Caregivers and Flexible Work

One of the groups of people often overlooked when shouting the benefits of flexible work, on both sides of the pond, are home/family carers. These selfless people help and care for old and sick loved-ones, at no cost to society, and often miss out on working a full time job.

Over 2.6 million caregivers will benefit from the right to request flexible working in the UK alone, with a further 50 million in the USA.

Rosalyn Carter said it best: “There are only four kinds of people in the world – those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers and those who will need caregivers”.

With many caregivers looking after elderly relatives it meant a huge pool of talent, at its most productive phase of life, was lost to business because of its INflexibility.

With new legislation catching up to the needs of society this is another slice of the population, along with parents, who will be able to rejoin and contribute in the workplace outside of giving care.

Related Caregivers and Flexible Work Articles ...

The Anti-Mommy Bias - Economix Blog - NYTimes.com

Some policy analysts argue that mothers make a lifestyle choice, opting for easier, more flexible work over greater responsibility and higher pay. Others, like myself, argue that our economic system imposes unfair penalties on those who care for others. ... In May 2007, the Equal Opportunities Employment Commission issued official guidance on FRED, explaining circumstances under which discrimination against caregivers violates existing law. ...

Are you Fair Work ready?

2. Request for flexible work arrangements: An employee who has responsibility for a child under school age or someone under 18 with a disability has a right to request a change in working arrangements. ...

Related articles ...

• Last Call For Nominations For The Parentgiving.com First Annual Parentgivers Of The Year Awards (prweb.com)
• You: The hidden face of caring (guardian.co.uk)
• Dementia 'must rise in priority' (news.bbc.co.uk)

Check out our blog about flexible working for parents

6 Steps To A Flexible Work Policy

The lightbulb has finally gone off in your head and you can now see clearly the benefits of flexible work, but what do you do about it? Here are six steps to help guide you through the successful implementation of a flexible work policy at your worksite.

Step 1: Review Organizational Policy
See if your organization has written policies on compressed workweeks or flextime. If so, read them. If there are no policies, recommend that the organization set up a cross-functional task force to develop them.

Step 2: Consider the Costs and Benefits
Can compressed workweeks and flextime help your department and organization improve results? Look for opportunities that will help you better serve your internal and external customers.

Step 3: Move from Idea to Plan
If you think compressed workweeks and/or flextime schedules make sense for your unit, you will need to figure out work schedules, appropriate models, participation, supervision and communication. You will find the points to cover as part of the Implementation Checklist.

Step 4: Move from Plan to Action
Now is the time to present your plan to staff, receive feedback and request employee proposals. Remember to include in your discussion non-participating employees who might be affected by these changes. Contact HR for guidance on tracking and reporting vacation, holidays, sick leave and personal days off. Also consult HR about documentation that may be required by law.

Step 5: Initiate a trial period
For the first few months, test the way your new schedules are working. To assure that compressed workweeks and flextime are successful, monitor the arrangements during the trail period, making adjustments as necessary.

Step 6: Evaluate and Improve
At the end of the trial period, evaluate the program in terms of your original objective for implementation. You may be measuring costs and benefits, customer satisfaction, employee effectiveness and/or impact on non-participating employees. Keep evaluating and fine-tuning.

These steps are based upon the recommendations at commuterchallenge.org

Related Flexible Work Policy Articles ...

Family-Friendly Work Policies Take a Hit - Motherlode Blog ...

Will the trend toward flexible working arrangements survive in the recession?

HR Daily Advisor - Practical Human Resource Tips, News & Advice ...

Is a Flexible Work Policy Part of a Wellness Program? Most experts agree that reducing stress is an important part of wellness, but they don't have much advice for how to accomplish it. Flexible work schedules will go a long way to ...

Flexible Workpaces: Productive and Popular

We've recently discussed how, with the potentially rebounding economy, workers are going to expect more from their employees in 2010. Implementing a flexible work environment (or improving your company's current telecommuting policy) is ...

 

Check out our blog about flexible working for parents

Telecommuting Saves The World

Been surfing the telecommuting web and came across Telecommuting Could Speed Economic Recovery by undress4success.com where it's written that Business Week reported that, based on interviews with a number of esteemed economists, the lack of worker mobility was significantly stifling our economic recovery.

It turns out that mobility in the workforce is essential to prosperity but with the growth of telecommuting that doesn't mean you have to physically move. We live in a world where a surgeon in Florida can perform an operation, via the web and a robot, on a crushed skull in Manila. Surely the wits of man, combined with telecommuting, can come up with a solution to worker mobility in a modern world; we just have to embrace the tech and promote the lifestyle.

Affordable internet critical to economic recovery

Consumer Groups on FCC Broadband Plan: Fast, Affordable Internet Critical to Economic Recovery, Growth FCC should declare broadband a telecommunications service eligible for universal service fund support ... Broadband allows communities to reap the benefits of advanced emergency services, higher-education distance learning, telemedicine, and telecommuting. Without access to broadband, low-income and rural communities are cut off from new models of economic expansion and ...

The Environmental Blog: Environmental Benefits of Telecommuting

Telecommuting and outsourcing are really starting to take off as the worldwide economic crisis is forcing employers to find new ways to reduce costs and increase employee productivity. ... And if your company is planning to take advantage of the telecommuting trend, make sure to first implement a disaster recovery plan that's able to handle it. About The Author: Storagepipe Solutions provides email archiving, online backup and server backup solutions that help companies ...

Related articles ...

