By Laura Steele
Lisa James used to dread tax season. As a CPA for a large accounting firm in the early 1990s, she put in 60 hour work weeks between January and May, and then settled back into a 45-50 hour per week routine with very little downtime, except for a three week vacation. “It was challenging, and sometimes even grueling, but my company had no concept of flex time,” says James, who kept this schedule for 5 years until she married and had children. “I managed pretty well by putting my first child in infant care, but when the second baby arrived, I found I could not keep up with either my company’s or the client’s expectations. Since I am a perfectionist, I felt I had no options but to quit for awhile.”
In the past twenty years, however, the nation’s top accounting firms have made steady progress instituting new flex time and work/life policies. The largest driver turned out to be the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which set new standards for corporate accountability and dramatically increased the need for skilled accounting and financial reporting employees at the big four accounting firms, including Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projected a 22 percent growth rate between 2008 and 2018, for accountant and auditors, adding 279,400 more positions to the 1.29 million already-existing jobs. Despite the recession, the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the number of accountants to grow faster than the national average. One way the big four began competing for a limited talent pool, was to offer their employees a more flexible schedule.
A recent article in the New York Times highlights this trend. The article, “Flex Time Flourishes in Accounting Industry,” reports that “when it comes to respecting the work-life balance of employees, the accounting industry far outshines the rest of corporate America.” Though not everyone agrees that the big four are models of flexibility, it is clear that the situation has improved and the big four accounting firms are now offering a much wider array of flex time options, including sabbaticals with partial salary, shortened work weeks, and personal time off to take care of family matters.
Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute, notes that “The nation’s accounting firms excel at this for a boring, accounting reason – they’ve looked at the numbers, and they see it helps.” Some firms estimate that increased flex time options have helped them cut turnover from 24% annually to just 15%, a dramatic decrease that can save a company millions in hiring and retraining costs. “This is really about retaining our top talent,” says Michael Fenlon, People Strategies Leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
James couldn’t agree more and is now back working for one of the big four in Denver. But last fall, she faced a new work/life challenge. “My father passed away years ago, and my mom had been living independently in Wisconsin for the past decade. Last year, she came down with severe pneumonia, and was hospitalized for two weeks. She was so weak afterwards that she had to be placed in a rehabilitation hospital. It was clear to me that she could no longer live alone, and I needed to take a month off to help her recover and then move her to an assisted living facility in Boulder, Colorado, where I live. Fortunately, my company was very supportive, and I was able to take 6 weeks off, with little advance notice, to help my mom.”
According to the Journal of Accounting, James’ story is far from unusual. “Successful (work/life balance) programs address elder-care as wells as child-care. The growing demand for attending to parents is one of today’s most significant trends.” In fact, the National Council on Aging estimated that between 30 percent and 40 percent of all employees will assist their elderly parents in 2020, compared with 12 percent today.
Professional accounting organizations are also trying to provide their members with better information to help guide them through their work/life balance issues. For example, the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants (MSCPA) has a Work/Life Balance Committee. The MSCPA website offers a list of resources, articles and contacts with the goal of “influencing the accounting profession to affect the necessary changes to develop and retain a more competitive work force and to permit men and women to achieve balance among personal, family and professional responsibilities.”
James says, “The accounting industry has come a long way during the course of my career. I intend to keep working for at least another 5-10 years, provided that my employer can respond appropriately when my family needs me the most. I leave work by 3pm most Fridays so I can have an early dinner with my mother, and relax with her as the weekend begins. I’m more confident than ever that flex time is here to stay.”
Family, Flex Time, and The Big Four
Work-LifeLisa James used to dread tax season. As a CPA for a large accounting firm in the early 1990s, she put in 60 hour work weeks between January and May, and then settled back into a 45-50 hour per week routine with very little downtime, except for a three week vacation. “It was challenging, and sometimes even grueling, but my company had no concept of flex time,” says James, who kept this schedule for 5 years until she married and had children. “I managed pretty well by putting my first child in infant care, but when the second baby arrived, I found I could not keep up with either my company’s or the client’s expectations. Since I am a perfectionist, I felt I had no options but to quit for awhile.”
