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Oh wow, some of the things I read here are utterly disturbing, I mean seriously? Why do kids get sick every month? That’s your though process? You think parents control when their kids get sick? I am a single mother and yes it was my choice to be a parent but it is also my choice to be a working parent and as such I do have other responsibilities outside of work. I am really glad I work for a flexible company that allows me to be a mother and a good worker at the same time. They allow me to telecommute when my child is sick, and yes to the non-parents who participated here,I can’t wait till you have children, it is easy to talk about something you have no first hand experience on. I also was a childless worker once and did not understand why kids would get sick all the time. I have a 4 year old and almost every month she will get sick and during winter, she can get sick every other week, and the issue is she is not too sick but she is too sick for daycare, because yes people daycare does not allow you to bring you kid in if they have a fever, vomit, diarrhea, a cold, ect. They will call you to pick up the child, and from birth to maybe age 5, kids get into these ailments ALL the time. So yes I am glad that my company allows me to telecommute when my kid is sick. I am a damn good at my job and I am a mother. I do not have to choose between the 2 and it is time that people like you and corporate America understand this. People wonder why women still can not compete with men for high level jobs and this is exactly the reason. Women have always been put in a corner where they had to choose between their career and their family, a choice that many men do not face. Working mothers are valuable and usually even more productive when the company allows and gives them the flexibility they need. Do you know how much happier, and therefore productive these women might have been if returning to work after having a child was less challenging? The United States is one of only four countries that doesn’t offer paid leave to new mother. Free snacks and happy hours – these are perks. Paid maternity/paternity leave, flexible work options, and paid sick leave – these should be priorities. When is corporate America going to realize mothers work and therefore start working to support them? Does it really take getting the the level of Sheryl Sandberg to be able to admit that you do, or want to, go home at 5:30 pm to have dinner with your kids? Can we bring more flexibility into the work place, and will that flexibility contribute to more career advancement for women? .If all working moms had the option for flexible working hours I think productivity from this group of employees would soar. If only corporate America would see the value that flexibility could bring to their bottom line, I think working moms would have a different situation, and we would also see more women achieving leadership roles. So instead of talking behind working mothers back, be a team player and of course I am not talking about the deadbeat workers who would be deadbeats even if they were not parents, however for a company to offer flexibility to parents is really not a perk and something you should complain about, it is not like they go home to sit on their behind eating bonbons.
You shouldn't have ever let it be known that you are single, because your marital status has no impact on your ability to do your job.
Does it not have any impact?
Quote:
When is corporate America going to realize mothers work and therefore start working to support them? Does it really take getting the the level of Sheryl Sandberg to be able to admit that you do, or want to, go home at 5:30 pm to have dinner with your kids? Can we bring more flexibility into the work place, and will that flexibility contribute to more career advancement for women? .If all working moms had the option for flexible working hours I think productivity from this group of employees would soar. If only corporate America would see the value that flexibility could bring to their bottom line, I think working moms would have a different situation, and we would also see more women achieving leadership roles. So instead of talking behind working mothers back, be a team player ...
Sounds great, but it's not the job of an employer to make society a better place for moms at the expense of the company and of their coworkers. How exactly is a "working mother" a better employee than a childless woman of the same age?
If there are fifty candidates for a position and all are equally qualified, why hire somebody who is going to need to use more sick days, requires flexible work hours, won't willingly travel away from home for 10 days straight, and is unhappy when they can't get home at 5:30 pm for dinner?
When there are fifty candidates for every open position, why would a company offer flextime and telecommuting and day care?
Sounds great, but it's not the job of an employer to make society a better place for moms at the expense of the company and of their coworkers. How exactly is a "working mother" a better employee than a childless woman of the same age?
If there are fifty candidates for a position and all are equally qualified, why hire somebody who is going to need to use more sick days, requires flexible work hours, won't willingly travel away from home for 10 days straight, and is unhappy when they can't get home at 5:30 pm for dinner?
When there are fifty candidates for every open position, why would a company offer flextime and telecommuting and day care?
The only reason to offer these conditions is when the resource is worth the benefit given. The responsibility is on the parent to be of such value that the organzation will provide the benefits. The employee delivered value must exceed the cost of the benefit. If not then the organization will hire the resource that provides the value without the extra cost. Note I used the word organizationa because it is not just evil corporations that use these criteria but governments, non profits, and more. So the lesson is to make yourself valuable by virtue of your knowldge and skills, until you do that the reality is that no hiring entity is likely to change to accomodate you. We can argue whether this is fair or right but in the end all you can change is yourself.
Sounds great, but it's not the job of an employer to make society a better place for moms at the expense of the company and of their coworkers. How exactly is a "working mother" a better employee than a childless woman of the same age?
If there are fifty candidates for a position and all are equally qualified, why hire somebody who is going to need to use more sick days, requires flexible work hours, won't willingly travel away from home for 10 days straight, and is unhappy when they can't get home at 5:30 pm for dinner?
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Great post. There are many evenings when , if we had a non-clerical employee leave to be with the kiddies for supper, they would be breaking up a productive meeting or other activity. Why would it help the company to be ok with that?
She sang "kumbaya" beautifully, but lets talk improving operating profit. How does having to rearrange company activiities improve operating profits?
Life is about choices. Boo hoo, if in most workplaces Johnny's sniffles and a company significant meeting conflict. Millions of OTHER Americans can tend to the company, full-time, w/o having to have dinner at a set time every night. Your job is to excel so much above all others your scheduling conflicts are a worthwhile tradeoff. If it keeps you from a promotion, again your scheduling issues are a valid issue for them to consider.
