“Your truth will create the right action and the right people to bring that about.” ~ Rick Jarow

An authentic desire is transparent, fueled with passion, and unmistakable in its truth. It was that kind of energy that put a fire under Briton’s 34 year-old Ben Southall who was just bestowed “The Best Job in the World – Island Caretaker Great Barrier Reef.”

Here’s the job description: Blog weekly on the happenings on the island, take pictures and videos, report findings to Queensland Tourism and feed the fish if one feels like it as live-in caretaker of Australia’s Hamilton Island. It’s a six-month gig with flexible hours and pays a cool $150,00 cash. Not a bad job if you can get it. Mr. Southall beat out nearly 35,000 applicants for the cushy seaside post. (Read more here in the Guardian) Talking about work life flexibility!

The real story here is what Mr. Southall – a British charity worker – did to nab the prize. He fully embraced the grueling application process despite what appeared to be a lofty goal. Here’s an excerpt from the Guardian article to give you an idea of his driving passion.

In his 60-second video application Southall was seen riding an ostrich, running a marathon, trekking through Africa and kissing a giraffe. He described himself as “the adventurous, crazy energetic one”.

“He’s a level-headed, well-grounded bloke,” McRoberts said of Southall, who told the Guardian in March, when he was chosen as a finalist, that he planned to win by just being himself.

Just being himself. That sounds rather simple doesn’t it? Often I think we’re swayed by the conventional wisdom and societal influences governing the definition of what a successful or joyful vocation is, rather than personally defining it for ourselves. Mr. Southall knew what he wanted and offered up the best game in town, which in this case turned out to be a down-to-earth approach; a trait that Queensland officials found to be the perfect fit.

How do you define success in your job, career or vocation? If you had to choose which of the prior three words describes your work – which would it be and why? Please share!

Having recently come into the scholarly work of CV Harquail Ph.D, (@cvharquail) a leading voice on Organizational Leadership  at AuthenticOrganizations.com, I’ve been watching, reading and stretching my mind on many fronts – including the topic of women-at-work. A few days ago she pointed me to Fem 2.0 where a “blog carnival” is taking place posing the question, “what is considered gainful employment” in the 21st century. 

Thoughts flooded my brain when I considered what constitutes gainful employment for women. First thought best thought. It is the individual’s business to discern what constitutes work or what I prefer to term – vocation – in our 24/7 world for anyone; male or female. 

To me, gainful employment means right livelihood; working with purpose, passion and profit on a meaningful career trajectory guided by ones own unique skills, desires and voice. It’s not an easy task in a time when career expansion can fall victim to the reality of having to stay in a job you hate – to pay the bills. Thus, more than ever, there is a desperate need for the woman’s voice now, to tackle work life concerns and traditional stereotypes of the 9-5 job structure, if only to make it more bearable.

I’m not going to make a blanket statement saying that our voices have been irrevocably quelled by fear in this lousy economy – but some have. With soaring unemployment, the largest percentage of layoffs impacting men, and the tightening job market – keeping a job seems to have become paramount for women – depending on which news article you’re reading.

Work/Life flexibility is embraced by progressive companies which understand that their current labor pool is dwindling (both male and female) and that they need to attract more female workers who now make up 46 % of the workforce. But a flexible working model is not always seen as the Great White Knight, which with its sword, can tear down walls of gender bias toward better attraction and retention of skilled employees. Flexibility is instead feared by some as a killer of face time, a signal of less interest in ones work or the threatening anti-christ to the almighty dollar. 

Thrust into the work life balance debate, women forge ahead on-line and in the media pushing for more flexible working arrangements, better maternity leave, and changes in the Family Leave Act. But when we walk through the doors of big business  (and again, not everywhere) there’s the perception that a voice that dares speak up might fall on deaf ears – or worse – end up with a pink slip. This perception needs to be slayed, but it will take both sexes to open up the conversation in the workplace.

Just a few days ago I wrote about the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce in my post, Work Life Gender Gap Narrows. The study found that the work/life conflict men were experiencing had increased more so, over a period of time, then for the women surveyed (women were already feeling a high level of conflict). The results were not surprising given the fact that men are taking on more of the household and childcare duties than in past years, in dual-earner couples.

Perhaps the equalizing of work life conflict will level the playing field for men and women striving for better work life integration. Perhaps, the deaf ear will be more receptive to a woman’s voice demanding to be heard, as it might have had to listen to a crying child the night before.

