True, when Jane has done an excellent job working for ABC Company for the past 10 years, and now is faced with a significant life change (birth of baby, aging parent, divorce, pursuing higher education) her employer is more likely now than ever to offer her a flextime work option for purposes of retainment. (Flextime being anything full or part time that is not a typical Monday through Friday, 8 to 5 schedule.)

However, most small businesses are not yet to the point of considering the benefits of offering a flextime position for purposes of recruitment. Molly is a highly skilled employee with an exceptional resume. Year after year she has excelled in her position with her previous employer. Now that she is seeking a new job and desires a flextime schedule, she hears the same thing interview after interview: “We work with our employees who have been here awhile and have earned it, but not with new employees just coming in. After you’ve been here awhile, we can consider a flextime work schedule.” Sounds reasonable, but Molly’s current situation requires a flextime position now, not later. Not to mention that the promise of consideration doesn’t mean a flextime work arrangement will actually come to fruition.

Consider that during an interview with XYZ Company, Molly offers to work 28 hours a week. Many employers only offer benefits to full time employees. When you consider that (according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics) benefits are 25-30% of the total compensation an employer pays out for each employee, XYZ Company can realize a significant savings on the cost of benefits by considering Molly’s offer of a part time position. In addition, the employer will recognize savings of a payroll reduction from 40 hours a week to 28 hours a week. With the average 40 hour a week employee producing approximately 32 hours of work per week, the employer may find 28 highly productive hours per week to be sufficient, especially if they hire an individual who is driven to be productive.

Employees are more likely to be engaged, productive, have high morale and low turnover when they are working to maintain a position that provides them with their ideal work/life balance. And small businesses win when they can save on the costs of payroll and benefits while at the same time, hiring exceptional talent.

The way work is today doesn’t work for moms. Work is still designed for the 1950s lifestyle when the father went to work and the mother stayed at home to care for the children. But since the 1950s, we have more women earning bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees. We have more women obtaining professional work experience. So what happens when these educated and experienced women start having babies? These women try to fit their role as mother in with their careers, and it’s like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It just doesn’t work. And if work doesn’t change, this conflict, this pull, is going to continue to take its toll as it currently is on our marriages, our families and our children.

So work needs to change in two significant ways:

1.      Women need to be able to off-ramp and on-ramp, (meaning exiting and reentering the workforce) at the different stages of their career, based on the needs of their family at that time. Work needs to provide opportunities for woman to off-ramp and on-ramp.

2.      Women need more flextime work arrangements made available to them. Flextime is any work arrangement, full or part time, that is not a typical Monday through Friday, 8 to 5 schedule. Right now, if a woman wants a flexible or flextime job, she often has to accept a position beneath her skill set. Women need to be able to obtain flextime jobs that allow them to put their education and experience to work while at the same time, still being able to meet the needs of her family. Work needs to provide more flextime work arrangements.

What if this happened? What if women had more opportunities to on-ramp, off-ramp and work flextime jobs? Would this all be fixed and just go away? It wouldn’t. As with all things in life, we are our own worst critic. Not only does work need to change, but so does our perceptive of working moms. As a society, our mindset needs to change. It’s often believed that the concept of a working mom and that of a good mom are mutually exclusive. We need to come to the realization that a mother can work, and still be an excellent mother.

Recently, Leslie posted our story on her guest blog. There was quite a response. As you can imagine, there was a lot to be said when it comes to new ways of finding work/life balance. Check it out at On Balance.

Michelle is the co-author of, Weekend Entrepreneur 101 Great Ways to Earn Extra Cash. http://www.entrepreneurpress.com/cgi-bin/books/00222.html.

Over the past 15 years she has produced nationally syndicated programming for such industry notables as Dr. Laura, Leeza, The Danny Bonaduce Show, Montel Williams and was a freelance associate producer working on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Regarding the need for flextime jobs, Michelle says “This isn’t a trend, it’s an epidemic”. We couldn’t agree more. We are grateful that she took note of what we are doing. Thanks, Michelle!

The organization, started in 2003, aims to assist women in achieving career potential and economic development through mentoring and networking and to direct attention to their business and professional success.

Carol Clark has more than thirty years of professional experience, including management and consulting, computer programming and teaching. She was co-founder of MindLeaders.com., serving as its President and Chief Executive Officer from its formation in 1981 until becoming Chair of the Board in 2006.

She also directed and implemented many software projects within the information-technology industry and has taught information technology for a number of organizations. In addition, she serves on the board of four companies and one non-profit organization. 

Carol brings her experience as a working mother of four and her understanding of the need for a life/work balance to NeedleStack Jobs where she and co-founder, Kathleen Wiant, offer the best options in flextime employment and professional employees. 

* Treat yourself to a special meal. Make it the day you go out for lunch. Splurge on the overpriced Starbucks latte. Make this the night your family orders in instead of cooking. There?s nothing wrong with being motivated by food!

* Make a very short to-do list. Whether you work outside the home or in your kitchen, Mondays involve a lot of catching up on things as well as with colleagues and clients. I personally tend to get less concrete tasks done on Mondays than on other days because of this and to reduce frustration, I?m trying to be reasonable about my Monday to-do list.