I did not say it was the company’s job to make society a better way to the expense of other workers. And this is where I guess your thought process is flawed. You assume that working mothers getting flexibility is at the expense of childless workers. Why does it have to be at their expense? What are they exactly losing? If as a working parent I do my job, how does it affect you how flexible my schedule is or what my working hours are? Look, I get productivity, I work in corporate finance, I am the only woman in my department and the youngest person. I know how hard it is to be in my field, be a woman, and have a child, I GET work ethics, the demands, productivity, ect. And you ask why give that job to a mother when there are other single people ready to get the job? Well guess what, because maybe a company enjoys diversity, maybe just maybe they understand the value a parent adds to the company, there are many skills that are honed through parenting and can benefit companies in many ways. Also, successful companies understand that employees can work remotely and be as productive as they can be. If you only trust someone to work when their butt is on the seat in the office, then you should probably fire them. It has been proven many times, that more time in the office does not always mean more “value added”—and it does not always add up to a more successful organization.
Long hours are one thing, and realistically, they are often unavoidable. But do they really need to be spent at the office? To be sure, being in the office some of the time is beneficial. In-person meetings can be far more efficient than phone or e-mail tag; trust and collegiality are much more easily built up around the same physical table; and spontaneous conversations often generate good ideas and lasting relationships. Still, armed with e-mail, instant messaging, phones, and videoconferencing technology, we should be able to move to a culture where the office is a base of operations more than the required locus of work.Being able to work from home—in the evening after children are put to bed, or during their sick days or snow days, and at least some of the time on weekends—can be the key, for mothers, to carrying your full load versus letting a team down at crucial moments.
Changes in default office rules should not advantage parents over other workers, indeed, done right, they can improve relations among co-workers by raising their awareness of each other’s circumstances and instilling a sense of fairness. Unfortunately, the assumption I see on this thread is that if mothers get a more flexible working environment it automatically means they are screwed! This is really sad!
Sounds great, but it's not the job of an employer to make society a better place for moms at the expense of the company and of their coworkers. How exactly is a "working mother" a better employee than a childless woman of the same age?
If there are fifty candidates for a position and all are equally qualified, why hire somebody who is going to need to use more sick days, requires flexible work hours, won't willingly travel away from home for 10 days straight, and is unhappy when they can't get home at 5:30 pm for dinner?
When there are fifty candidates for every open position, why would a company offer flextime and telecommuting and day care?
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A working mother isn't a "better" employee, but she sure isn't deserving of the consternation that is being heaped on in this topic. Since when did becoming a parent mean that you will all of a sudden become an unproductive, substandard employee? Also I don't understand why "working mother" is in quotes either.... a mother who works is just that, a "working mother". I was a good employee before I had children and I continue to be a good employee. If anything, I do have to exert a bit more effort so that I am pulling my weight without jeopardizing my role as a parent.
While there is legal descrimination of people based on having children, there are many people who find employment while being parents. Most often the scenario is that people started at a job without children, put in tenure, and then...............omg! they decide to become a parent and some things had to change like not being able to travel as much, needing some flexibility, and all of that jazz.
There are more and more employers that are putting in the effort to work with their employees who happen to be parents. My law firm offers several services for working parents.
Yeesh, when I was single and childless (over a decade of being in the workforce at that point), I don't recall being so grumpy like some of the people here.
Great post. There are many evenings when , if we had a non-clerical employee leave to be with the kiddies for supper, they would be breaking up a productive meeting or other activity. Why would it help the company to be ok with that?
She sang "kumbaya" beautifully, but lets talk improving operating profit. How does having to rearrange company activiities improve operating profits?
Life is about choices. Boo hoo, if in most workplaces Johnny's sniffles and a company significant meeting conflict. Millions of OTHER Americans can tend to the company, full-time, w/o having to have dinner at a set time every night. Your job is to excel so much above all others your scheduling conflicts are a worthwhile tradeoff. If it keeps you from a promotion, again your scheduling issues are a valid issue for them to consider.
And yet so many companies can have productive meetings and such with employees who are parents. Ugh. Is there a really important reason why a "productive meeting" needs to be scheduled at the end of the day? What? You can't do your productive thing from 8-4? Maybe don't come in to work at 9.
Just like there are millions of "other Americans" who don't have kids who supposedly "tend to the company full time", there are millions of working parents out there who can swing both bats and have. Sorry, but a job will NEVER be the sum total of my life whether it's kids or not.
If the unencumbered, single people get all of the promotions and etc. because they're able to give so much more, then why the complaints? Why this topic? I'm sure being single then is far preferable because you'll get hired without issue and you'll rise up the ladder faster too, so it's a win, huh?
Also, let's not forget the assertion that not having kids is so much better since you get to have all of your free time and money.
Location: Huntersville/Charlotte, NC and Washington, DC
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Originally Posted by dijkstra
Those who haven't had kids yet will have an entirely different perspective once they have them. Up until around age 10, they are often sick once school starts and then there is always something going on in the afternoon.......school orientations, school parent teacher conferences, sports, plays, dances, doctor appointments, dentist appointments...... the list goes on and on. It can be pretty stressful trying to rush from work, juggle and get all of these things done at times.
What do you mean yet? There are some who aren't having children at ALL. I'm one of them.
Just because I don't have a family does not mean I want to take up the slack for those with families. I have a life too. I'm studying for a Master's degree and have outside interests like those with families too.
What do you mean yet? There are some who aren't having children at ALL. I'm one of them.
Just because I don't have a family does not mean I want to take up the slack for those with families. I have a life too. I'm studying for a Master's degree and have outside interests like those with families too.
, now if the moms who work can do BOTH at the same level as all others, great. But to be away from the office w/o notice far more often than others demonstrates that is not the case.
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, now if the moms who work can do BOTH at the same level as all others, great. But to be away from the office w/o notice far more often than others demonstrates that is not the case.