The merging of the working and living experience goes well beyond our WorkLife Nation. A quick review of the global economy reveals that the quest for work life balance is a slamming debate no matter the continent. many fear burnout is on the horizon. So I took a quick journey to bring you a glance of what’s happening. Here’s Judy Martin’s Work Life Global Watch this Wednesday, March 25.

Singapore

Of all the places calling to shore up emotional resilience, Singapore would not have topped my list . Yet the country, where the U.S. Department of State warns jaywalking, littering and spitting gum can land you in the can or with a hefty fine, is concerned about its citizens’ stress levels. The country’s health minister is behind a new educational campaign called Optimism for Mental Resilience. The message – “bad times don’t last forever.”

Health Minister, Khaw Boon Wan wrote in a statement yesterday that, ““Promoting an emotionally-resilient society is one of our priorities whether in good times or bad.”  The country is upping its mental health education program “to help working adults manage day-to-day stress, and to recognize signs of depression and anxiety.” Hmmm – I don’t think chewing gum is an encouraged stress reducer here.

Canada

Canada’s Financial Post just named the Top 100 Employers. The key criteria included: “ physical workplace; work atmosphere as a social setting; pay and benefits; vacation and provisions for time off; communication to employees; performance management; training and skills development and community involvement.”

Among the employee benefits at many of these companies is extended maternity leave. One firm offered top-up benefits – up to 93% and 52 weeks for new dads and moms. (Practically unheard of) Other work life initiatives included phased-in retirement, relaxation rooms and flexible working arrangements which allow employees to leave for just a few hours to do personal errands. The one perk that stood out; one company ended every week with a beer cart pushed through the office. Hmmmm – not sure that will catch on the U-S workplace.

United Kingdom

Stress levels are soaring in the U-K, according to an article on the Institute of Leadership and Management website:

“Research by the Work Life Balance Centre and Coventry University revealed that four of the five health-related stress indicators it monitors rose in the last year. This means that there was a rise in the number of people reporting chronic fatigue, sleeplessness, irritability and headaches, while at the same time the fifth, lack of concentration, fell by less than one per cent.”

The commentary in the article from experts warned that higher stress can impact career goals and an employers bottom line –  inevitably leading to more absenteeism, lower productivity and more mistakes made by employees.

New Zealand

An article in The Nelson Mail on Work-Life Balance, brings to light union concerns about the countries Holidays Act which mandates 4 weeks vacation time. There is a brewing debate caused by suggestions that employees might prefer to cash in on that fourth week, instead of taking the time. The fear is that employers which have suffered layoffs with other employees fearing job losses, might be pushing workers to put in more time which would impact work life balance.

Australia

In a site called SmallBusiness, Josh Gordon and Annie Lawson write that the economic woes might trigger more discussion about flexible working arrangements. In their article, Can a downturn give you better work life balance,?  - they suggest that many companies are reducing worker hours and encouraging employees to use up their holiday leave – instead of sacking their skilled workers.

The writers say that the trend is driven by two items – which for some reason is not generating the same response in the U-S.

1. Altruism: Companies trying to look out for employees with families and mortgages.
2. Optimism: When the economy turns around, these employees will be grateful, more engaged and loyal.

Faced with a daunting task of completing a new project, spending time with my niece and preparing to meet with a client, I must be in a flexible state of mind. Flexibility in our personal lives and work lives takes planning. It is often our own minds that clutter the playing field with confusion, rather than taking the time to prioritize and get organized. We have to own our personal style of flexible work life practices whether we work for ourselves or a company. And how we manage our time is a huge part of that puzzle.

Last night on a whim of indecisive wisdom seeking I grabbed management guru Peter Drucker‘s, The Essential Drucker. It practically fell off the shelf and opened to a chapter on Knowing Time. Hmmmm, I thought, why not take a dip into the master’s mind on the topic.

Those of you who know me, understand my love for chaos as a driver of creativity in the merging of our personal and working lives.  Enormous strides have been made from the perpetual slamming of juggling life and career. Genius, I believe can spring forth from those chaotic moments. New ideas on juggling family and work, personalized flexibility practices, and the personal creative benefits of integrating the higher aspects of both worlds.

But the father of modern management, Peter Drucker, might argue otherwise. Not about chaos leading to innovation, but perhaps the staying power and implementation of innovation which is born of chaos unless time is well managed.

In an essay from his book, he said that while a knowledge worker’s task generally starts in the planning of one’s work, while “eminently plausible,” it rarely works. 