In the past twenty years, however, the nation’s top accounting firms have made steady progress instituting new flex time and work/life policies. The largest driver turned out to be the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which set new standards for corporate accountability and dramatically increased the need for skilled accounting and financial reporting employees at the big four accounting firms, including Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projected a 22 percent growth rate between 2008 and 2018, for accountant and auditors, adding 279,400 more positions to the 1.29 million already-existing jobs. Despite the recession, the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the number of accountants to grow faster than the national average. One way the big four began competing for a limited talent pool, was to offer their employees a more flexible schedule.
A recent article in the New York Times highlights this trend. The article, “Flex Time Flourishes in Accounting Industry,” reports that “when it comes to respecting the work-life balance of employees, the accounting industry far outshines the rest of corporate America.” Though not everyone agrees that the big four are models of flexibility, it is clear that the situation has improved and the big four accounting firms are now offering a much wider array of flex time options, including sabbaticals with partial salary, shortened work weeks, and personal time off to take care of family matters.
Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute, notes that “The nation’s accounting firms excel at this for a boring, accounting reason – they’ve looked at the numbers, and they see it helps.” Some firms estimate that increased flex time options have helped them cut turnover from 24% annually to just 15%, a dramatic decrease that can save a company millions in hiring and retraining costs. “This is really about retaining our top talent,” says Michael Fenlon, People Strategies Leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
James couldn’t agree more and is now back working for one of the big four in Denver. But last fall, she faced a new work/life challenge. “My father passed away years ago, and my mom had been living independently in Wisconsin for the past decade. Last year, she came down with severe pneumonia, and was hospitalized for two weeks. She was so weak afterwards that she had to be placed in a rehabilitation hospital. It was clear to me that she could no longer live alone, and I needed to take a month off to help her recover and then move her to an assisted living facility in Boulder, Colorado, where I live. Fortunately, my company was very supportive, and I was able to take 6 weeks off, with little advance notice, to help my mom.”
According to the Journal of Accounting, James’ story is far from unusual. “Successful (work/life balance) programs address elder-care as wells as child-care. The growing demand for attending to parents is one of today’s most significant trends.” In fact, the National Council on Aging estimated that between 30 percent and 40 percent of all employees will assist their elderly parents in 2020, compared with 12 percent today.
Professional accounting organizations are also trying to provide their members with better information to help guide them through their work/life balance issues. For example, the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants (MSCPA) has a Work/Life Balance Committee. The MSCPA website offers a list of resources, articles and contacts with the goal of “influencing the accounting profession to affect the necessary changes to develop and retain a more competitive work force and to permit men and women to achieve balance among personal, family and professional responsibilities.”
James says, “The accounting industry has come a long way during the course of my career. I intend to keep working for at least another 5-10 years, provided that my employer can respond appropriately when my family needs me the most. I leave work by 3pm most Fridays so I can have an early dinner with my mother, and relax with her as the weekend begins. I’m more confident than ever that flex time is here to stay.”
Coaching Programs for Moms Returning to Work are on the Rise
ReturnersIs it becoming harder and harder to be a working mom? Yes, if you look at the number of women who throw in the career towel once they start families, finding it challenging to transition back to work while maintaining work/life balance.
Fortunately, many firms are implementing programs to keep women in the loop about news on clients and office changes while they are on maternity leave, making it easier to welcome work back into their lives. If more firms take advantage of these programs, then working moms will have an easier time. In fact, it’s to the firm’s advantage that they be implemented.
It is now more important than ever that firms attract and retain women. According to TD Bank’s recent corporate responsibility report, “Professional women who are returning to the workforce after an extended leave of absence represent an under-tapped source of potential leadership talent. As many as 37 percent of highly qualified women take time off for family responsibilities such as childcare and eldercare.”
Not only that, but there are more first-time mothers in the 30-34 age range today than the 25-29 range, according to a maternity leave report put out by Amanda Alexander, a professional coaching service for individuals and organizations.“With so many women working, and many of these women likely to be in a senior position when they go on maternity leave, it is essential that organizations take steps to retain these women in order to avoid severe disruption and expensive replacement costs,” the report says. “Yet, unfortunately, most organizations have not adapted to the changes around them, evident by the number of female resignation rates and discrimination cases over the past few years.”
The problem is flexibility. Amanda Alexander noted that a report by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission confirmed that having a child is still the “leaky pipe” in women’s career advancement. While employers say they fully support flexible working for mothers, very few employees are actually taking it up. In fact, many women say their company – their colleagues, managers or HR departments – does nothing to help them return to work with ease, confidence and support.
