Since today is a travel day for me, I am offering up a guest post I’m truly excited about!  Felix Wetzel, the Group Marketing Director for Jobsite and author of the ‘People, Brands, & Random Thoughts‘ blog, is a friend and someone who shares compelling and creative business ideas.  For Felix, it’s all about people, brands, sports & politics. His motto is “fortune favors the bold!”

Please be sure to leave Felix a comment at the end and tell him what you think of his concept of peopling.  Thanks friends.

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Felix Wetzel

I believe, and have believed for many years now, that HR and Marketing will move closer and closer, eventually overlap and consequently merge. There’s no question about it; it’s a logical outcome, triggered by the behavioural changes that have been magnified and accelerated by social media and mobile and my core belief about business and life: it’s all about people.

I base it on a very simple formula:

people = brand

This common denominator is underpinned by the following:

people = employees = customers = competitors = suppliers = citizens

So HR and Marketing are perfect companions, that share similar goals, approach life in a similar manner and most importantly have skills and talents that complement each other. Let’s now leave the abstract behind and get more concrete:

People are the brand

If you share this belief with me than you’ll also agree with the following statement: The strongest brand ambassadors are your employees. Subsequently, fostering the right culture within the company, influencing employees to participate every day voluntarily within it and communicating the culture externally in a personable but still branded manner, choosing new employees that fit and enhance the culture are areas where Marketing and HR, if working hand in hand, can make a massive difference and can enrich the growth of the brand but also the individuals within it. This becomes even more important as every interaction, every engagement, every mention defines the brand and defines the perception of the brand. That needs an exciting vision, a clear framework and at the same time shared experiences.

Internal and external communication are intrinsically linked

However we portray the brand externally has an impact internally. Jobsite’s CEO Keith Potts always reminds us: “When you choose a name for a brand, just pretend you call a client. How does it make you feel?”

When we created our TV commercial, I always had in mind that I wanted our sales people to be proud about the ad and the brand, to talk about it, to walk into meetings with their head held high, without the chance of being ridiculed. Besides this being an important filter, it also highlights how internal and external communication are linked, how internal and external perception influence each other and how we as a business therefore need to ensure that we have consistency across all communication. It’s another area for HR and Marketing to benefit from each other’s skills.

Everything communicates

Mervyn Dinnen wrote a very insightful blog ‘Is your recruitment partner damaging your bottom line?’ In this post Mervyn refers to potential employees being potential consumers and if treated badly at the recruitment process it damages their perception of the brand. I wholeheartedly agree. People are multi-dimensional and every interaction shapes the impact of a brand. That’s why I advocate replacing the terms ‘employee’ and ‘consumer’ with the term ‘citizen’. They all influence and define the ecosphere of the brand. The brand is alive, has a stable core but is adaptable and subsequently far more resistant. So, if this is the case, the brand values need to be experienced also through the recruitment process and need to be aligned with the overall brand communication. The recruitment experience is as important as the customer service experience. Everything communicates.

Employer Brand

Is it an employee or employer brand? Who cares? The whole discussion about it is misguided. An employee/employer/employment brand is a myth. Ultimately there’s one core brand and the employer brand is just one facet of it, other facets are the product brand, the consumer brand, the supplier brand, etc – so, instead of reinventing the brand, HR & Marketing need to work together to communicate and execute the brand internally (employee brand) and externally (employer brand) within the employment market.  Use the skills across the business to build the best solution, that’s the way to create a world class experience.

At Jobsite, our brand essence is: ‘We help you plan your worklife, so your whole life works better’ – this, combined with our brand values, are at the heart of all our interactions be it internally and externally.

I know of several companies where HR & Marketing (and the entire business work hand in hand). I know even more companies where this doesn’t happen. Maybe one day, the merger will happen, and instead of HR and Marketing it’s called Peopling.