“The plans always remain on paper, always remain good intentions. They seldom turn into achievement. Effective knowledge workers, in my observation, do not start with their tasks. They start with their time. And they do not start out with planning . They start by finding out where their time actually goes, then they attempt to manage their time.”

I am a list maker, post-it queen and forever napkin snippet writer in perpetual awareness of the signals around me which yield ideas.  I DO NOT go anywhere without a number of pens, my BlackBerry and a pad. I do plan my day, but just like money, (you have to spend money to make money) time cries for the same attention.

YOU HAVE TO SPEND TIME TO MAKE TIME. Eureka, the foundation of executive effectiveness according to Drucker as I see it. Here are Drucker’s three steps toward this goal with a little commentary from moi. He is of course speaking from an organizational perspective, but I’m applying his principles to our daily working lives.

Recording Time: “One has to record time, before one can know here it goes, ” said Drucker. Where is your time going? Do a daily inventory. It might change daily, so a weekly observation might be more appropriate. Most likely, you’ll be examining your daily routine, I suspect surfing the web, watching Tv and catching up on the career or workload will rank high. Identify the unproductive demands on your time. What is a waste of time for you personally and in work mode? Write it down, our memory might linger if you try to simple recall your day. Be as concrete as you can, it might surprise you.

Managing Time: Prioritize your time. Review the list and highlight the most productive times of the day. What were you doing? When did you get the most done? Then take a look at the achievements you made on any given day. Moments of interruption divide the day and divide the attention span on a project making it that much more difficult to return to the task. Disconnecting from the phone and internet to complete larger tasks might be better than taking a half hour for a few days to concentrate on a task. Every day does not mirror the next in priority. You have to come to your own routine of time-flex to be productive.

Consolidating Time: Drucker says that effective people in management, ” know that he (one) has to consolidate his discretionary time.” You can’t account for every moment of the day and there certainly has to be down time. But one can consolidate time. For example, sticking to only points necessary for discussion in a meeting to lead to concrete decisions, allotting a certain amount of time to take care of e-mail reading/responding in one shot and a practical response to interruptions based on whether they are acute situations requiring immediate attention –  can be put on the back burner – or taken care of in one sweeping move.

Drucker said that “time is the scarcest resource, and unless it is managed, nothing else can be managed.”

‘Know thyself ,’ is almost impossibly difficult for mortal men. But everyone can follow the injunction ‘Know thy time’ if he or she wants to , and be well on the road toward contribution and effectiveness.”

I’m taking the opportunity to toot my horn and some of whom I have created relationships with for nearly three years blogging at WorkLifeMonitor. com. Just to clarify – I relaunched my blog as WorkLife Nation.com after deep contemplation and the desire to succinctly  articulate my thoughts on this topic in a progressive way, which I’ll explain later in this post.

First, the Delaware Employment Law Blog just released its 50 Best Blogs on Wellness, Women’s Interests, and Work-Life Balance.

I’m thrilled to be on the list , and happy to share it as I’ve been following many of these blogs for a long time.

Here it is listed in alphabetical order:

1. About Working Moms
2. Alliance for Work-Life Progress
3. Business Week’s Working Parents Blog
4. Chief Home Officer
5. Corporate Voices
6. Corporate Voices for Working Families
7. Discovering Your Inner Samurai Blog
8. FunnyBusiness
9. Half Changed World
10. How She Really Does It
11. Hybrid Mom Insider
12. Institute for Women’s Leadership
13. Jugglezine
14. Kathy Lingle’s Work-Life Blog
15. Moms Rising
16. Motherlode
17. Mothers Movement
18. Newly Corporate
19. On Balance
20. Progressive States
21. Sloan Network
22. Sue Magazine
23. The Anti 9-to-5 Guide
24. The Juggle
25. The Lattice Group
26. The Women’s Initiative Blog
27. The Work/Life Balancing Act
28. The WorkLife Monitor
29. Women for Hire
30. Women on Business
31. Women’s Leadership Exchange Blog
32. Women’s Rights Employment Law Blog
33. Work from Within
34. Work+Life Fit, Inc
35. Working Mother
36. Work-Life and Human Capital Solutions
37. WorkLife Law Blog
38. World at Work
39. YourOnRamp.com
40. Christina’s Considerations
41. Corporate Wellness Quotes
42. Employee Corporate Wellness Programs
43. Employee Wellness USA
44. Employee/Corporate Wellness Programs
45. Meditation At Work Info
46. My Meditation Coach: Improve your workforce!
47. Wellergize
48. Wellness Corporate Insights
49. Wellness.com
50. Workplace Wellness

Now, back to my earlier thoughts about what I call – our WorkLife Nation. The working and living experiences have merged due to necessity –  and by default in our 24/7 world. You can read more about this idea in my post, WorkLife Nation: 7 Tips for work/life sanity in a chaotic job market. To reiterate, I believe there are three themes presently fueling my opinion on this concept:

First, we are working hard to secure our good standing at work, thus the lines tend to blur between work and life as overtime becomes the norm.

