S&MM SoundOff

Workers Want Work/Life Balance

By contributing columnist Mary P. Donato

Can it be true? Is the American workforce finally getting a handle on work/life balance? According to a Yankelovich poll, one in five people say they’ve taken a cut in pay to work less. Nearly half of those suveyed have changed jobs to have more family time.

There’s a good chance that you know someone who has made a change in their work habits. For some, reality is starting to set in:  Life is too short not to enjoy it. The proof:

* Many Baby Boomers are cutting back their work schedules. They're realizing life is too short to continue working the way they have been over the past 30 years. -GenXers are saying they don’t want to be like their parents, who work long hours without enough time for family and friends.

* Some people are actually discovering that "Simple Abundance" makes sense. The need to have the huge house, the new car, and everything else to keep up isn’t quite as important after all.

* Some people are finding that by reducing their weekly work schedule from 60 hours per week down to 40, they are actually more efficient and are earning just as much as before. Taking control of your time (and life) requires you to become more organized, more proactive and less "reactive." The simple act of planning more effectively can help prioritize what’s really important.

If you have some ideas of how you’ve been able to manage your time more effectively so you can be with friends and family more often, please share them. And for more on work/life balance, visit S&MM's Soapbox.

A Time Waster Business Lesson

While waiting for the 9 to become a 5, the Internet can be a good companion. Surfing countless Web sites can be as engaging as doing actual work. YouTube, a free site that allows users to upload and share video clips, is a fun diversion. Popular clips include a video of a guy who took a picture of himself every day for six years.

But YouTube is also a place where major companies are putting their own distractions online. Microsoft engineers created a video about how their company would have packaged the iPod had they invented it. This clip is clever, and an insightful satire on product packaging.

And most interesting of all, Microsoft produced it. Tom Pilla, a spokesman for Microsoft, told iPod Observer, "It was an internal-only video clip commissioned by our packaging [team] to humorously highlight the challenges we have faced RE: packaging and to educate marketers here about the pitfalls of packaging/branding."

The video wasn’t intended to refute the company’s stodgy image, but for me, Microsoft earned some Web cred for sponsoring it. And I’m sure the people who produced the video were happy that their company encouraged them to think creatively. Although the video is about a problem at Microsoft, the company’s public image is better off for it. Plus, those who watch it are a few minutes closer to five o’clock.

Go decaf, try a backbend instead

As a former employee of Target Corporation I participated in "Team Huddle." This was when all employees gathered to go over the goals for that day—great customer service, a neat and orderly store and 10 to 30 Target credit cards opened. We finished by stretching together before heading back to the hectic store. By the end of my time at Target, huddle protocol had changed and stretching was to be done individually. I was grateful at the time because I hated to overexert myself, but now I’m disappointed that Target changed its rules. I’m also upset other offices haven’t adopted the shared stretch time. Being able to touch your toes is not only a great party trick, but it can energize you when your day is dragging.

A story in this month’s Sales and Marketing Management said that most Americans are sleep deprived. And fatigue at work causes low productivity. More importantly, there’s little or no data that confirms food or caffeine helps give bounce in the long run. So besides a cat nap, stretching may be the next best option.

Stretching increases circulation and can help you feel better at work. An article on WebMD explains that when you’re not in motion, everything slows down including your energy. But stretching periodically throughout the day will give you a boost. So next time your lids start to droop or you can’t understand the sentence you’ve been reading for the last 10 minutes, get up and reach for the sky, swivel your neck and then bend over and touch your toes.

--Jackie

Getting Googley in New York

Yesterday Google unveiled its posh New York offices to the press, providing a tour of its vast loft-like space replete with kitchens stocked with free food, a game room, privacy booths for making personal calls and glass offices with floor-to-ceiling windows. The Manhattan office serves as the company’s North American sales headquarters, and is the only location outside of corporate headquarters in Mountain View, California, where salespeople and engineers co-exist.

Google kept mum on its exact plans for future products, but did mention that we should expect new offerings in print and audio ads from the Web advertising giant. Sales VP Tim Armstrong also mentioned that “hundreds” of salespeople are housed here (Google doesn’t like to reveal the exact number of its sales personnel, but more than 500 people currently work in the New York office) and engineering director Craig Nevill-Manning didn’t deny that the company was working to expand free Wi-Fi outside of midtown Manhattan’s Bryant Park.