When I started the work/ life leader’s series last fall, I could never have predicted the level of insight that leaders would share with us.  This project continues to be something that you are asking for.  So, I continue to reach out to various leaders in human resources and recruiting to learn as much as possible.

Today, I am privileged to have someone I consider a true friend post his thoughts on the topic.  Jason Seiden is not only a kind and generous friend, he is a professional speaker, coach, and author.  Jason’s books, ‘Super Staying Power: What You Need to Be Valuable & Resilient at Work and the award-winning How to Self-Destruct: Making the Least of What’s Left of Your Career are two of the most popular business books on the market. Jason is also a family man who takes that role seriously.  Be sure to check out his site at http://jasonseiden.com.

So, read on to learn how Jason makes it all work.  Then, leave a comment and let us know what you think.

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When Trish asked me to guest post on work/life balance, I didn’t hesitate to say yes.

Though to be clear, I revere work/life balance about as much as an atheist believes in God.

So here’s my answer to, “How do I achieve “work/life balance?”

I don’t. I have spent extensive time the past few years doing things to lay the foundation for what I’m doing now (writing/speaking). At the time, these things caused major scheduling conflicts. I did them anyway.

I have no expectations. Rather than try to force things to happen on my schedule, I put myself in the way of opportunity and adjust quickly when it presents itself. I go. I do. I get caught up in things. Periodically I step back to assess my priorities, my strengths, and my interests: where are the themes? I ask myself. My passions find me, but only when I let go of expectation.

I grab moments when I can. My book Super Staying Power has four chapters on how to create “Magic Moments,” those perfect life moments that turn into lifelong memories. The model is real, I use it all the time. I work a lot, so I often invent ways to include my kids in my life during what would otherwise be “dead time.” I don’t worry about blocks of time, I focus on moments.

Hugs, all the time. Love is not an after-hours thing, it is a whenever-I-am-with-someone-I-love thing.

Work, all the time. Work is not an 8 to 6 thing; it is a whenever-I-get-inspired thing.

People come first. Every once in awhile, I’ll take an extended lunch with a friend. Usually, I don’t have time for it. But afterward, I’m always glad I did it.

I’m lucky. One thing my wife has been very clear about since the beginning is that breaking up is never on the table—whatever the challenge, we’ll figure out a way. I wouldn’t dare preach to anyone how to keep a marriage strong; on this score, I just got lucky.

Honesty. A client once remarked during a negotiation that I don’t dance like other vendors, I wrestle. So I do. If there’s an issue, let’s deal with it. I get paid a lot of money to help people figure out how to successfully move through office politics, which get created when people chose not to deal with the underlying issues. I’ve gotten good enough at it to know that the most efficient political maneuver is to hit issues head on whenever possible.

I have a long term perspective. Work/life balance is a lifetime thing, not a day-to-day thing.

I say “yes.“ I know the advice about equating “saying ‘no’” with integrity. I think that’s bullshit. Integrity means owning up to mistakes, not pussyfooting through life for fear of making one. The point at which you are in balance is as close to “over-commitment” as it is to “under-commitment.” What, if you err to one side, you’re OK, but err to the other side, and you suddenly have no integrity? Horse feathers. It’s as important to know how to say “yes” to the things you’d like to do as it is to say “no” to the things you know you can’t. If you start feeling that your integrity is on the line when you talk balance, you’re just screwed.

I manage risks rather than eliminate them. Safety is an illusion. This is life: I will get burned and that there will be tears—no question about it. No need to live in fear of the inevitable! I find a lot of success in life comes from simply accepting the risks.

I have goals. I make sure to do something every day to move forward toward my goals. For instance, I tell people about them. (You can’t help me unless you know what I want. Which right now is as many speaking opportunities as I can land, thanks.)

I don’t hide from my emotions. I use my emotions as guides. I don’t always know what they mean, but I don’t ignore them. When they speak, I listen.