Second, due to layoffs, some (many of whom are boomers) have chosen to take control of their own lives by becoming entrepreneurs. This group is working hard and putting in long hours to gain market and brand strength in a weakening economy. They are often rewiring their careers and taking more risks.

The third theme is the growing interest in social capitalism; doing work that is closely aligned with one’s life passion, core human values and service. The blurred lines between work and life are fueled by a passion for a career infused with meaning and purpose. Thus more hours of work time.

Ultimately, we’re living in changing times that demand awareness and a willingness to collectively seek out ways to make work life integration a peaceful journey of exploration. Please send along your thoughts on this. Is this just my lens – or do I have a valid point here?

Finally, a few thoughts about the following sites worth mentioning:

1. Alliance for Work/Life Progress’s WorldatWork Conference is coming up in Seattle in late May.
2. Check out Sloan Network for it’s excellent cutting-edge teleconferences.
3. Watch for the Lattice Group to gain speed on its Gen Y material.
4. The Anti 9 to 5 Guide – wonderful maverick in this niche.
5. Cali Yosts’ Work+Life Fit blog. I have worked with Cali and she has a pioneering take on flexibility.
6. Women for Hire: Serious career guidance. All about advancing women.
7. The Wall Street Journal’s Sue Shellenbarger blogs at  The Juggle . It’s a flowing encyclopedia.
8. New York Time’s Lisa Belkin blogs at Motherload. Following her for years, but check out her articles as well.
9. Women on Business innovative guidance and resources. Big on Blogher.
10. Susan Bernstein’s WorkFromWithin. I’ve had a number of conversations with Susan. Cutting-edge on the emotional and spiritual aspects of the work life experience.

Work life flexibility strategies are grabbing attention even in the wake of the worst unemployment since the Great Depression. As companies struggle to stay afloat and keep their employees engaged, there’s talk in our WorkLife Nation that perhaps corporations are starting to identify the value of implementing flexibility practices – instead of wielding the ax.

Global consulting firm, Manpower, just released a survey which reflects U.S. employers’ hiring outlooks from April to June of this year.  67% of  the companies polled said they would hold the line on hiring until the economy sees an improvement. CFO Magazine breaks down the numbers as does Bloomberg. 

That means that these companies must do more with less, which perhaps forces a more constructive look at flexibility arrangements.

This I know has the Conference Board’s Work Life Conference all a buzz down in New Orleans. Gleaned from tweets from a colleague, Cali Yost, (@CaliYost) who is the CEO of Work+Life Fit, there’s a lot of talk on the issue. Prior to heading south for her speaking engagement, Cali penned this blog for Fast Company which is an overview of the issue of flexibility in challenging times: Mangers Uphold Fiduciary Responsibility with Alternatives to Layoffs: Expanding the Cost/Benefit Analysis.

Here’s a short compilation of what’s been streaming out of the conference courtesy Cali. 

1. Yoursabbatical.com wins innovation award.
2. IBM presenting use of Second Life for conference.
3. Social Media and its potential for Work Life.
4. 73% of IBM managers manage teams that aren’t in the same location.
5. Accenture wins award for for combining work life with retained talent strategy.
6. Carol Evans from Working Mother receiving media award.
7. Reports there’s a bi-partisan senate study group on workplace flexibility.
8. State and National stats on Work Life being presented by the Families and Work Institute.

While not necessarily conference related, this is most certainly worth mentioning with regard to flexibility practices. In a post by CV Harquail (@cvharquail) of the blog Authentic Organizations, she wrote that sometimes business decisions made with the best of intensions have “unintended repercussions.” Check out her post: 

Flexible Downsizing and Sexism: Should we be worried?

In an exceptionally healthy workplace  in the 90′s,  an on-site gym, cleaner organic food in the company cafeteria, and the occasional chair massage might have been the norm. These days, since workers are more concerned with keeping their jobs than putting on a few extra pounds, it’s a different story. One could argue it ‘s just as important to feel good – as to look good – mentally and physically.

