It is 5:30 a.m. The alarm clock serves as a cruel reminder that it is time for you to begin another marathon day. After struggling to get everyone ready, it's off to the sitter's and then to work. At 8 a.m. the workday begins with a vengeance. The sitter calls at 1 p.m. Your child woke from a nap with a fever. The budget report is due at 2 p.m., after which there is an important meeting. Think. How can you take care of your child and fulfill your work commitments?
Although the circumstances may be different, this is a commonplace scenario for working mothers. Many mothers today combine their work in the home with a job that provides additional, or often sole, financial support. Research indicates half of mothers with preschool children are employed.One of the top three stresses for working women is managing their dual role. The Wall Street Journal recently quoted Carol Landy, director of the Internal Revenue Service's 5,000 employee Brookhaven Service Center, as saying, "My real job starts at 5 p.m. when I go home." While there is no perfect answer to the demands placed on working mothers, a plausible solution exists, requiring dual accountability for working mothers and their employers.
Working mothers' accountability is to support, nurture and care for their children while fulfilling their work responsibilities. To satisfy these demands, they can strive to achieve an optimal balance in their lives through the process of reconciliation. As they engage in this process, they will be more effective in both roles. This reconciliation process involves three steps.
First, working mothers should identify their personal and professional values. After listing these values, they must determine which values are most important at this time. Two questions that may help in this process are: What do I really want? and What am I willing to give?
By identifying those values on which they desire to focus their attention, working mothers can eliminate stress resulting from unmet expectations. Directing their focus to a few values will require others to be sacrificed. But, what is considered a less significant value today may be later identified as a higher priority.
The second step in the reconciliation process requires working mothers to clarify their identified values with others. Friends and family members should understand the newly determined focus so they can offer support. Leaders and coworkers should know to what extent the working mother desires to engage herself in work activities. Values must be communicated with intent rather than by accident. The clarification process allows all involved to understand what the working mother is willing and able to give.
Finally, those values that have been identified and clarified must be aligned with working mothers' observed behaviors. Balance will exist only when they act in accordance with their identified values As working mothers discover balance by identifying, clarifyingand aligning their values, they will be more effective in their roles. This is the accountability they have to themselves, their family and their employer.
This dual-role conflict is equally demanding on the employer. While business owners realize the stress placed on working mothers, they also know how difficult it can be to meet their employees' needs. However, the cost of recruitment and turnover is too high to neglect this highly valued segment of the work force. Business owners' accountability is to help working mothers reconcile their roles. This involves clarifying expectations with them. Determining to what extent working mothers are willing and able to dedicate their time and energy to the job is important, Offering alternative work schedules when possible, i.e. flexible time, a compressed work week and job sharing can also help working mothers reconcile their dual roles. In some situations, telecommuting is a strong alternative. Assistance with day care can likewise be beneficial. Organizational leaders should also be sensitive when pressing family issues take precedence over work. Based on these recommendations, business owners have an accountability to show personal concern for all employees and to help create the win-win situations with them.
The challenge of dual-role conflict will continue to place demands on working mothers and the organizations that are trying to accommodate them. However, as working mothers begin reconciliation through value alignment, they can enjoy balance. And, as organizations strive to accommodate the unique needs of each working mother, they will benefit from greater predictability and increased performance. One resolution to the dual-role conflict is dual accountability.