I actively enjoy my life. Some days naturally suck, others are naturally great. But other days, my attitude has a big impact on my surroundings. If I notice people around me all being nasty, I assume that I must not be enjoying myself and that they’re responding to the negativity I’m emanating. Rather than get mad at them, I try to find something around me to appreciate, and I focus on it until I change my mood. When you’re having fun, you don’t worry about balance.

I live in a home, not a house. We have no “no touch” room, no nice furniture, and no rules that prioritize things over people. After all, my couch will not be at my funeral.

There it is: a relatively raw “brain dump” spurred by thoughts of that fantastical myth, “work/life balance.”

I can’t imagine there’s anyone else around whose brain goes to the same place mine does when s/he hears the question, “How do you achieve work/life balance,” and that’s probably a good thing. So take from my musings what you can, laugh at the parts where I’m ridiculous, and find that path that works for you…

Me? I’m off. I’ve got clients to call and a kid downstairs who doesn’t even know she’s got a tickle torture on the way…

I am excited to share the first post in 2010 that is part of my Work/ Life Leaders series!  This series has given us insight from many of the well-known HR leaders and HR bloggers and I will link to their contributions at the end of this post.  Today I am honored to share a contribution by William Tincup of Starr Tincup Marketing.

William Tincup

William is a founding Principal of Starr Tincup and if you haven’t checked them out, you must.  Their site demonstrates their unique approach to the market.  They are hard core practitioners who are passionate about human capital and providing the best to their clients.  William is someone I have come to admire because of his unsurpassed knowledge, his straight-forward approach, his humor, and with him, there’s no BS.  EVER.    As you’ll see in his post, he’s also someone who is a very caring family man who also is concerned about his community.

Be sure to let him know what you think in the comments after the  post. With that, here’s William!

Zen and the Art of Focustime

The concept of work/life balance has eluded me for most of my life. I didn’t believe that leaders and wealth creators get the benefit of living out this utopian ideal.  Plus, as a self-diagnosed workaholic, I’ve always viewed folks that champion work/life balance as disgruntled employees hell-bent on changing my work-until-your-fingers-bleed office culture.

That said, I have changed my tune over the past four years and tempered the more driven side of my personality with something that resembles balance. I have managed to embrace this with a concept that I call Focustime.  Here’s how I came to the concept of Focustime:

• Multitasking is a myth: I used to be a big believer in multitasking, but not anymore. If you are working on something truly valuable and important, then that activity requires focus. The very definition of multitasking conflicts with focus.  Yeah, I can review a Facebook feed at the same time that I’m having a conversation – but it depends on the how deep of a conversation. Some sales guy on the phone is no big deal, but my wife requires more attention. After I figured out the need to focus, I was able to toss away the concept of multitasking valuable things, such as initiatives, conversations, interactions, work outputs, etc.

• Being genuine is essential: I had to part ways with a business partner a few years ago – turns out he was a complete douchebag.  Still, it was one of the most painful events in my adult life.  Truth is, I knew of his dark heart and cynical ways for years and had allowed it, but that reckoning and his subsequent departure jettison from our small firm forced me to realize that authenticity would be critical to my success.

I’ve always been skilled at calling bullshit on other folks, but now I had to call bullshit on myself. It was a painful process to be sure, but that failure was directly tied to my ability to be genuine at all costs. To thyself be true. I had to rid myself of poor behaviors and to learn to become completely genuine in all situations.

• You must allow for “me” time: Two years ago, I was honored at the Fort Worth Business Press’ 40 Under 40. But at the awards banquet, my life flashed in front of me. Poof! I’m all about work, family and community involvement …  in that order.

The problem was that I had not factored any time for me. I’m an artist – I hadn’t painted in years. I collect coins – I hadn’t reviewed my collection in years. No me in this mix. No time for me. It hurt, but it was true … and it wasn’t a sustainable model if I planned to live a truly fulfilling life.

