitment to creating a family-friendly culture

5 Questions to Ask When Searching For a Family-Friendly Company

1. In what ways is a career with your company better than one with your competitors? Listen for an answer that includes references to work/life balance or a friendly corporate culture. If an employer has a real commitment to work/life initiatives, this question should help prompt the interviewer to bring up specific examples of their policies in practice.

2. What do you enjoy most about working here? This is always a good question because people love to talk about themselves! It’s also a wonderful way to learn more about the corporate culture without seeming overly eager to hear about options for flexibility. Listen for a response that includes quality of life indicators such as, “The company was incredibly supportive when I needed to take time off to pick up my adopted baby from Russia” or “This is the first place I’ve worked where the emphasis is placed on getting work done instead of on face-time.”

3. What is the largest single problem facing your staff (department) now? In general, requests for flexible schedules don’t fare well in chaotic situations that require everybody to be in constant crisis management mode. Analyze this response carefully to determine if somebody working a flexible schedule can reasonably accommodate the challenges facing the business.

4. What types of benefits does the company offer? Not all work/life benefits are created equal. Flexible scheduling, assistance with daycare and onsite parenting workshops are all welcome initiatives that demonstrate a company understands that you have a life outside of work. But other so-called “benefits,” like onsite catered lunches and dry-cleaning drop-off services may be thinly veiled attempts to compensate for a very demanding work environment.

5. What qualities are you looking for in the candidate who fills this position? Try to determine if there is more emphasis placed on results than on face time. Is your manager willing to allow you the freedom to determine how and where to get a job done, even if that means you will sometimes need to work at home?

Lastly, remember a picture can be worth a thousand words. Look for photos of families or pets – are they prominently displayed? Do people have knick-knacks on their desks that give you a feeling that real people work here or is the office sterile and lacking in personality? Picking up on the visual cues in the office can speak volumes about the workplace culture.

Tips excerpted from “The Back-to-Work Toolkit: A Guide for Comeback Moms,” available for purchase at www.jobsandmoms.com. Sign up for our free “Focus on Jobs and Moms” bi-monthly e-zine at www.Jobsandmoms.com and receive a complimentary copy of the special report, You Can Do It: 25 Ways to Jumpstart Your Mom Friendly Career. ”

Working Mother 100

Each year in October, Working Mother magazine releases their list of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers. While I have always enjoyed this issue, I found this year's edition to be particularly informational and inspirational. As the magazine points out, "more companies are embracing customized careers that bend to the changing needs of working moms. They're creating results-oriented work cultures -- rather than time-centric ones -- that give working mothers more control over how, when and where they work."
What makes these companies so special? Consider this comparison of the mom-friendly benefits offered by the Working Mother 100 companies versus the national average:

Flextime: 99% of Working Mother 100 companies vs. 57% of national companies
Telecommuting (on a part-time basis): 99% vs. 26%
Fitness Center Subsidy: 99% vs. 37%
Health Care Insurance for Part-Time Workers: 99% vs. 39%
Job Sharing: 99% vs. 18%
Adoption Assistance: 91% vs. 22%
Lactation Program Designated Area: 91% vs. 23%
Parental Leave Beyond FMLA: 77% vs. 20%
Paid Paternity Leave: 67% vs. 13%
Company Sponsored Child-Care Center: 64% vs. 5%

Clearly, these companies are trend-setters in providing much needed benefits for working parents. That said, I don't want to leave you with the impression that these companies are all wonderful places to work all the time. The reality is that many of these employers have demanding work environments that reward workers who put in long hours and are willing to be available 24/7. Even within the most progressive of companies, some managers show little interest in providing workplace flexiblity, and not all locations are able to offer the same level of benefits (e.g., daycare centers) enjoyed by those working in the corporate headquarters.

Nonetheless, I encourage you to pick up Working Mother's October issue to learn more about these companies and to get a better idea of what your company could (and should) be doing to become an employer of choice in the future.

And, if you work for a company that has "mom- friendly" benefits, we'd love to learn more about them as well. Please share your information by posting here.

Flexibility: It's Not Just a Mom Issue

I've long maintained that the need for a better work-life balance is universal -- it's not just a Mom issue anymore.  Indeed, new research by www.collegegrad.com suggests that young people entering the workforce seek out companies that are willing to invest in their future. Name recognition of potential employers is less important to candidates than whether a given company will provide career development and other growth opportunities, the report says. As a result, 70 percent of job seekers surveyed said they would rather work for smaller growth companies that offer competitive benefits and emphasize a balance between work activities and their personal lives. Large international companies were favored by only 30 percent of would-be workers. 

Seasoned workers are seeking flexibility as well.  Pittsburgh-based Key Group, surveyed 1,727 men and women who classified themselves as middle management, office/administrative or professional workers and 18% of them stated they will be looking for new jobs that provide a better work-life balance. Also, Canadian workers are shifting their priorities to focus more on family, according to recruitment company Workopolis. It found that 44 percent of Canadian job seekers now rank family as their No. 1 priority, followed by 31 percent who put their careers first. That is almost a complete reversal from five years ago.