Career and Children?
The Truth About Work-Life Balance
Are women really dropping out of the workforce to raise their children?
Ignore the buzz about the hoards of executive women who are dropping out of the workplace. The truth is that 7 out of 10 mothers of children (children from 0 to 18) are in the work force. I’m not saying it’s easy, but there sure are a lot of women who are doing it. And there sure are a lot of bosses who are getting used to employing mothers.
Maybe all that news buzz was because there was a slight increase in the number of women who chose to stay home with a child under the age of one. (Workplace participation by married women with a child under the age of one, fell from 57% in 1997 to 50% today.) I’m always looking for the upside in a new trend. I see one here where employers might become more amenable to extending maternity leave. We certainly need more generous leave policies. To ease the financial hardship on the company, I’d be in favor of an unpaid extension to the company’s maternity leave period as long as the medical and other benefits stayed in force. There are companies that are doing this and it’s no surprise that they’re among the top-rated companies for working mothers (see below).
Are there any signs that the situation for working moms is improving?
Ellen Galinsky, president of Families and Work Institute, said their survey last year found that 32% of senior executives (men as well as women) at 10 large multinational companies made personal and family needs a priority as often as work demands. “They took their full vacations, worked an average five hours a week less than other top executives, yet were highly successful and happy about their choices.” This is a good indication that it’s no longer the Kiss-of-Death to admit you have a life outside of the office. And that should be OK!
I recall that ten years ago there was a survey of one of our largest legal firms. The men and women were asked (anonymously, of course) to say what they thought of a parent taking time off to handle a child-task. The women said they understood that this was important and would not downgrade a parent career-wise for it. The men, most of them, said they would not consider an employee legal partner material if they did this. But, because this was an anonymous survey, most of them admitted they had done it but had said they were taking care of a client-task. In the past, perhaps the lesson was that women were too darn honest. Today, the lesson may be that it shows your values are in place when you take care of others.
To answer my own question, yes there are signs that the situation is improving for working moms and for working dads. I look forward to companies that laud a father, or a mother, for taking time off from work to coach a child’s soccer team.
What does a successful CEO mom have to say about balancing?
In the words of Shelly Lazarus, a mother of three and the CEO of Ogilvy & Mather (one of the biggest ad agencies in the world), “It is certainly possible to be both a mother and a CEO. You learn how to set priorities, and you learn how to enjoy the ride.” She stuck to her family priorities as she was climbing the corporate ladder. When off-site meetings were scheduled to begin on a Sunday evening, she told her bosses or her clients that weekends were for her family—and she didn’t show up until Monday morning. “I’ve seen women go to those Sunday night meetings and then feel torn and guilty about being away from their children,” she says. “Instead of asking for what they need, they leave the company.” Shelly advises women to “set their terms with employers, to have the courage to say no—and to realize that if they show their indispensable talents and strengths, chances are employers will accommodate them.” As to her own employees, she says, “I can have talent on their terms or not have their talent, and I take the talent every time.”
Tip: Before starting a family, plan how you’d like to proceed with your career. Would you want to stay with your present company? If so, decide on 2 or 3 plans for maternity leave. I know that your company probably only has one plan—and it’s probably not a generous one. One of your creative plans could be to take 1 or more years off. At an appropriate time, preferably before your pregnancy is obvious, set up a meeting to discuss these possibilities with your boss. You could consider taking an online class while you’re home that would increase your value to your company. Let your boss know this. Ask him, or her, what type of class would be of value to the company.
Further Reading:
Website, WomensMedia, by Carol Bartz, a mother and Chairman and CEO, Autodesk, Inc., Sustaining Performance in Good Times and Bad
Website, USA Today, Working Mother magazine’s Top 100 Companies for Working Mothers
Website, Families and Work Institute , Work Life Research at the Families and Work Institute
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