Something had to change. Work and family were musts, and community involvement at that particular juncture fell into the “nice-to-have” category.  As a result, I resigned from five nonprofit boards in one day.  It only took weeks before I started to paint and work on my coin collection again.  At a point in my future, I’ll find a way to work with arts nonprofits again – just not in the foreseeable future.  I’ve purposely redirected that investment of time back into me.  Turns out – it’s all about me.

• Discovering my purpose: I know this sounds trite or cliché, but it’s true. When my first son (Joseph Henry) was born, I quietly questioned my purpose on this planet.  No one knew that I was questioning everything.  My skills, my abilities, my future, my relationships – everything was being analyzed and over analyzed.  Turns out, I had no real purpose to my life. I had been so focused on “what’s next” for so long – I had never really created a purpose beyond that.

My entire career had been built around getting to the next place but no real thought was given to why.  Why did I work so hard? After much reflection, I decided that I wanted to become a nice guy, a guy that folks wanted to be around, a guy that folks wanted to call.  That was a big transformation for me – I was accustomed to being the wild guy, the blunt object that was confrontational or inflammatory. It was a cartoon of who I really was privately, but not one that allowed me room to brand myself as a nice guy.

And as most nice people know, you can’t fake this. You either care about others or you don’t. I had always been selfless, but I had just kept that part of me private.  To become this nice guy, I identified a set of values that I would emulate: faith, love, hope and trust. Those of you that know me, you’ve heard me weave those into some discussion. I try my best to live those values every day of my life.  The keyword here is “try.”

• Becoming comfortable: In the last 18 months, I have changed my role within my firm to lead our sales and marketing efforts.  I manage our brand, I talk with prospects everyday and I close deals.  When I transitioned into this role, I was completely terrified – mostly because I was about to manage all the “new” revenue of a firm that I care deeply about and I had neither real skills nor experience to do so.

I tripped and fumbled mightily through the first two quarters of my new found responsibilities with some wins, some losses and lots of learning about me. And then one day I realized that ambition isn’t an external thing. For me, ambition is internal pride and deep desire to become GREAT at sales.  For me to become great, I had to slow down and stop thinking about what’s next and I had to develop better listening skills.

I’ve always been smart, but I’ve never really listened to people in conversation.  I was too skilled to be in the moment – I wanted to be 10 steps ahead of everyone I talked with, so I was thinking of my answers to the next four questions.  Boring and lame.

After I slowed down, I actually learned that I had it all wrong.  Being in the moment was the best place in the world, and I’ve never been more comfortable in a role.  I love what I do for a living and I’m good at it.  The skin that I’ve grown into is one filled with peace.  And peace is the lynchpin of the concept of Focustime.

These five points are what Focustime is all about. When you are with someone, be with them only.  Focus on them.  Create tunnel vision around that particular moment of human engagement, shut off all things that confuse or trick you into flighty behaviors of not focusing on conversations with people.

Above all, invest in yourself AND invest in every conversation.  If you can’t invest in focusing, don’t hold the conversation.  For instance, when you are talking with your spouse, don’t multitask – focus on him or her wholly not partially.  That’s it.  Learn to be entirely in the moment.

That’s Focustime. It hasn’t been a destination for me, but the culmination of a series of life events that is constantly evolving. No matter how hardcore a workholic you are, trust me, you can be your own savior. This process can help you exponentially improve your work/life balance.

Contact and Resources

So, I know you want to get to know William more after reading this.  You do! Connect with him on Twitter, friend him on FaceBook, hook up on LinkedIn, hire him at Starr Tincup.  I guess you could call him too, but I won’t share his cell phone with you…..yet.

