Send us your tips and tools for National Work & Family Month. Add to our collection of shared resources by contributing your recognition ideas, work-life policies and best practices/case studies to AWLP. E-mail: workfamilymonth@worldatwork.org
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National Work & Family Month October 2008
Celebrate the 5th Anniversary of National Work & Family Month with AWLP and WorldatWork
"Reducing the conflict between work and family life should be a national priority." – U.S. Senate Resolution 210
In recognition of the 2003 unanimous passage of U.S. Senate Resolution 210 designating October as National Work & Family Month, Alliance for Work-Life Progress (AWLP) and WorldatWork support organizations and work-life professionals with resources and tools for recognizing National Work & Family Month in the workplace.
Dedicating a month to work and family issues encourages all workplaces to pause once a year and reflect on the progress already made on the journey to work-life effectiveness, to celebrate and then raise the bar moving on to even more pervasive progress.
The month of October provides annual recognition of the importance of employer-sponsored work-life programs in attracting, motivating and retaining top talent.
Update! WorldatWork and Alliance for Work-Life Progress are gearing up to acknowledge the fifth anniversary of National Work & Family Month in October. We are working to re-affirm October as National Work & Family Month through a U.S. Congressional resolution and will update this page with news from Washington, D.C.
Please access our resources and tools to help you and your organization make the most of this year's National Work & Family Month.
We Want to Know Tell us how your company helps with your work and family issues. E-mail Us
Contribute
Send us your tips and tools for National Work & Family Month. Add to our collection of shared resources by contributing your recognition ideas, work-life policies and best practices/case studies. E-mail: workfamilymonth@worldatwork.org.
Workplace Ideas
Solicit photos of employees' families for posting on the company Intranet showing names, ages and some interesting achievements (e.g., scholastic, sports, etc.) that the employer helped support, either directly or indirectly.
Solicit little-known facts about employees and their families and run a trivia quiz on the company Intranet. (e.g., "Which employee has 10 children and 22 grandchildren?" Employees scroll down for the answer.)
Launch a work-life survey to solicit employee opinions on programs/offerings that your company should expand upon, add or discontinue.
Solicit testimonials from employees on how they successfully manage work and family challenges for an article to be posted on the corporate Web site.
Have a guest speaker on work and family at the next all-staff meeting.
Hold an art contest for the children of employees to participate in depicting work and family together. Display the art on meeting room walls and the top three winners (or their parents) can be presented with a prize.
Post quotable quotes about the importance of family on the company intranet — a new one each week for the month of October. The quotes can be researched or from executives/directors.
Please share your organization's successful National Work & Family Month celebration story. E-mail us your name and contact information, along with a brief narrative of what your organization did and how it was a success.
Cartus Held Extensive Celebration for National Work and Family Month Through its work-life efforts, Cartus, formerly Cendant Mobility, has shown that it was a worthy recipient of the 2004 Work-Life Innovative Excellence Award from AWLP. As Rosemary Butterly, vice president of human resources, detailed below, the organization was very active in its celebration of October as National Work and Family Month in 2003.
Kevin Kelleher, President and CEO, sent a letter to all employees supporting Cartus' work-life initiatives and noting the congressional significance of designating October as National Work and Family Month.
The Danbury, Conn.-based company communicated work-life activities to be held in all of its U.S. locations to celebrate National Work and Family Month. Posters, flyers and e-mails were used to communicate the messages.
Cartus also planned and carried out activities for each week in October, including:
Conducting a 'work-life quiz.' This fun quiz was designed to raise awareness on all the work-life related offerings Cartus provides its employees. The quiz asked employees to check off all the offerings Cartus provided. Employees with the correct answer(s) had their names put in a drawing for a raffle prize.
Launching a Work-Life Survey to solicit employee opinion on programs/offerings that Cartus should expand upon, add or discontinue.
Held work and family seminars.
Set up tables in all location cafeterias to promote/market work-life activities, e.g., information regarding on-site nail technician services/discount coupons, Weight Watchers, aerobics classes, etc.
The company planned and carried out activities tailored to specific locations. Examples of local activities included holding a pot luck lunch with employees, bringing an entrée representing their specific ethnic background, a blood drive, etc.
Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research, Stanford University If society is to make progress in tackling the issue of achieving better work-life balance for everyone - men and women - then we need to have real information and knowledge underpinning our strategies. The Clayman Institute's research program is intended to provide some of this vital information, particularly as it relates to professional two career households and the experiences of women in science and technology based careers
Following this summer's successful pilot at Stanford University, the Clayman Institute will now be carrying forward its study "Managing Academic Careers" by distributing a detailed survey to thousands of faculty working at top research universities across the nation. The feedback we get on how individuals manage and plan their careers, and succeed or fail in achieving a satisfactory work-life balance in this sector will have implications for the recruitment and retention policies of all universities; and may help other employers better appreciate the needs of their professional workforce.
The Clayman Institute is also looking at the relationship between work-life balance issues in the corporate world of high technology. We are investigating two key questions about the science and technology industrial "pipeline" for women: first, why some women stay and succeed in senior executive roles within Silicon Valley's high-tech companies; and secondly, why others leave the corporate career track for other challenges;.
October 2006 will be a busy month for us as we begin to gather the results that will help make work-life balance a year round reality for more people!
