In 2009, when Anne-Marie Slaughter accepted her dream job as the first female director of policy planning at the U.S. State Department under Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, she was confident she could juggle the demands of her position with her family life.
Even though she had a tremendously supportive boss and partner, eventually parenting needs caused her to make a decision to leave the State Department and return to an academic career that gave her more time for her family.
The reactions to her choice to leave Washington because of her kids led her to question the feminist narrative she grew up with. Her subsequent article for The Atlantic, "Why Women Still Can't Have It All," created a firestorm, sparked intense national debate, and became one of the most-read pieces in the magazine's history.
In her new book, Unfinished Business, Anne-Marie Slaughter presents her vision for what true equality between men and women really means and how we can get there.
Slaughter believes that while many companies are now becoming much more progressive, finding new ways of working that allow their employees much more flexibility, many still operate what she refers to as "a Mad Men workplace; one that assumes that all of its employees have a full-time caregiver at home".
In Australia, women comprise almost half of all employees and among families with children aged under 18 years old, around 65% of mothers are employed. With this in mind it's not surprising that juggling work and parenting is increasingly hard for working mums.
But it's not just mothers who need flexibility and help to balance work and family. We are living in an age of high cost of living and dual income families where both parents need to work. So dads also need flexibility.
It's time for companies to realise they have a responsibility and a very compelling financial interest in providing more flexibility to avoid shutting out valuable talent and losing their own investment in the women and men they hire and train… A recent McKinsey estimates that hiring and promoting women equally with men - would add $12 trillion to the global economy.
However, don't necessarily expect your company to take the initiative. It may be down to us, the worker-parents, to start the conversation.
In Unfinished Business Slaughter proposes a number of helpful strategies, but says the simplest one is to have a conversation with your boss, because you can't expect a manager to know what you want or need if you don't tell them.
Asking for flexibility as a parent/employee is your right. This direct approach can be hard, though often it's the most productive method, so Slaughter has some pointers to make the conversation easier:
(Adapted from Unfinished Business)
- Do your research. Check your company's policies on flexibility. If the company advertises the possibility of flexible arrangements, then your pitch should be less about whether you can take advantage of them than about how to ensure that you stay on track for promotion - even if on a slower track - if you do.
- Have a plan. Whether you're making a proposal in line with existing company policy or proposing a customised arrangement, make sure you have a specific plan in mind that will make it possible for you to fit the different pieces of your life together.
- Make an appointment. Don't just spring your suggestion on your boss at the office coffee machine.
- Highlight the benefits to your company. It is critical that you start out in the right mindset. Do not approach this in terms of what your company can do for you, but what you can do for your company. It's all about getting the work done, better and more efficiently. Suggest a trial period - career experts recommend three months - after which, if it's not working out, you can reassess. And be sure to agree on how to evaluate the results of the experiment.
- If at first you don't succeed…
With moving personal stories, individual action plans, and a broad outline for change, Unfinished Business by Anne-Marie Slaughter reveals a future in which all of us can finally finish the business of equality for women and men, work and family.
"Another clarion call from Slaughter… Her case for revaluing and better compensating caregiving is compelling… [Slaughter] makes it a point in her book to speak beyond the elite." Jill Abramson, The Washington Post
"A brilliant summary of the problem with work, told well and with a quiet, righteous anger… Anecdotes from [Slaughter's] own life and others are deftly interwoven with research, making Unfinished Business a compelling and lively read." Financial Times
"After reading Unfinished Business, I'm confident that you will be left with Anne-Marie's hope and optimism that we can change our points of view and policies so that both men and women can fully participate in their families and use their full talents on the job." Hillary Rodham Clinton
Unfinished Business by Anne-Marie Slaughter is published by Penguin, RRP: $34.99
GIVEAWAY
We have five of Anne-Marie Slaughter's Unfinished Business books to give away.
To enter tell us in 25 words or less what challenges you face as a working mother and what changes you think would make a difference to balancing work and family life.
Email your entry to competition@careforkids.com.au.
|
|