Other posts in the Work/ Life Leader’s Series:

• Eric Winegardner from Monster.com
• My contribution
• Bill Boorman of  Bill Boorman Consultancy and TRULondon
• Leanne Chase, founder of Career Life Connection
• Michael VanDervort from Human Race Horses
• Beth Carvin, CEO of Nobscot Corporation

As I continue to have strong interest from readers in the work/life flexibility discussion, I asked a friend of mine, Mike VanDervort to contribute his ideas on the topic.  If anyone knows how to try and make it all work, he does.  Mike is a busy HR leader, father, husband, public speaker, blogger/writer, and more.  Let’s see what work/life flexibility means to him….

Life is all about Balance

A couple of weeks ago, Trish McFarlane asked if I would like to participate in her Leader’s series on Work/Life. Since this is a topic near and dear to my heart, and my personal sanity, I quickly agreed to do something.

It is a good thing that I had a publisher with flexible deadlines, because I got very busy and couldn’t write anything for her. Then I went on vacation for a week. Then I came back and was overwhelmed with catching up. Tomorrow, I leave for another week of vacation wrapped around the Christmas holiday.

I’ll come back to this thought of balance a little later in the post. I want to look at a couple of other things first.

Thought Leaders speak on Work/Life Balance

Here is what Trish had to say recently about the emerging tends from her Work/Life series.

When I started this Leader’s series, I was not sure if there would be agreement or disagreement. Here is what I am seeing emerge:

1. As much as we may want to ignore it, or pretend it doesn’t matter, flexibility in one form or another is on the mind of many employees and leaders.
2. It is not necessarily a generational difference but seems to be based more on the phase of life someone is in.
3. Regardless of what we call it; integration, unity, juggle, balance, etc., it all comes down to the fact that different people need varying amounts of flexibility in their life depending on their family and other commitments.

Keep these themes in mind: Work, Life, Flexibility, Juggle, Balance.

Here is what another thought leader had to say about Work/Life balance back in June 2009.

” There’s no such thing as work-life balance, there are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences.” — Jack Welch, speaking at the 2009 SHRM National Conference

We need to add some new words to our theme list: Work, Life, Flexibility, Juggle, Balance, Choice, Consequences

Stanley Bing is the author of the book “How to Relax Without Getting the Axe. Here is a bit of his take on Work/Life balance.

” The secret is learning and adapting the tricks of powerful, successful people” , says Bing, whose book is subtitled “A Survival Guide to the New Workplace”. “In essence, the tricks are timeless ways for anyone to gain control over their job, their time and their life, he says. “The lack of control is what makes people unhappy, and supreme control is what signifies powerful, successful people,” he said. “In between is the regular day that we all have.”

We need to add some new words to our theme list: Work, Life, Flexibility, Juggle, Balance, Choice, Consequences, Control

The Reality of Work/Life Balance

Even though it pains me to say it, Jack Welch is right.

There is no such thing as Work/Life balance.

Excellent employers may strive to provide an atmosphere whereby the demands of a job are lessened by amenities. Frankly, most won’t. Where they do, many employees will choose not to take full advantage in the name of “too busy” or “high performance culture”.

If there is no Work/Life Balance, what is there?

To answer that question, we must look to our theme list:

• Work
• Life
• Flexibility
• Juggle
• Balance
• Choice
• Consequences
• Control

These are the factors in the equation that is Work/Life Balance. Understanding the equation is the answer to finding Work/Life Balance. The equation is like life, a series of events that unfold, offering each individual the opportunity to choose how they will behave.

If you choose to always work, your equation will be out of balance. The consequence will be the complete lack of a personal life.

Some people choose to live that way. Others choose to opt out of work altogether.

There is no perfect solution or answer to this equation! Each individual must find the answer that works for them. It is up to you to find your own answer.

Finding that balance

Even when work is overwhelming and demanding, including heavy travel, you can find short respites- if you choose to do so.

I recently had to make a trip from Tampa to Washington D.C. for a conference, and then fly from DC to Miami, keeping me away from home for a week, Wednesday to Wednesday, including working on the weekend in Miami.

