Father’s Day may have come and gone, but the question of working fathers remains as intractable as ever. This once invisible group (“working father” was pretty much redundant 50 years ago) is now the stuff of cute commercials and rom-coms, but there remains a tremendous disconnect between what we say, as a society, and what […]
What Makes a Great Place to Work? Inclusiveness is Key
For probably a dozen years, I’ve attended the annual Great Place to Work Conference. It’s the biggest event of the year for the Great Place to Work Institute (GPTW), the organization behind Fortune’s various “best places to work” lists. The conference brings together HR, communications, and other professionals from companies of all sizes that have […]
Stop Ignoring This Proven Way to Make Your Case
Trying to sell a new idea or program to senior leadership? Or showcase your organization’s features to win a corporate award or land a grant? We’ve all been told that “making the business case” comes down to having good data. But while data is critical, it’s not everything. Just now I’m reading The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis. […]
Has the Customer Service Pendulum Swung Too Far?
Remember when great customer service wasn’t necessarily a given? When if you bought something that didn’t fit right you couldn’t assume it was returnable? And if you needed something the next day, you’d better go get it yourself? Lily Tomlin’s iconic telephone operator, Ernestine, exemplified at least a strain of “customer service” in the bad […]
Not On Fortune’s Best Companies to Work For List? There’s Always Next Year!
Fortune’s annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” list came out today. You’ll recognize a lot of the organizations on the list—they’re the Googles and the Whole Foods and the REIs—companies in the news year-round for their off-the-charts benefits, HR policies and worksite amenities. They’ve been on the list many times before, and will be on […]
A Brand New Employee Distraction
I wake to NPR’s “Morning Edition” but that’s not enough—I reach for my phone to check the headlines in the New York Times. (The paper copy, waiting on my doorstep, won’t be sufficiently up-to-date.) Then I check Facebook to see what clips from other papers my friends have posted. Then I weigh in on those […]
It’s the Culture, Stupid
I don’t know much about the massage industry, but it occurs to me it must be riding high these days. (Note to self: ask broker to look into publicly-held massage businesses.) Everywhere I look, companies are providing employees with on-site massages, or covering massage therapy in their insurance, or both. Those goofy-looking massage chairs lurk […]
Happy 2017! Here’s What U.S. Employees Still Need
Happy New Year, everyone! Back at Thanksgiving, I wrote a post about work-life-related progress in 2016. This week, like many of us, I’m thinking ahead. I’m not much of a believer in New Year’s resolutions, and, in any case, the kinds of things I’m thinking about aren’t in my (sole) power to bring about, so […]
6 Tips for a Better “Working Mother 100 Best” Essay
Aiming to get on next year’s Working Mother Best Companies list? The application, which also includes the opportunity to apply for “Top Companies for Women,” is now available, and the clock is ticking till the early March deadline. There’s a lot of data to gather, and those pesky holidays are coming, so it’s a wise […]
Bringing Flexibility
Back to Retirement:
An Interview with Paul Rupert
These days, “flex work” is often taken to mean one thing: the ability to work from home. So you may not be aware that when the concept of flexible work arrangements was first introduced, in the 1970s and 80s, it referred to a long menu of options, from flexing start and end times to job […]