thoughts through the office door…
Work-life Balance Giving Way to Life-work Balance By Carlton Yearwood
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Chief Ethics and Diversity Officer Waste Management, Inc.
It was a weekend morning But now, a paradigm shift…to life-work balance. Ah, of paperwork catch-up at the how unsettling. The workplace and work itself become office. Brrinng, brrinng…the subordinate to building personal relationships and strong desk phone rang as a surprise. bonds in a shared human community. In large measure, Not courting distraction, I hesi- younger people now give precedence to building comtated answering, but…bbrrrringg!…then did anyway. monalities across fundamental human attributes—like The caller, to my good fortune, was a friend of many trust, care, and support—in far greater measure than years, office-bound exactly as I was but half a continent anything that business might present them. There are great opportunities here for the CDO away, and looking for a respite. So we talked. From shared-play lot games in Queens, New York, faced with turnover among young hires, men and we went separate ways as young adults, and then grew women, minorities and non-minorities, with or without more distant as jobs and circumstances pulled elsewhere. The workplace and work itself become Only the quirk of landing in subordinate to building personal relationships the same professional work later in our life brought us full circle, and back into con- and strong bonds in a shared human community. versation again. we ended every phone call, it seemed, with rueful reckonings of college degrees. For example, outreach based on social how we should have stayed closer, how solidly we would networking, building shared personal confidences, and have counselled each other, and the promise not to be developing extended familial traits in the workplace may offer the chance of breakthrough solutions. A comtoo-long absent from a next conversation. At goodbye, I returned my focus to my desktop, pany could grow its programs on the naturally strong where I’d been scanning a white paper about Gen X, Y bonding that diverse work candidates already bring to and Millennial’s workplace values. The paper indicated the table, enhancing shared feelings, honest dialogue, that these groups see the personal benefits of friendship and open communication. and close social bonding being far more valuable than Extending this thinking also means less focus anything the workplace might deliver. how very differ- on structured salary increases, traditional benefits, ent from my own experience, I thought, with my just- and upward mobility as ways of rewarding employees and building loyalty. The adept organization would completed phone call still fresh in my mind. I began to consider what a substantial challenge be able to provide even more personally fulfilling and this repositioning could be for CDOs. For the longest meaningful incentives on an entirely new platform of time, we’ve looked at the issues affecting diverse workers personal satisfaction with life. and a diverse working environment from a perspective I may not be a part of the new alphabet generation, of work-life balance and later as work-life integration. but the thinking sure intrigues a boomer like me. PDJ It assumes a shared notion that working is a priority, and so we’ve pondered how to use business tools— information technology, job sharing, office architecture Waste Management, Inc. is the leading provider of and more—to make the workplace a more flexible and comprehensive waste and environmental services in accommodating place for our quality hires, across gender North America. The company is strongly committed to and ethnic lines. a foundation of financial strength, operating excellence, and professionalism. 62
Pro f i les i n Di ve rsit y Journal
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