* Start off the day by doing something you enjoy. I think of this as work warm-up?procrastination that prepares you for diving into work. One tip?set a time limit for yourself if you do this.

* Get at least one big item done from your weekly to-do list. Personally I hate when it?s the middle of the week and my big to-dos are still sitting there, waiting for me to get enough guts/energy/time/focus to do them. If I get one done on a Monday?say, writing up a design spec for a certain part of the site (a long, tedious, and very unglamorous part of my job)?I feel less burdened and more productive the rest of the week.

* Limit the number of meetings. Meetings can be great, but many are too long and unproductive. Pack your Monday full of these and you have a lot less time to get things done. Of course, you can?t always control when meetings happen, but if you have a choice, don?t do more than two on a Monday.

Do you have any tips to add? Please do it in the comments!

About the Author: Nataly Kogan is the co-founder of Work It, Mom!, a freshly minted entrepreneur, and an amateur writer.  Please visit www.workitmom.com

As reported in the Chicago Tribune, an institute study found that 39% of a sample of large and small companies allow a few of their employees to work a flexible work arrangement at least part of the year. However, for most employees flextime is still difficult to find.

Ensuring a flextime work schedule is many times up to the employee to prove that they can be equally or more productive with a flextime schedule. Many times it is the employee’s responsibility to demonstrate that he/she can be even more productive working a flextime schedule than working a more traditional 40 hours each week.

Carolyn Bigda at the Chicago Tribune has these recommendations:

1. Know the flextime procedure. Does your company have a formal policy about flexible work arrangements? There may be an application that you will need to fill out to make a flextime schedule request.

2. Present a business argument. In your flexible work schedule proposal stress the business benefits over your personal motivations. Although spending extra time with your family is important to you, your boss will be more concerned with your job performance.

3. Be practical. Some managers will be receptive to a flexible work arrangement while others may need some more persuasion. Many companies will only approve a trial period first. Then it is up to the boss to decide whether the new schedule is working for the company or not.

4. Ask upfront. Ask about a company’s flextime policy before you take a new job.

After you have landed a flextime job or convinced your boss that a flexible work schedule will benefit both you and the company, you can focus on further enhancing your work life balance.

Cathleen Benko and Anne Weisberg call for a complete overhaul of modern careers and the way they are organized in their book “Mass Career Customization: Aligning the Workplace With Today’s Nontraditional Workforce.” Benko and Weisberg specialize in talent management for Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a consulting, accounting and tax firm.

In their book, Benko and Weisberg relate the forces that they see affecting the modern workplace: an aging workforce, more working women, changing family structures, more men struggling with work-life balance, and a new generation of workers focused on career variety and accomplishing personal goals.

The book shows how the United States Deloitte started the idea of “mass career customization” as an alternative model to offering flextime. With this form of customization, all employees were able to tailor their work and careers to their own and their company’s needs over time.

This new model encourages employees to choose from advanced options in four different areas: pace of career progress (“accelerated” to “decelerated”); workload (“full” to “reduced”); location and schedule (“not restricted” to “restricted”); and role (“leader” to “individual contributor”).

While this may sound complicated, Benko and Weisberg say it simply formalizes what other companies are already doing informally. If employers and employees can maintain this dialogue then loyalty and lifetime contracts will follow.

Benko and Weisberg found no negative effect on careers and no decline in client-service standards. Career discussions improved, employees enjoyed knowing what options were available for them, and productivity increased.

1.    Schedule your work time and stick with that schedule.  We can all get carried away with a project and it ends up interfering with our home life.  Set aside time for work and stick to your schedule.

2.    Schedule down time and family time as well.  Just as you would schedule a work meeting, set aside time for your family and put it on the agenda.

3.    Have a daily plan for what you want to do each day.  Starting the day with a to-do list of hundreds is impractical and ineffective.  Make a list of the most important tasks to focus on each day and set about accomplishing those things first.

4.    Ask for help and support.  Whether this is moral support or assistance on a difficult work or home project, never be afraid to ask a friend or colleague for help.

5.    Don’t be afraid to say no.  Be clear to your boss and colleagues about your boundaries.  Maintaining your strict schedule is important to you and your co-workers will respect that.

6.    Take time to breath.  Rushed work only leads to stress and sloppy results.  Focus on the most important tasks and allow yourself to slow down and pay more attention to your actions.  This will make life and work much more enjoyable for you –and make you more pleasant to be around!

7.    Shut off your phone and unplug the computer.  You don’t need to be connected to work 24/7.  When you step out of the office or away from the computer remove the distraction by pulling the plug.

8.    When you are done with work for the day have fun.  This is your time to relax and enjoy your family and friends.  Let loose!

9.    Give your hobbies and interests a priority over work.  Don’t let work get in the way of the things you love to do – reading, exercise, enjoying a good movie.  Make time for the things that make you happy and then focus on work.

10.    Stay healthy and eat the right foods.  Don’t let the stress of work affect what you eat.  Having a healthy diet will make you more efficient, help you stay calm throughout the day, and assist in your recovery time after a long day.