Western New England College Work & Family Fall Fling
By Sharon Mangieri, Director of Employee Relations & Training
Western New England College, located in Springfield, Mass., started the Fall Fling tradition in 2004. Sponsored by the Office of Human Resources, this informative and fun event gives employees a chance to learn about the college's Work & Family Resources Program. Each year the goal is to "re-invent the event" to keep it fresh and meaningful to college employees and family members. Historically, the event is held in early October, but this year it's slated for Oct. 30, so we've decided to add a little Halloween fun. Our theme: THIS YEAR FALL FLING GETS SCARY!
What started out as a one-room event in 2004 has now grown to a three-room event showcasing our broad spectrum of work and family resources. This year those rooms will be haunted for the first time! Traditionally, HR has its own tables with information on child care, elder care, finances, health, stress, discounts, recreation and even pet care! This year we're adding a work and family promotional DVD highlighting Fall Fling and our other annual event, Summer Fun Day.
We also invite our EAP, credit union representative, and outside agencies which provide services such as elder care assistance and cancer support. If this sounds a bit depressing, well, think again! Information and education doesn't have to be at the cost of fun!
In addition to valuable information and practical giveaways, employees will get a small Halloween box at the door with some treats...and a winning ticket to a special prize. This will be in addition to the free raffle ticket each attendee gets for a variety of other prizes related to autumn and Halloween themes.
As part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we dedicate a table to information on breast cancer and the importance of early detection. This year our goal is to educate employees on some of the lesser-known but more aggressive forms of breast cancer, and introduce educational material on a silent killer, ovarian cancer. And we don't forget our male employees, who get their own table dedicated to men's health issues.
And, of course, there are health issues that pertain to everyone. Last year, we added blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose screenings. This year, there will be a new spin on the check up. A five-foot Dracula (cute, not threatening) will greet employees with a "Let Us Draw Your Blood" poster. Dracula may also bring a few friends to "haunt" the other rooms.
We anticipate another successful event and some happy raffle winners, but what matters most is that we get the word out to our employees that while life is hectic, Human Resources can help. We're not just the department that collects your paperwork when you get hired. We're not just that "scary" department that handles personnel issues. Our employees know we care about them and that our work and family program has something for everyone. The annual Fall Fling event is the perfect way to convey that message. From an employer perspective, work and family programs are recruitment and retention tools. It's a win-win situation for everyone.
WorldatWork Posts Family Photos on Employee Intranet In addition to the various year-round WorldatWork health and wellness programs available to staff and their families, WorldatWork, an international association of human resource professionals and business leaders, headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., also celebrates National Work & Family Month. Approximately 130 employees are invited to post pictures to an online “family photo album."
Employees share their best “family” photo (anyone important to them including spouses, children, pets, significant others, relatives, friends), along with a statement that demonstrates how WorldatWork culture, practices and programs (i.e., flexible spending accounts, flex time, Kronos, pet insurance, education assistance, on-site mammograms, etc.) help them achieve success in work and in life. Throughout the month of October, these photos, with captions are available to view by all employees.
This special Web page also features an interactive quiz with prizes, management team members' comments on the impressive job that employees do to balance work and family success, and a spotlight shines on all the work-life benefits available at the organization, including:
Flexible schedules
Telework opportunities
Early dismissal on Fridays in the summer
Pet insurance
Domestic partner benefits
Wellness events/health fairs
Volunteer activities with family participation encouraged
U.S. High-tech Company (anonymous) The following is a list of activities that a U.S. high-tech company is coordinating for this year's National Work & Family Month:
Work-life "infomercials" on meeting place hold time (instead of music) so people hear, "Did you knows..." about work-life efforts while on hold for a meeting.
Work-Life table tents and posters at U.S. locations for cafeteria tables, meeting rooms, hallways, etc. promoting resources available programs.
National conference calls on flexibility and wellness.
An "off-the-shelf" work-life training kit enabling local work-life leads across the United States to hold a work-life meeting.
Competitions for local work-life groups to see which can get the most people from their city on the national conference calls. The winning locations win lunch for their meeting in November.
U.S. National Balance Newsletter, highlighting quarterly success stories as well as current or new work-life programs.
Promoting a new National Wellness Program to ensure employees know how to receive $50 incentives for healthy behaviors.
Adding Web cams for consultants who travel allowing them to stay in touch with family members while on the road.
Work-life fairs at various company locations. Piloting free-standing work-life fairs (un-related to the benefits fairs) in a number of locations.
Release of the national work-life survey to employees.
Union County, North Carolina
By Keith A. Richards, CPCU, ARM, AIC, Risk Manager
Union County, North Carolina, has a little over 1,000 employees. On Oct. 5, 2007, we held an Employee Appreciation Day and nearly 70% of employees attended. Employees received a T-shirt and bag for the items available from more than 25 employee benefit vendors. The T-shirt included the Union County logo on the front and the event on the back. Also on the back was an acknowledgement we were celebrating National Work & Family Month.
More than 300 flu shots were given and 41 pints of blood were donated to the Red Cross. Nearly 100 employees had their cholesterol and/or blood pressure checked. The Highway Patrol sponsored an area with "drunk goggles." Breast cancer awareness was an additional focus. Because we wanted to build in a wellness component, our lunch included grilled chicken breast, green beans, mashed potatoes, and a salad. A disc jockey provided background music and helped us with a hula-hoop contest. A dunk tank was set up where participants purchased 50/50 raffle tickets, with the proceeds going to the Christmas Bureau, a local charity.
We achieved our goal of promoting wellness, educating our employees on benefits available to them, and boosting morale. Our goal is that by improving morale at work, that enthusiasm will carry over to their family life. Following the expo, several employees told me they were proud to be a Union County employee.