I scheduled the trip so that I was able to get a block of time in DC that ran from 10 AM to 3 PM in which I was free. I used this time to take an extended walk around the sites and monuments that are offered on a beautiful autumn day in Washington D.C.  After a meeting, I used the open evening hours to meet with social media friends Mark Stelzner and Jessica Lee rather than attend a meaningless cocktail hour where I didn’t know anyone. While in Miami, I stayed near the beach in Fort Lauderdale, giving me the opportunity to rise early and take some beautiful beach walks along the Atlantic Ocean.

Total free time out of a 7 day business trip – 10 hours.

Reward – priceless!

Admittedly, I could have been working, catching up on things that got put off at the office due to the travel, but I was so far behind from an intensive 60 day schedule that spending that time working would have yielded very little long term value. The respite – the personal time to rejuvenate was far more important at that time.

You have to stay sane at work in order to remain productive. Staying sane at work when it is crazy is an art! It is your responsibility to make the choices that will provide you the proper personal work/life balance.

I will close with some tips on how to do this.

Tips for getting your own life back

1. Never forget that you are your most important personal asset. You need to make sure that you are providing yourself with sustenance on a physical, profession, emotional and spiritual level in order to have a fully rounded life.
2. Make time to relax. Use your vacation.
3. Find opportunities for respite during the chaos!
4. Don’t sublimate. Follow your passion. Don’t let work and obligation derail from some time with those things that nurture your soul and spirit.
5. If you find yourself growing resentful and angry, take the time to reflect on why this is happening. It is impossible to work your way through this if you are imbalanced in your personal and professional life.
6. Analyze your self-established limitations. Are you living up to impossible rules and standards for no good reason? Stop it, now!
7. Are you staying in a bad situation because of obligation? If so, evaluate it carefully. It could be literally killing you.
8. Go get help if you need to. I did, and it paid off.
9. Find something that you want to do just for yourself and go do it

So, what do you think?  Does this approach work for you?  Let Mike and I know in the comments. Thank you to Mike for  participating in the Leader’s Series.

Michael VanDervort is the founder of The Human Race Horse Blog. Michael writes and speaks on topics related to human resources and social media. You can follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

Today I am  bringing forth another perspective on work, life and flexibility.  Beth Carvin, the CEO of Nobscot Corporation, was involved in the original discussion on this topic last October.  I knew she would give us something to help us understand what is on the minds of business leaders.

When I started this Leader’s series, I was not sure if there would be agreement or disagreement.  Here is what I am seeing emerge:

1. As much as we may want to ignore it, or pretend it doesn’t matter, flexibility in one form or another is on the mind of many employees and leaders.
2. It is not necessarily a generational difference but seems to be based more on the phase of life someone is in.
3. Regardless of what we call it; integration, unity, juggle, balance, etc., it all comes down to the fact that different people need varying amounts of flexibility in their life depending on their family and other commitments.

So, please check out Beth’s perspective then use the comments to start a discussion. Here’s Beth…

Many CEOs and business owners are boggled and bothered by the whole idea of workplace flexibility and work-family balance.  Boggled because there’s nothing they would rather do than work and bothered because they are paying employees in exchange for their time Monday through Friday 8am to 5pm.

Yet the workplace is transforming before our eyes. Our employees today are dual-working parents, have special needs children, care for elderly parents, pursue their passions, perform community service, participate in outside interests, network with others, continue their education and dabble with new technology. They have work-at-home offices and use mobile technology that’s more powerful than many of our desktop computers. All of this requires us to re-think our ideas on workplace flexibility.

As the CEO of Nobscot Corporation, it has taken me a long time to get comfortable with flexibility and yet I see it working in our organization every day.  Like with all new initiatives, there are pros and cons.

The following are 10 points to think about as you work to implement a flexibility policy for your organization that will benefit both the employees and the company.