Throughout the press tour, I was struck by how pervasive the Google corporate culture is—that being “Googley” apparently isn’t just corporate-speak. Brightly colored, erogomonic balls that are indicative of the Google brand were everywhere, and I was almost run over several times by employees whizzing by on Razor scooters. Several gleaming kitchens serve Googlers free breakfast, lunch and dinner. The game room is an informal meeting area. Engineering director Marcus Mitchell mentioned that sales/engineering socials would occur here from time to time to encourage commingling.

What was also implied in the impressive digs, however, was that as much as Google gives to its employees, it also expects back. Could providing food and entertainment, for instance, be a way to keep employees at work ‘round the clock? Or would any Googler worth his salt put in those hours anyway—thus making free meals simply an improvement over late-night pizza delivery?

Whatever the implications, Google still espouses its “Don’t Be Evil” motto, and part of that appears to be providing an impressive work environment. I’m sure that having the new space won’t hurt client relations, either. Aside from the curiosity I’m sure prospects have for wanting to see Google’s offices, Armstrong mentioned that during the company’s early days in New York customer meetings occurred at Starbucks, at a special table that the staff learned to set aside for him. Now, Armstrong and his team have over 100 meeting places to choose from (including the phone booths, large meeting rooms, and “huddle rooms”). Not too shabby for a company that started in the garage of a Silicon Valley home (which the company recently purchased as a reminder of its humble beginnings.)

Here's more on Google's sales & marketing strategies.

Ah, the Mystery of the Bangtail Envelope

When you get your credit card statement, look at the return envelope.  See that extra flap that you have to tear off before you can or you can't seal the envelope?  It's called a bangtail.  And it it's been around since day one. I remember discussing it at a convention, back in the Stone Age. Like the alligator, shark or coelacanth, the bangtail has survived to the modern day largely intact.

In my experience, it's most often used to promote product, sometimes as a continuity program.  The bangtail copy calls to me:

• Sets Itself and Never Forgets
• Inviting Allure, Exciting Appeal
• No Bulbs to Change, Use Almost Anywhere
• Hear Your TV Clearly At An Increased Sound Level, Without Disturbing Anyone Else in the Room
• Collector's Tin Also Included

I have no idea as to the derivation of the word.  Answers.com suggests (with a slight clarification by me) that a bangtail might be either:

• A racehorse
• A detachable extension to the back of an envelope, having a perforated edge and special marketing information and/or an order form

One printer I found has a special version called the "inside" bangtail envelope, which "offers an additional panel that is hidden until the recipient employs a strategically placed pull-tab."

One printer's Web site devotes an entire article to the bangtail--its uses and place in history.

And its place in history is this--the little sucker continues to work.  Perhaps there's a lesson.  Maybe there are some things that are as old as the hills and still work just fine.  Maybe we can all learn from that.

News You Can Use

Are you always looking for a deal? A new study by Smart Money reveals the best time to buy everything from wedding dresses (between Thanksgiving and Christmas) to groceries (Sunday evenings). The list is a great way to use market trends to your advantage.

For more ways to save, check out this article on how a small bank used larger companies' training techniques to stay on budget from our  S&MM Archives.

Vacation Unplugged

Last month I did something I haven't done in about three years: I was out of the office for a week.  I traded in the artificial glow of the fluorescent light bulbs of my office for the sunshine of Hawaii. Perhaps even more amazing than the fact that I took a week off was that I did so without doing any work during my downtime.

Taking a vacation used to mean you got time off from the stresses of the office to unwind with family and friends. Now, work-free vacations are like Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy—when you were more idealistic, you believed they existed, but with experience (and the advent of the BlackBerry and cell phone) came the realization that they were just a myth.

But it doesn't have to be that way. In fact, experts in our work/life balance article this month say that checking out on vacation is not a luxury, but a necessity. Everyone needs a chance to recharge their batteries, and having a period when you can think without distraction may even help your business because it gives you the opportunity to contemplate long-term goals without dealing with the minutiae of everyday management.

For the worst workaholics there will, of course, be some withdrawal. You'll have to work hard to resist the urge to check your voice mail or e-mail. (I did cheat and check e-mail a few times, but just so I wouldn't come back to an overstuffed inbox.) But with some baby steps—such as checking your messages once every few days, or shutting off your mobile devices for a specified time—it is actually possible to relax.

When I came back, I had expected to undergo the back-to-reality blahs. But much to my surprise, I didn't experience much post-paradise withdrawal. I don't think this would have been possible had I not mentally checked out for the week. I still had visions of palm trees and umbrella drinks in my head (as well as the view on top of Oahu's Diamond Head crater, seen above) but with my batteries recharged, I was ready to take on work again.

Surf’s Up! — In the Office?

