Friday May 11, 2012
Every Mother's Day, my husband's professional association holds its annual conference. No breakfast in bed for me, served by my loving family. But it's not a bad trade to explore a fun city as a tourist!
We'll also drive to a nearby city to see my cousin and her family. With five kids between us, it won't be quiet -- but it should be a lot of fun.
How are you celebrating Mother's Day this weekend?
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Monday April 30, 2012
Over my career, I've been fortunate enough to have several trusted mentors who supported my career. Sometimes that meant advocating for me to receive a specific assignment or promotion at work, but often it was simply being a confidential advisor whom I could count on to have my best interests at heart.
I probably had been working for five years before it occurred to me to actively cultivate a mentor, and for the most part it's come very naturally. I gravitate toward those mentors whom I admire and get along with in the first place. When I've been itching to quit a job or struggling with an ethical dilemma, they're always the people I call.
Lately, I've been tickled to see younger people in my field beginning to reach out to me as a mentor. It's flattering and also rewarding to be able to give back by being as helpful and altruistic a mentor to them as my elders have been to me.
What's your definition of a mentor? Have you encountered helpful mentors along the way? Or do you have horror stories to share?
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Monday April 30, 2012
New research paints a mixed picture of the improvement in flexible benefits being offered to employees by U.S. employers in the period of time covering the Great Recession. While more workers can control their hours and location of work, employers are clamping down on longer leaves, career breaks and caregiving time off, according to a employer survey released today by the Families and Work Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management, which updates a 2005 study.
"It seems that employers are dealing with the lingering economic instability by trying to accomplish more with fewer people," said Ellen Galinsky, president and co-founder of the Families and Work Institute and an author of the study. "Most of the gains allow employees to work longer hours or adjust those hours to care for their personal and family responsibilities while getting their work done. Although some may have expected employers to cut back on flexibility entirely during this economic downturn, we are seeing employers leverage flexibility as they look toward the future."
For instance, 77 percent of employers let workers use flex time in 2012, up from 66 percent in 2005. Occasional telecommuting nearly doubled, to 63 percent up from 34 percent in 2005. But the percentage of employers who let workers phase back into work after maternity leave or adopting a child dropped to 73 percent from 86 percent in the previous study. Only 52 percent let individual take a career break for personal responsibilities, down from 73 percent in 2005, the report found.
"As we look ahead, it is clear that in order to remain competitive, employers must find ways to offer flexible work options if they want to attract and retain top talent," said Henry G. Jackson, president and chief executive of SHRM.
Has flexible work increased or decreased in your world, over the last five to seven years? Please share your experiences in the comments below.
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Tuesday April 17, 2012
Could you use another $10,784? If you're a working woman, that's the median amount that your male counterparts earn above and beyond your annual pay, according to new analysis by the National Partnership for Women and Families. That's right, American men make nearly 11 grand more just due to their gender. Today is Equal Pay Day, a fitting time to explore this pay gap, the day when the typical woman's earnings for 2011 plus 2012 finally equal a man's pay in 2011.
"The Equal Pay Act was enacted 49 years ago and women are still paid 23 cents less than men on the dollar," said Debra L. Ness, president of the partnership. "This new analysis illustrates just how much harm the wage gap does to women and families throughout the country, and especially to women of color where the gap between the wages paid to women and men is staggering."
African American women and Latinas earn $19,575 and $23,873 less than their male counterparts, respectively. If the gender pay gap were eliminated, women in Washington could buy an additional 1.7 years' worth of food. In Colorado, working women could purchase 2,746 more gallons of gas. Wisconsin's women could afford 14 more months of rent, and Connecticut's women could pay family health insurance premiums for 3.7 years, according to the partnership's new report on the pay gap in each state.
What does Equal Pay Day mean to you? How does your state compare to the nation? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.
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