Progressive companies, fully aware of our 24/7 stressful work environment, understand burnout is not sustainable for workers or their careers. In fact, some have found that Employee Assistance Programs that support policies such as flexible working arrangements, skills training, leadership development and programs that promote healthy lifestyle and behavior choices – will lead to more productive and mentally healthier talent. 

This week the American Psychological Association honored five companies for “their comprehensive efforts to promote employee health and well-being while enhancing organizational performance.”

According to the American Psychological Association, psychologically healthy workplace practices fall into five categories: employee involvement; health and safety; employee growth and development; work-life balance and employee recognition. Chosen for the APA’s 2009 Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award:

1. W R Systems, Ltd. – Engineering Services Division (Virginia), 
2. Replacements, Ltd. (North Carolina), 
3. Teledyne Brown Engineering – Huntsville Headquarters (Alabama), 
4. WorldatWork (Arizona) 
5. Sandia Preparatory School (New Mexico)

These companies were not targeted for their feel-good approach to mental health, but instead on the return on investment. When big business can look at the numbers or concretely understand the philosophy behind what makes these companies tick, it makes for a better case to keep funneling money toward EPA’s.

Let’s deconstruct:

1. These 5 organizations reported an average turnover rate of just 11% in 2008, compared to the national average of 39% (Dept. of Labor)
2. Employee surveys from these companies showed 25 % experienced chronic work stress, compared to 39% nationally.
3. 85% of employees reported being satisfied with their jobs, compared to only 61% nationally.

Efforts to promote employee well-being cannot simply fall under the auspices of physical health. You can’t measure how happy someone is, or their mental stability, by taking their blood. If you’re going to do that, you may as well test for cholesterol. It’s a better indicator of an impending stress attack from burnout.

"It is useful occasionally to look at the past to gain a perspective on the present." – Fabian Linden

Economist Fabian Linden held the status of "sage" in his observations of consumer behavior and its impact on shifts in the economy. With his creation of the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index, he urged the economic elite to listen to the voice of the consumer with a new perspective. After all, they were the ones on the front lines feeling the economic shifts in their pocketbooks. 

So it couldgo, with the voice of those on the front lines of managing the corporate coffers when it comes to the impact of worklife flexibility on the bottom line. That is, if corporate America cares to listen. A new study by BDO Seidman and Work+Life Fit, Inc. reveals there's interest on the part of Chief Financial Officers to explore worklife flexibility beyond the obvious benefits of employee attraction and retention.

The 2008 CFO Perspectives on WorkLife Flexibility study showed that CFO's understand that worklife flexibility has the potential to impact companies beyond employee issues. 75% of CFO's at companies that offer flexibility, said the strategy might be important to the future profitability of their organizations. Here's some other interesting findings:

• 72% said worklife flex practices differentiate a company from its competitors.
• 53% believe flex can save health care costs
• 34% said flex can help reduce real estate costs

These statistics are coming from the company financial brass, but even with the bent toward worklife flex offering potential benefits to the spread sheet, there is an indication that fear abounds in pressing the issue in the workplace. When asked about common obstacles to flex strategies:

• 76% were concerned about "face time"
• 72% were worried about "demands in the workload of a job"
• 62% were concerned about "other employees perceptions"
• 58% said it could "hurt my career"

In a struggling economy and tightening job market, it's unfortunate that the aforementioned obstacles might be enough to keep the CFO's silent on the worklife flex question. It's too bad –  because just as we're entering an era where worklife flex is being acknowledged as a strategy to boost employee productivity – Wall Street has investors running scared and companies hunkering down. For now, the voice of negativity in the financial sector is louder than those on the front lines like the CFOs. CFOs are crunching those numbers and might have some insight as to how to do things differently.

Traditional retirement seems passé these days. Especially  to baby boomers still trying to shore up their nest egg. Still, a recent survey suggests a good majority of them might be choosing the work they do -  more with their hearts – instead of their financial prowess. There’s a new class of boomers who are rewiring their work life in order to give back while making a buck. The survey was done by Boomer tracker, Civic Ventures and the MetLife Foundation.

The story highlights some of the challenges boomers will face in following this path such as the need for flexibility, health care coverage and income; it also looks at the rewards of the encore career and better worklife integration.

You can listen to my most recent story on NPR by Clicking on the link below:

Boomers Find Way to Make Social Impact, Money