“It’s such an emotional time, no matter how logical a person you are,” said one respondent in a Return to Work survey done by Amanda Alexander. “You go from being 100 percent professional to a year of being 100 percent mother. Then when you return to work you somehow have to combine being 50 percent mum, 50 percent professional, with expectations that you give 100 percent to each role.”
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Five Steps To Becoming A Transformational Leader
Ask A Career CoachAre you fully engaged in the work you are doing? Do you feel like you are both achieving success and also creating a legacy that is deeply personal and important to you?
For a long time in my own career I was happy climbing the corporate ladder, but after a while this success was not fulfilling enough. It got me searching for a broader impact I could make. I discovered that what is really fulfilling work for me is to help empower women leaders to transform their businesses, teams and communities by transforming their own leadership.
Do you know what is deeply fulfilling work for you? Are you pursuing it? As human beings we all have a deep desire to achieve success and create a legacy that is beyond our personal success. In Part 1 and Part 2 of the Transformational Leader series I talked about who transformational leaders are, why this leadership approach is so needed in today’s organizations, and how women often naturally exhibit some of these traits. To briefly recap, transformational leaders are able to tap into the discretionary energy, the full creativity and potential within themselves and within the people around them. They are purpose-driven. They play the role of mentor and coach to the people around them. They constantly encourage intellectual stimulation, dialogue and debate. They inspire others by their own passion, and by creating a culture of trust and high integrity.
So how can we each powerfully express the transformational leader that is within us? I use a five-step process with my clients that I would like to share with you.
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Why Stereotype Threat Keeps Girls Out of Math and Science, and What to Do About It
Featured, PipelineGirls are still lagging in the classroom when it comes to math – which has a big impact on tomorrow’s workforce, especially considering the important role the technology industry will play in the economy of the future. According to a recent study by the University of Washington, one potential culprit for girls’ underperformance is gender-stereotyping. Lead author Dario Cvencek explained, “Not only do girls identify the stereotype that math is for boys, but they apply that to themselves. That’s the concerning part. Girls are translating that to mean, ‘Math is not for me.'”
But why do girls believe that? It’s (hopefully) not as if their teacher is standing at the blackboard telling them that girls aren’t supposed to be good at math. Is it the media? Is it parents or peers? In fact, it’s likely a combination of these factors – and one more: themselves.
According to Joshua Aronson, NYU Associate Professor of Applied Psychology, stereotypes influence not only the expectations of the stereotype-holder, but they also impact individual performance as well. At the National Center for Women & Information Technology‘s 2011 Summit last week, he said, “intelligence is both fragile and malleable.” When it comes to performance and intelligence, context matters.
Arosnon explained that stereotype threat – merely the notion that one might “live up to” a negative stereotype – will undermine someone’s ability to perform at their highest capability. The fear of proving a negative stereotype true actually causes someone to underperform – and this can account for girls’ underperformance in math and science.
Fortunately, Aronson said, there is something we can do about it.
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Movers and Shakers: Charlotte Laurent-Ottomane, President, The InterOrganization Network
Movers and Shakers“It’s been the driving mission of ION since our founding in 2006 to increase the number of women on public company boards and in the executive suite. One of the criteria for member organizations to join is that this must be part of their mission,” said Charlotte Laurent-Ottomane, President of the InterOrganization Network (ION).
ION is a consortium of 14 regional organizations in the United States, dedicated to the advancement of women to positions of power in the business world.
Laurent-Ottomane explained, “There has been a growing body of research showing the high correlation between gender diversity in the boardroom and the financial performance of the company.” She continued, “Women make up a huge portion of the workforce and the consumer market means it’s only natural that you have women on the board representing that audience.”
“And simply put, it just has to be that way. It’s the natural balance,” she added. “In this country, we’ve gone through many variations of equality. Now its women’s time to be equal, and that means equality in the economy and in the board room. That’s where the power lies.”
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Happy Summer!
NewsPrevious Intrepid Women have also included a lawyer / volunteer fire fighter, a marketing executive who scaled the Great Wall, and our former editor Pamela Weinsaft – who wrote about her expedition to Antarctica. We’ve also visited trapeze school, sky diving class, and even the Russian Bath House here in New York.