• Spain mandates affordable broadband for all (news.cnet.com)
• Flextime: A Win-Win Green Solution? (treehugger.com)

Check out our blog about flexible working for parents

Using RSS to Explode Your Business Leads – Part 2

Following on from Using RSS to Explode Your Business Leads – Part 1 the real fun begins when we introduce ping.fm into the mix:

http://www.youtube.com/v/lY3jUyg3iJo

If you need any further info or questions answered then please ask in the comments.

Related Business Leads Articles ...

Important Ways To Boost Business Sales Leads For Your Business ...

In order to survive in the business world, you have to make every effort to maximize your sales. A sales lead is the identity of a potential customer who has.

Quickest Way to Build Sales Leads

This episode is all about how to crank up your business opportunities the fastest, most efficient way.

Related articles ...

• Choosing the Right Sales Process Outsourcing (SPO) Company (prweb.com)
• Google Wave (silenciobarnes.com)

Check out our blog about flexible working for parents

Using RSS to Explode Your Business Leads - Part 1

Another quick video of a technique that has brought hmp many of its members - this one's twitterfeed and this is a brief explanation on how I am using RSS to explode business leads.

http://www.youtube.com/v/NIhYuLUiw1c&hl=en_GB&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b","allowfullscreen":"true"" src="http://blog.hiremyparents.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/media/img/trans.gif" height="344" alt="" width="425" />

 

Related Using RSS Articles ...

Using RSS Feeds to Increase Your Exposure on the Web

Most of the new social media sites are using RSS Feeds to distribute their content. Twitter runs on RSS feeds, Facebook and MySpace use feeds. You can add feeds to your news and tap in to the power of the social web. ...

RSS… And The 10 MOST Powerful Reasons WHY You Should Be Using It

In conclusion, publishers using RSS as a communication vehicle for their business are able to create keyword-rich, themed content, establishing Trust, Credibility, and ongoing communication with current and prospective subscribers ...

 

Check out our blog about flexible working for parents

A technique to spread your business message

If you spend hours writing a blog post, that will hopefully bring some traffic to your site and ramp up your authority, then it's a good idea to spread your business message as far as you can and get the maximum exposure. Below is a very quick technique I use to get my posts on 5 or 6 different sites straight away.

Related Spread Your Business Message Articles ...

SIMPLE TOOLS THAT ARE USED TO GET YOU THE ONLINE EXPOSURE YOU NEED ...

Increasing the topic of your sites is what this tool aims for. This way you can spread your site to other people. There are lot mailing lists that can be purchased through the internet that are of good price. So choose your audience wisely! ... GoDaddy seems to be the leader in all of this. GoDaddy goes as far as helping you increase traffic to your site and with configuring and uploading your files. If the website package has all this, then go and start your business. ...

Moving Beyond Social Media to Market Your Blog

It's no longer uncommon to learn that someone or some business entity has a blog. Marketing around blogs has driven an entire web-based economy all its own, but for those running the blogs, new marketing tactics are always a challenge ... Your blog has an overarching theme. If you were to summarize your blog's theme, what would you say? This is a message that you can use to further spread your message, and establish your authority. Create a PowerPoint demonstration ...

SPROUT PUBLISHING - BLOG - 5 TIPS FOR AUTHENTIC ONLINE CONNECTION

... you provide and the guidance you give all fits with the overall story and message that your business or brand stands for. If you live your message, your customers, readers, etc. will believe your message and help spread your ideas. ...

Related articles ...

• 10 Post Ideas for Business Blogs Part II (dailyslackr.com)
• Blogging-creating your Social Media "hub" (techtalkformoms.com)

Check out our blog about flexible working for parents

Why you'll never get 'that' flexible job on a job board

From the title you may suspect that I've shot myself in the foot here. Yes hmp has a job board but not the type I'm talking about.

I was reading Seth Godin's blog post  Career fairs... and how they are the last resort for companies and job-seekers alike, and I realised that the giant job boards on the internet are just the same. A company needs to fill some drone position so they get HR to just throw up a description and chuck $400 at monster.com or careerbuilder.com. They don't have to put any effort in, as long as you can string a sentence together you'll do. Hell, all these big job boards even share the same database - stick the job on one it goes to the many.

If a company has a real 'career' opportunity it goes specific. It goes to job boards that specialize in certain skills or industries - that's where you get 'that' job. Better still companies are now finding employees on social sites such as facebook and LinkedIn, where they can find the person they need through relationships and referrals.

If you want to be truly happy in a job you're going to have to find it where they put the jobs you want - not where they put the jobs they want you to fill. (I made a tongue-twister)

Related Job Board Articles ...

Job Boards And Their New Role in Your “Social” Job Search | Brazen ...

I have friends who work at major online job board sites, but I've never been sold on them. Years ago I received a few interviews from job listings on Monster, but the positions were filled even before my interview. ...

The Resume Chick

Q: How well do job boards work in YOUR job search? The fact is many hiring managers and recruiters live on social networks… Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Monster.com, Inside Tech, and others… It all comes down to how 'in the loop' are ...

People@Work: Scams Hit Job Seekers When They're Most Vulnerable ...

Online job boards, such as CareerBuilder.com and Monster.com, are all too familiar with such scams and have dedicated pages on their sites that provide job seekers with tips on how to conduct safe online searches. ...

Related articles ...

• Using Social Networking Sites for Job Searching (timesunion.com)
• Using Twitter and Facebook to Find a Job (time.com)

Check out our blog about flexible working for parents