I love summer.  It is without a doubt the best season with its warm temperatures, beach vacations, great action flicks, and my all-time favorite fashion staple—flip-flops.  But it seems that this popular footwear has recently been causing some controversy around the office. 

More women are wearing flip-flops to the office as companies adopt a business casual dress code, and they are getting away with it.  According to an article in USA Today, Are Flip-flops Damaging Your Career?,” 31 percent of women said that these shoes are a “must-have” for work this summer.  Yet, many companies still view this fashion trend as beach wardrobe, and prefer that is where these shoes stay.  The reasoning is that footwear, just like the rest of your outfit, conveys a certain atmosphere and personal attitude. I guess you just can’t get away from the idea that appearance is everything.  I can see how wearing flip-flops could give the impression that you perceive work as a vacation.  But remember, as times change, so do attitudes and styles, leaving the ideal suit and tie of the 90s at home. 

While I do agree that flip-flops are not the best accessory to wear to a board meeting or when pitching a sale to a client, I think the decision to wear flip-flops to work should be left up to the discretion of the employee.  Personally, from all those agonizing years I spent as one of the few children who attended a school with a dress code, I feel more professional and efficient when I dress less casually, thereby work more diligently.  However, if an employee, who mainly functions “behind the scenes” and doesn’t meet with any public clients or CEOs during the day, feels more comfortable while wearing flip-flops and her work doesn’t suffer, I say “Who really cares?”  If you can’t beat your co-workers, join ‘em.  Although if your boss is continually dressed as though she’s meeting with the president of your company, it may be in your best interest to reflect her style a little more and leave the flip-flops at home. 

Think people are taking the flip-flop controversy a little too seriously? You should read how far this executive went to put his best Face Forward and improve his business image on S&MM.

Is the Internet Private?

I grew up on the Internet. I had my first chat when I was in seventh grade and I downloaded my first song in 10th. By now, I’m pretty much an online guru: I read about five blogs a day, I order most everything online, and feel more comfortable emailing my friends than calling them.

So this recent New York Times article on employers using networking Web sites like Facebook.com and MySpace as background checks for future employees gave me pause. On the one hand, as young adult and a member of Facebook, I believe that my private life should remain that: private. As long as it doesn’t affect my work, my bosses shouldn’t care if there is a picture of me drinking beer in college. I have no doubt that my bosses didn’t spend all of their college years in the library. It seems hypocritical for them to punish me, and employers to punish my peers, for having a digital camera around to catch the act.

But to be fair to HR heads everywhere, I look up old acquaintances from high school and summer camp on Facebook all the time. When I see pictures of them doing stupid things, I assume that these old friends are probably up to no good. After perusing Facebook, a nice kid from my homeroom class becomes some idiot who duct-tapes beer to his hands. In truth, the nice kid and the idiot are the same person, and would probably make a good employee. Unfortunately, these people may never get a chance to refute the judgments potential employers and I passed on their online persona.

Employers and hopeful employees share the responsibility when it comes to this issue. Job seekers shouldn’t publicly proclaim their love of drinking and drugs online. To be frank, a person who announces he loves drinking comes off like an idiot and a future alcoholic. But employers should also take pictures and information on semi-private Web sites in context. Finding out that a college senior drank beer at a party shouldn’t be a red flag; employers should remember their own college days.

For more on hiring, check out this story from our S&MM archives on defining talent.

Big Boss, Big Brother?

This week, the New York Daily News reported disturbing news: Britney’s baby is fine for now, but more employers are firing workers for violating workplace e-mail policies.

The new research conducted by Proofpoint and Forrester Consulting reveals that of the 300 companies surveyed, a third said they had fired employees for incriminating e-mails, up from a quarter last year. Almost half admitted that employers regularly read their staffers' emails.

Democrats and Republicans alike were outraged when the New York Times broke that NSA had wiretapped telephone calls of suspected terrorists without a warrant. Internet users were irate when Yahoo! and Google yielded to the demands of the Chinese government to release user information. While employers can’t control the president, Yahoo!, or Google, they can set an example by respecting their employees’ privacy and not reading their email.

It’s true that e-mail written on a company account is legally the property of the company, but that doesn't mean companies should read the private correspondences of their employees. Though some argue that employees should not expect privacy in the work place, it's absurd to think that the private lives of workers are paused from 9 to 5. For companies that block e-mail sites like Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo!, respecting the santicanity of employees' e-mail is even more important.

With more personal and public information available than ever, it’s up to individuals
to respect the privacy of others.

For e-mail writing advice, check out this post from our S&MM SoundOff archives.