How have you challenged yourself physically or emotionally lately? What was the outcome? What has your adventuresome, limit-pushing experience taught you about yourself, and how has it helped you professionally? Tell us your story! Get in touch with me at melissa@theglasshammer.com to learn more.
Boldly Go: How to Take Risks and Overcome Fear
Extraordinary Lives“Boldly going where no man (or woman) has gone before” has become a modern day cliché, representing adventure, bravery, and futuristic thinking. Though, if we’re completely honest with ourselves, many women will admit they simply follow suit as leaders. We may up the current game in our company and in our personal lives by being competitive in how we play the game; yet, how often do we really change the game?
Shareholder pressure, personal and professional fear, recessionary conditions, and myriad factors contribute to more conservative approaches to work and life. Yet, as leaders and even aspiring leaders in today’s world, it is our job and our responsibility to chart new paths. If we don’t encourage playing dangerously and coloring outside the lines, who will? We must continue to innovate, push, explore, and make it safe for others to do so – otherwise, we will stagnate, avoid risks, become complacent, and ultimately not progress in our roles and contribution to our organizations.
So, let’s break it down. If we truly want to lead, what are a few things we can consider to improve our success ratio or at least minimize our risk of totally flaming out?
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Voice of Experience: Kay Kapoor, U.S. Federal Practice Lead, Accenture
Voices of ExperienceHaving spent over 25 years delivering IT solutions for the federal government, Kay Kapoor shifted careers, becoming Accenture‘s new U.S. Federal Practice leader. Kapoor is enthusiastic about the importance of self confidence – and why it’s important for career success. She said, “Sometimes, as women, we don’t give credit to our own capabilities. Once I recognized early in my career that I needed to voice what I wanted, I was better able to move forward in my career.”
Kapoor added, “My advice to women is to just take the leap of faith and be courageous. Most of the time it does work out. As the saying goes, ‘if there’s a fork in the road, then take it.’”
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German Companies Encouraged to Recruit Women to Boards
Featured, Managing ChangeGermany, Europe’s largest economy, is managed by men. While Chancellor Angela Merkel has packed her cabinet with a good gender balance, that isn’t reflected in German businesses. And many people think it should be.
Recently German politicians have been debating targets for the number of women on supervisory and executive boards. They are aiming for 30% representation by 2018. That’s 10% below the target that Norway set in 2003, but a lot higher than the current board representation figures.
“Germany is recognized as a laggard in terms of public policy focused on helping women in the workplace,” says Véronique Bourez, in the report Women on Boards: Moving Beyond Tokenism [PDF]. “The number of women in senior levels in business is certainly one of the lowest in Europe.”
According to FIDAR, a German women’s association which aims to promote a sustainable increase in the proportion of women on the supervisory boards of German companies, only about 12% of the directorships of large German companies are women. However, most of those are labour union representatives. If you look at the female shareholder representatives on boards the number drops to a measly 4.5%.
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Men Must be Recruited to Help Close the Gender Leadership Gap
Industry Leaders, LeadershipEarly last spring, a study was designed by several faculty members at the Center for Gender in Organizations (CGO) at Simmons College in Boston. Through the study, CGO’s scholars set out to delve into the leadership gap that persists despite ongoing efforts throughout corporate America to affect positive change in the workplace.
Critical obstacles deemed to widen this gap are “second generation gender bias,” a term that defines more subtle gender dynamics, deeply embedded in an organization’s culture and work norms. Most surprising was the study’s finding that senior male bosses, when involved in organizational change efforts regarding these biases, were perceived as the most effective change agents for women seeking leadership roles.
To collect the data, a survey (sponsored by HP) was conducted to further understand the role of second generation gender bias in the workplace. Approximately 300 women attending the 2010 Women’s Leadership Conference were asked to answer questions in relation to these dynamics within their organizations.
In discussing whether or not the sampling was representative of the female workforce as a whole, Dr. Spela Trefalt, co-author of the study says, “These women were already leaders or looking to become leaders. The degree to which women are recognizing these issues would certainly be higher when they are looking to become leaders, because that is when these issues start to bother them. Virtually every single woman [surveyed] reported having encountered these issues. As women start vying for leadership positions at work, second generation gender biases start affecting their paths.”
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