Parents looking for work-life balance, use your bargaining power to turn the tides

Yesterday was a gorgeous late summer/early fall day with a strong breeze that makes you think…change is in the air. I spent most of the day inside taking care of my baby and working on the laptop, but managed to get out for a run before the day began and a nice walk after my work was done. I had the chance to reflect on the sense of change in the season, my life, and hopefully on a larger scale in society.

A timely segment this morning on Good Morning America sparked my thoughts yesterday morning. The topic—“Ways to Get Your Voice Heard on Paid Leave From Work Policies”. I actually had received an e-mail from the Mom’s Rising group, calling for moms to head to Capitol Hill for the segment, but I had my baby and my work deadlines, so it wasn’t in the cards for me, and I’m not sure I would have been completely comfortable in the mix.

I do support legislation that would protect families and children by allowing moms and dads to stay home with their babies longer without suffering financial hardships. However, there are so many unanswered questions about how such legislation would work. Who would pay for the paid leave? What about people who choose to have only one child versus those who have five? What about people who don’t have children at all? Are programs like this fair to them?

I believe all Americans have to come together and work for the common good, supporting policies that will help families and nurture our kids so future generations are healthy in mind, body and spirit. To me, this means policies that, at minimum, create an environment that allows a parent to be in the home with their child until they are preschool age (three years old) and for the child to be breastfed, if possible, until the age of one, at least. However, I also believe that people—parents—have power beyond what legislation or regulation might provide.

Skilled professionals command certain benefits in a free marketplace, but these people must also demand these benefits. A recent U.S. News & Word Report article highlighted companies like PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte & Touche that now have special programs for employees who want to take time off for their families when a baby is born, but still keep their careers on track. These companies created their programs because they made sense from a business perspective. As the article states of PwC, “The company did not start the program out of a spirit of generosity: In 2001, it faced a 24 percent turnover rate.” A PwC exec estimates the cost of losing a client services' employee to be around $80,000, so their program pays for itself.

Naturally, the employees who can take advantage of such programs are going to be very talented and highly in-demand. But, other professionals, too, might also be able to negotiate deals with their employers to let them telecommute, work part time, work on a freelance basis, or take sabbaticals with mentoring and skill development programs while tending to young children. If they’re worth it, they might get the deal. Others strike out on their own as entrepreneurs or consultants.

That’s what I’m hoping for with my soon-to-be former employer—a freelance gig that I might eventually springboard into a full-fledged freelance practice with even more clients. This is just one way people can help shape the way business works to make it more family-friendly. The more professionals with bargaining power use their influence to shape the marketplace to suit their wants and needs, the more businesses will operate this way. People have the power to make demands on the market, but it takes planning, guts, tenacity—and sometimes sacrifice. Over time, we might make this the norm, and even help it trickle down to less-skilled workers…at least until legislation can get pushed through.

Here are some pieces to the puzzle of balancing babies and work I can note from my own experience:

Plan ahead
For our family, we worked hard for several years and saved in advance to allow me the option to stay home or work part time during our daughter’s earliest years. We socked away a nice nest egg before getting pregnant. Plus, I did almost eight years at my job, racking up sick leave that I was able to use so that during my FMLA leave so I was able to still take home my entire salary.

Work hard/Be talented
Over the years at my job, I worked to position myself as close to indispensable as possible. Of course, everyone knows nobody is indispensable, but being a key member of the team and trying to bring something extra to the table will help in negotiations for flexible work arrangements later. I even agreed to work part-time from home during my actual maternity leave because I wanted to stay in the mix of what was going on at the office and continue to position myself as a valuable asset. I’m now awaiting my office’s decision on how they might use me on a freelance basis, part time, from home, and my chances look good.

Be prepared to make tough choices
Of course, we realize we may have to set some priorities (I originally said "make sacrifices, but I don't believe that is a good term to use). We might not have the newest cars or clothes. We don’t get every single new little baby gadget. And, I know our bank accounts and my contributions to my retirement savings will take a hit for a little while. But, we decided it was worth it for us.

Stand firm
Once we made our decision not to put our baby in daycare, we knew that there was no turning back and we weren’t willing to compromise on it. This was what we believed, and short of a crisis situation, one of us would be home with the baby. If they can afford it, families with two in-demand workers might make the choice to walk away from one of their full-time jobs, or negotiate part-time work. If enough people with power and money make these choices, the market might follow.