BCInsights Volume 8, Issue 9

Balancing Children and Work: The Working Mother's Struggle

In this day and age, women are clearly not strangers in the workplace, and mothers are no exception. Women do most, if not all, of the jobs their male counterparts perform. When we tell our daughters they can be anything they want to be, we can look them in the eye and believe every word.

Out of the reported 80.5 million mothers^[1] in the United States, 71 million mothers work^[2]and 5.6 million mothers stay home.^[3] So, why do mothers struggle when making the decision to go to work or stay home after our children are born? Some reasons include the motherly instinct, feeling like our mothers who stayed home did a better job, and the fact that leaving our infants in daycare is emotionally difficult. However, the reason women may be choosing to stay at home today has less to do with social objectives or pressures and more to do with economics. Putting our careers on hold is becoming increasingly popular due to the fact that childcare costs are soaring and our incomes are not.

The U.S. national average cost for full-time day care is $611 a month for one child.^[4] For women, the median annual income last year increased from $33,437 to $35,102.^[5] So, if you are bringing home a couple thousand dollars a month and at least $611 is going to childcare, does it make sense to haul yourself to work every day? After filling your gas tank at $3.50-$4.00/gallon, it doesn't leave a lot left over for the mortgage, grocery bill (anywhere from $500-$900 per month for a family of four),^[6] the car payment, and the countless other child expenses.

I recently overheard a couple discussing this very situation and the husband said to his wife, "Honey, why are we paying for you to work?" Although this can be a difficult decision for the two-parent, two-income household, what of the over 10 million^[7] single mothers in the U.S.? What decisions do they have to make? Luckily many companies are offering employees the opportunity to telecommute a couple of times per week to offset the costs of travel and daycare. They've decided it is better to let a valuable employee telecommute once or twice a week rather than having her not work at the company at all.

References:
1. US Census 2006http://www.census.gov/PressRelease/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/009747.html
2. US Census 2006 http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/hh-fam.html
3. US Department of Labor http://www.dol.gov/wb/stats/main.htm
4. US Department of Labor http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs032.htm
5. US Census Bureau news release in regards to median income
6. American Consumer News http://www.americanconsumernews.com/2008/04/a-month-of-groceries-for-a-family-of-four-under-150.html
7. US Census 2006 http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/009747.html

Supervisory Tips for Addressing Employee Concerns

Many employee problems may arise in a workplace and, if you are a supervisor, you are the individual to whom the concerns will most likely be reported. According to the University of Arizona Life and Work Connections (2003), there are many reasons employees seek help with problems. For example, employees often report that their supervisors do not take the time to listen to them, do not equally apply policies to all employees, and either micro-manage employees or spend the majority of their time in their office failing to supervise their employees. As a supervisor, you have the opportunity to effectively hear employee concerns and have a positive influence on the workplace atmosphere.

The first step to being a successful supervisor is to evaluate your own behavior. Tensions in the workplace may run high on occasion, but before you speak to others about their concerns, you should always make sure your own behavior reflects the standards to which you expect your employees to adhere. It is important to have clear policies and guidelines that are evenly enforced in all levels of employment, including yourself.

Second, when an employee brings forth a concern, members of management should be very specific in identifying the core problem of the complaint. Management should determine the depth and scope of the problem and evaluate how serious or relevant it is to the work environment. Less serious work-related problems might include minor inconveniences and annoyances in the workplace, such as supply shortages, copy machine issues, or network problems. Often these types of problems can be easily addressed by communicating concerns with the individuals involved or responsible. More serious work-related problems that require a critical approach would include those that pose a risk to health and safety, violate federal or state workplace laws, or violate company policies.

Finally, management should determine the most direct way to address the problem. As workplace conflicts vary in nature and severity, there is no single approach that solves every situation. However, the simplest solution is often the best solution, or at the very least, a good place to start. If you supervise others and notice a workplace situation occurring, writing a memo to everyone may help address the problem without singling out individuals, particularly when dealing with sensitive issues. The memo should include a statement that management has noticed the problem and outline the solution. When safety of your employees is threatened, you may want to hold a meeting to address the issue promptly. Gather your team together and discuss the problem, and include a brainstorming session regarding ways to resolve the issue. When you ask for input from others, they are often willing to participate in the solution. If the problem is a global issue at the company and not specific to your team, suggest to upper management that the company address the entire staff.

The following is a list of supervisory tips to aid in the promotion of a successful work environment.

• If you understand that your employees are doing the best they can with the resources and time allotted to them, let them know that you recognize and appreciate their efforts. People can only operate at 100% capacity for a short time before they need a break, so allow for that.

