October is National Work and Family Month WorldatWork and AWLP Lead Month-Long Campaign to Promote Work-Life Effectiveness in Both Private and Public Sectors
September 28, 2010 – Washington — As worker stress and burnout reaches an all-time high and employee productivity hits a plateau, private- and public-sector organizations around the country should take stock of their workplaces and identify areas in which employees are most in need of help.
Every October for the past seven years, WorldatWork and Alliance for Work-Life Progress (AWLP) have reminded employers of the business benefits of supporting the work-life juggling act. Under AWLP’s leadership, the month of October was first designated as National Work and Family Month by a resolution of the U.S. Senate in 2003. This year, Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Michael Crapo (R-ID) are the lead sponsors of S. Res. 618. Reps. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and Todd Platts (R-PA) are co-sponsoring the companion resolution (H. Res. 1598) in the House of Representatives.
Ways Organizations Can Support National Work and Family Month
Conduct a work-life needs assessment. National Work and Family Month is a great time to learn which work-life programs are working or not in such areas as:
Workplace Flexibility
Paid Time Off
Health and Wellness
Caring for Dependents
Financial Support
Community Involvement
Culture Change Initiatives
A simple, complimentary assessment available at awlp.org will help focus an organization's work-life communications, target program strengths and weaknesses, and give employees a range of strategies to cope with pressure both in and outside the workplace. Click here to see a copy of the work-life audit.
Launch new work-life initiatives. “We challenge workplaces to add one new initiative in often-overlooked areas of work-life such as financial support and community involvement,” said Kathie Lingle, executive director of AWLP. “For example, Pepsi Bottling Group successfully implemented HealthyMoney, a free program to help PBG’s 35,000 employees become empowered with the knowledge, tools and confidence to build life-long financial stability. Hospital Corporation of America’s Caring for the Community program engages employees by encouraging their charitable passions. An employee may take up to 24 hours of paid volunteer leave each year. When the employee adds just one more hour of personal time, HCA provides a $500 contribution to that organization. HCA also matches donations of up to $750 to a charity of the employee’s choice.”
Celebrate and communicate the organization’s commitment to helping employees balance work and life. Send a communication from the CEO to all employees about the company’s commitment to work-life effectiveness. Update your Web site and intranet to include information about National Work and Family Month. Blog about work-life programs and include links to full descriptions. Additional ideas, templates and resources are available on awlp.org.
Share best practices by applying for work-life awards. Each year, AWLP recognizes best practices through the Work-Life Innovative Excellence Award. Progressive organizations such as Accenture, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), U.S. Navy and more have all been recipients of the AWLP Work-Life Innovative Excellence Award.
At the individual level, the AWLP Work-Life Rising Star recognition is given to emerging work-life talent who demonstrate leadership and growing contributions to the work-life community.
These awards are accepting nominations through Oct. 31.
Commit to culture change – To date, 100 human resources practitioners have earned their WLCP® credential from the WorldatWork Society of Certified Professionals®. “In the area of culture change initiatives, the Office of Personnel Management (the HR arm of the federal government) is leading by example,” Lingle said. “OPM is providing on-site training and education to federal work-life practitioners to ensure they have the strategic knowledge and change management skills needed to design and implement work-life effectiveness.”
