The New Normal: All in the Family

It was so prevalent, so everyday that most of us (well, at least most of us old enough to live through the time), never really even thought about it. From Father Knows Best to Leave It To Beaver to even All In The Family (Archie Bunker’s family if you recall), it was a given. And systems of society were built around it. (If you’d like a little trip down memory lane, just go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Knows_Best, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leave_it_to_Beaver, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_in_the_Family.)

What, pray tell, is the ‘given’? A traditional family structure where dad went off to work and mom stayed home, running the household and raising the children. Nearly two-thirds of American households in past generations fit this model.

But, my oh my, have times changed. Today, only 17 percent of U.S. households fall into this traditional model, which makes most of us nontraditional, I guess. (Yep, I’m one of the 83% in the nontraditional family structure camp.) And if you think about it, a whole crop of consumer products and services has responded in kind. There are lots of day care centers, more restaurants than ever (did you know that Americans now spend half of their food budgets eating out?), merry maid services, easy-to-put-on-the-table packaged meals, dog walking services, and on and on all targeting this new family normal.

But there is one laggard in the group—one really big, giant part of U.S. society that hasn’t quite grasped this yet. And chances are that if you’re reading this blog, you are a part of it: big business. The very organizations that you and I and, well, millions of us work for, the companies who contrarily produce goods and services to serve this new reality, aren’t themselves organized to structurally respond to it. Not-a-one.

There have been some who have made dents, but not-a-one has structurally changed their traditional workplace (think a continual climb up the corporate ladder, 40 or so hours a week, in the office (no matter how long your commute), breaks in employment only for a few and by exception, etc.) to align with the nontraditional needs that most of us have today. Many are well-intentioned for sure, doing things ‘on the margin’ like flexible work arrangements (that carry their own baggage as many of us well know!), some telecommuting (particularly on Fridays), etc. but no one has figured out that, well, the workforce has changed forever, and now, too, must the workplace.

We think it’s a worthy cause to take on—and it’s about time that someone did something so that concepts like off-ramps and opt-ins don’t have to be part of our realities. Whatta ya think? Is it worth it? Could it ever be? 

Cathy

By blogger Cathy Benko, Deloitte LLP

The New Normal: Fatherhood

Note from blogger: We’re going to shake things up a bit on the blog front and from time-to-time include a series of related entries. There’s no time like the present, so we’ll start now with a series (yes, you’ve guessed it) called “The New Normal.” Since it’s Father's Day weekend, it seems fitting to choose a topic that’s, well, father-related. This is an experiment of sorts, but hey, let’s see where it goes.

I was shocked. There I was, enjoying a phoofy dinner during a global board meeting of a big-time institution. The dinner speaker, world-renowned (of course, what else would you expect at a global board dinner of a big-time institution), was entertaining in style and had a thought-provoking message. What was most provoking to me was when he said, paraphrasing, ‘sorry to be speaking to you during dinner instead of after dessert, but it’s one of my nights each week to make dinner for my kids. My wife and I split it right down the middle.’

His compulsive transparency is refreshing—but is it evidence of a sea-change? Yes, I think so. Fresh cases in point:

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman gave a keynote speech last month with his 21-month old son “clinging to his neck.”
• A study reported in a New York Times article found that the time that men spend today on child care activities has increased 150 percent and hours spent on housework also increased by nearly the same amount.
• Last week a White House aide blogged on a Wall Street Journal site that he was stepping down, citing his family as a key reason. http://blogs.wsj.com/juggle/2007/06/04/notes-on-a-white-house-juggle/
• An Amazon.com book search for “Fatherhood” returns 20,511 results with hilarious titles like Mack Daddy, Hold It Like a Football, Zen and the Art of Fatherhood, Fatherhood: An Owner’s Manual, The Sane Man’s Guide to the Insane World of Fatherhood, Stark Raving Dad, Daddy Dumbest; Nipple Confusion…, etc. If there wasn’t a market; there wouldn’t be new publications to meet it.
• There are also now online magazines specifically for fathers. (Interactive Dad is a pretty good one.)

I could go on here. Fatherhood isn’t what it used to be. With any luck, I’ve well-stated the case. Well, did I?

Cathy

P.S. To all our fathers out there, best wishes for a terrific Father’s Day. You make such a difference!

By blogger Cathy Benko, Deloitte LLP

Refreshly Minted

It's that time of year, final exams, the start of summer, and Pomp and Circumstance mentally playing in the minds of bright, newly graduated eyes that are eager and anxious to make their marks in the corporate world. It kinda makes you wonder: what kind of corporate workplace will they find?

If workplace history holds, what he and she will find is a well gender-balanced entry class of working newbies (women will actually be the majority, but it's subtle enough that most won't take notice). Good news for sure—let's recall that it wasn't always like that.

But what each sees at the start of potentially illustrious careers is not what today's reality says the fresh-faced women will experience down the line. Recent studies, once again, present a sobering picture of stalled progress in terms of women's advancement. The number of women corporate officers in the Fortune 500 is stagnating; almost half of the Fortune 1000 have no women in their top executive ranks; the labor force participation of women with young children is also languishing; and the gender pay gap seems equally stubborn-- even after controlling for sector, experience and performance.

Fifteen years ago, Felice Schwartz, the founder of Catalyst, made the business case for attracting, retaining and advancing women in a landmark Harvard Business Review article . Leading organizations work diligently to address—and remove--both the structural and cultural inhibiters that women face as their careers progress.

While in the short run, these young turks may be puzzled about why world class organizations like mine have gone to the all the trouble since they look around laterally and don't see an issue. [See Time Warp and Time Warp Revisited for corresponding vignettes.] 

On the other hand, maybe I'm not giving this group enough credit. Maybe they are the ones that will force the break of this elusive cycle. I ponder what I can do to support them (I've got a few big ideas on the drawing board—more on this shortly).

Do you ponder what you can do as well? Any crafty ideas you'd like to throw out there?

Cathy

By blogger Cathy Benko, Deloitte LLP