1. Life happens. Many of us are still in the mindset that life needs to happen before 8, after 5 and on weekends. We expect people to schedule their lives and make arrangements accordingly.  We have always done that so why can’t they?  Unfortunately (or fortunately?), it doesn’t work that way anymore. Today, the majority of couples are both dual-earners with full-time work responsibilities. This doesn’t leave anyone to handle the daily requirements of life, never mind the unexpected surprises that happen.

2. Flexibility and Structure are not mutually exclusive. Most people are more productive when there is some structure to their workday. It’s much easier for employees to focus and accomplish goals when they know exactly what they should be working on and when. Some workplace flexibility proponents would have you believe that total freedom is required.  This is a mistake. You can and should provide flexibility while still maintaining some structure to the workday or work week.  If you provide too much freedom you are doing a disservice to your employees.

3. Flexibility only works when employees have a good work ethic and a commitment to the success of the organization. This means two things.  First, recruiting for a flexible work environment requires seeking out employees with a natural tendency to perform their very best at everything they do. Second, it’s incumbent on you to create a cohesive environment where employees identify with the organization and benefit (either psychologically or monetarily) from the success of the company.

4. Flexibility and Goofing-off are not synonymous. Allowing employees flexibility to blend their work-life with their home-life or to take off time during the day for personal or family pursuits should not give employees a license to goof-off.  Some might argue that if employees are allowed to work their own schedule they should be able to goof-off all they want as long as they get their work done. This sounds reasonable in theory but in reality our brains are limited in how much we can do in a day or week.  If employees over extend themselves in goofing-off they will not have the same amount of energy and focus and creativity when they try to squeeze their work into their goof-off schedule.

5. Watch out for multi-tasking. This is one of the biggest challenges that managers face today.  I don’t care what your employees tell you, the human mind is not capable of concentrating fully on more than one thing at a time.  Yes, they can do more than one thing at a time but the quality of the work will suffer.

6. The weakest link in successful workplace flexibility is not employees, it’s supervisors. You absolutely can not introduce workplace flexibility, (particularly “results oriented  work environments”) without re-training yourself and all supervisors on how to manage in this new environment.  Traditional management is built around managing employees time and making sure they are working productively throughout the workday/week. In the flexible work environment, supervisors must manage the work itself. This is not as simple as it sounds.

For example, some flexibility advocates believe that if an employee accomplishes their week’s worth of work in one day, they should be able to have the rest of the week to themselves. The reality is that the supervisor is not giving the employee an appropriate amount of work.

7. Women, flexibility and corporate performance.  Studies have shown that organizations with women in leadership positions outperform those without. Therefore it makes good sense for companies to make sure they are doing a good job of retaining, developing, mentoring and advancing women employees to the same degree as the male employees.

Work environments without flexibility disproportionately impact women. Even when both parents work, survey show that the majority of household and childcare responsibilities still fall on women.  When we examine the results of exit interviews by gender, the satisfaction levels on workplace flexibility and balance are 96% of the time rated lower by women than by men. If we want to make our companies the best they can be, we need to be responsive to the needs of working women.

8. Dads want more involvement too. Today more than ever, our male employees are involved in the caring and parenting of the children. We shouldn’t assume that flexibility is only a women’s issue.

9. Keeping it fair. A big complaint that surfaces often in employee surveys from employees who do not have children or other home/family responsibilities is that others get flexibility while they don’t. Is it reasonable for a single employee to go to the movies for a couple of hours during the workday if their colleagues go to kid events during the day? This is an issue that needs to be addressed up front in order to make expectations clear.

10. Eliminate the impact on co-workers and clients. When adding flexibility into the workplace, employees need to understand the importance of using this benefit responsibly. Their personal schedule should in no way negatively impact their colleagues and clients.  This is not a get-out-of-work free pass nor an excuse for missing/canceling important meetings. It should be made very clear to employees that flexibility at the expense of others will not and should not be tolerated.

Beth N. Carvin is CEO of Nobscot Corporation, a global technology firm that focuses on key areas of employee retention and development.