   

• Even if you don't have a solution, listening to employee concerns communicates that you respect and value their opinion.

 

• Addressing concerns with the problematic employee, or employees, not only takes care of the problem, but it also sends a message to the other employees that you do care about the work environment.

 

• Few things create resentment as quickly as seeing others around you being given preferential treatment while you feel ignored. Treat all of your employees with respect. Take time to individually express your appreciation to all of your employees, even the difficult ones.

 

• Trust your employees to work on their own, but check the work if you have concerns and address problems when they come up. Allow your employees to be creative.

 

• If you're not sure how to handle a situation or what to say, get some input from your supervisor or a third party source.

 

Quote of the Month

The art of progress is to preserve order amid change and to preserve change amid order.
-Alfred North Whitehead

Government Feedback Initiatives

Federal, state, and local agencies around the country are currently looking for better ways to manage fraud, waste, and abuse. Beyond these concerns, the government also has highly specialized reporting needs, such as a reliable method for learning about terrorist activities, managing First Responder communications, and uncovering environmental violations.

Many agencies have at least one internal hotline in place, which usually consists of generalists answering a telephone line during regular business hours and voice mail messaging when no one is available to answer the phone. These internal processes can be improved in several ways:

• A best-of-breed approach includes a live 24/7 answering service, as callers often do not feel comfortable leaving voice mail messages and 54% of hotline calls happen outside of business hours.

 

• Anonymous callers may feel uncomfortable reporting to a coworker, rather than a neutral third party.

  

• A process is required to effectively escalate issues that may involve harm to personnel or property, before a situation gets out of control.

  

• Training for both staff employees and management

 

• Communication services for internal and external users

As the country's biggest employer, the government understands the need to improve methods for addressing fraud, waste, and abuse. Recent events in the media confirm a need for better solutions. Government agencies have several challenges:

• Conflicting Programs. Some agencies offer several hotlines, each soliciting calls regarding narrowly-defined areas of concern. The agencies felt that this approach can confuse employees and is difficult to manage, defeating the purpose of the program. Providing a centralized hotline will improve efficiency and increase usage.

 

• Data Aggregation. The agencies felt that improvements were required in the way data was gathered, documented, analyzed, and shared with appropriate authorities. There are no tools in place to track trends and indicate "hot spots" that require immediate focus.

 

• Training and Promotion. While hotlines tend to be communicated in handbooks, ongoing communication about expected behaviors and education about how and when to report issues is critical to a program's success. Proper promotion will improve the quantity and quality of feedback, maintaining the hotline program's positive effect and results over time.

Recognizing the Need for Feedback Mechanism Improvement:

During a recent Ethics Conference hosted by the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), attendees expressed some specific goals and objectives that include improvements to reporting mechanisms:

• Enhancing communication between the agencies and employees
• Expanding coverage for reporting mechanisms to offer live 24/7 response
• Improving employee training and educational materials

The government has an internal mandate under OGE 5 C.F.R., listing 14 General Principles to which all government employees must abide. Section 11 pertains to having a reporting mechanism in place.

• OGE 5 C.F.R - 2635.101(b) - Section 11: Employees shall disclose waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption to appropriate authorities.

Beyond OGE 5 C.F.R, there are other issues that a can be uncovered by a live 24/7 hotline:

• Conflicts of Financial Interest
• Improper Gifts from Outside Sources
• Seeking Employment
• Post Employment concerns
• Abuse of Travel policy
• Misuse of Position
• Sexual Harassment
• Abuse of Power
• Contracts/Co-Operative Agreements
• Mismanagement

Offering a professional, centralized hotline also enhances compliance with the Whistleblower Act and the Hatch Act.

Another important mandate is OMB Circular No. A-123 "Establishing Management Control". Section (iii) states that programs and resources are protected from waste, fraud, and mismanagement; Section (iv) requires that laws and regulations are followed; and Section (v) requires that reliable and timely information is obtained, maintained, reported and used for decision-making.

Next Steps:

Based on our experience we believe a number of agencies should implement their own live 24/7 hotline programs. Given the current trend toward outsourcing non-critical functions, as well as the issues outlined above regarding internal hotline operations, it is logical that these hotlines should be externally operated by a neutral, experienced organization.

In addition to the hotline service itself, each program should include case management functionality for standardized documentation of issue investigation through resolution. An effective hotline program also uses comprehensive training and communications campaigns to educate employees.

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners' 2004 Report to the Nation suggests hotlines should be open to participants beyond the employee population in order to maximize results. By making hotlines available to vendors, contractors, and the general public, reporting would be improved through both an enhanced deterrence effect as well as additional issue reports due to the extended reach.