SmartBrief is partnering with Big Think to create a weekly video spotlight in SmartBrief on Leadership called “VIP Corner: Video Insights Powered by Big Think.” This week, we’re featuring Nancy Koehn, a professor of business administration at Harvard University.
The business community is due for a change in the way it values families and work-life balance, Koehn says. She addresses this in three parts.
- Large companies are struggling to retain top talent, half of whom or more are women, Koehn said. Improvement is needed in enabling a woman to maintain her career and have a life outside of work — including having and raising a child — that goes beyond “a kind of toggle switch” in which a woman leaves and then “tries to get back in.”
- Corporations need to have open discussions about work-life balance, including what it means to have a family. It’s not enough to discuss “work-life balance” or “work-family,” Koehn said. What is needed is “a more nuanced dialogue that’s in keeping with the … difficulty and messiness of trying to work well and live well as a family member, a parent and a citizen,” she said.
- Businesses don’t foster values that include men and women as units of a family, particularly among large corporations, Koehn said. Few include family as a core part of their mission or values, and “yet everyone has a family, and everyone is very much affected in terms of the possibilities and their paths by what that family is and what it becomes.”
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Professor Koehn
I think your comments are on point. As a thirty year professor with many years of senior level corporate experience as well, I know this is true. As a matter of fact i have an old video from a columnist titled
"balancing work and Family) that every business class had to watch , discuss and write about. I had great
results. If corporate America will agree to a dialogue on this I'm sure our workplaces and homes will benefit.
However, it takes more than words to move this from discussion to practice. Perhaps a look inside Google
might help. All the best.
Professor Snow
Agree with Shirley. Please tell us something we don't already know.
Nothing barn burning new in that video – we all know that. The trick is the examples – what would you do? I think this applies to more than just women. Everyone has a family – many have children – many have aging parents. Yet – so many feel that they have to work the 40+ hours to keep their job…or even keep their benefits. Some individuals would likely work 30-35 hours (all year or just when they need it0 if they could still maintain benefits. I really like Clint Swindall's look at "work life balance" – its really a weave (not enough room to explain). If we can help associates balance their lives (not just work, and there is more to just "life")…they will be more engaged at work. I would like to see another article/video with more detail on this subject. If geared towards women, perhaps during March (Women's History Month).
I think the more senior people need to risk some political capital and open this dialog with younger staffers. Many of us agree with the premise and argument for change. However how many of us are willing to push our corporate leaders and challenge the status quo? What we know, that it takes courage and a few to start people thinking differently. Todd and Shirley I bet you know the examples to share. I look forward to hearing them.