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American accounting firms lead the way in providing flexible work arrangements. Flex policies saved Deloitte more than $45 million a year by reducing turnover, while PricewaterhouseCoopers’ estimated turnover dropped to 15 percent a year, from 24 percent. “Every night, our assets walk out the door and go home,” said James S. Turley, Ernst & Young’s CEO.  “And we need to be the kind of place that they want to come back to the next day.”

If these companies can operate flex programs—even during tax season—and find it good for their bottom line, why can’t all of corporate America follow suit? More details on the benefits of flex—plus news about women in tech (or the lack thereof), gender bias in India, discrimination claims in the United States, and Canada’s top earners—in today’s C This.

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Web 2.0 Lacks Women

Facebook and Twitter have revolutionized the way we communicate, but their boards look like they’re straight out of the Ma’ Bell era. These two Web 2.0 behemoths—not to mention Foursquare, Groupon, and Zynga—do not have any women on their boards. The women are out there: Oracle and Google have two women on board, while Yahoo has three. Women rule the social web, so shouldn’t they be on the boards of the companies that serve them?

READ: “The Men and No Women of Web 2.0 Boards,” by Kara Swisher, Wall Street Journal, 12/21/11

“The Ultimate Boy’s Club”

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’s list of Canada’s 100 best-paid CEOs includes only men. The dearth of women on the list reflects the lack of female corporate leaders in Canada. In our most recent Census, Catalyst found that 19 of Canada’s top 500 businesses were run by just 16 women. According to Deborah Gillis, Vice President, Membership & Global Operations, Catalyst, Canadian companies have a lot to lose by overlooking half of the population. “This is a talent issue,” she said. “No organization wants to be playing with half the deck.”

READ: “No Women in Best-Paid CEO Club … At Least Not Yet,” by Josh Rubin, Toronto Star, 1/8/11

The Bottom Line on Workplace Flex

Accounting firms estimate that the cost of hiring and training a new employee in their industry can be 1.5 times a departing worker’s salary, so reducing turnover by 200 employees saves roughly $30 million. Workplace flexibility programs are the key to reducing turnover. “Some businesses treat flexibility as just a set of policies—if we put policies on the books, that’s all we need,” said Kathleen E. Christensen, director of workplace flex programs at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “But what you really need is to have those policies embedded in the way work is done, and that’s what a lot of accounting firms have done.”

READ: “Flex Time Flourishes in Accounting Industry,” by Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, 1/7/11

Re-think in India

Patna High Court Chief Justice Rekha M. Doshit—the first woman to hold this office—said that laws alone cannot end gender bias in India. According to Doshit, “there are several provisions in our Constitution aimed at empowering women, but they are hardly able to make any perceptible difference in our behaviour.” What’s needed, she said, is an attitudinal change to wipe out the root causes of gender bias.

READ: “Laws Alone Cannot End Gender Bias: CJ,” by B. K. Mishra, The Times of India, 1/10/11

Discrimination Spikes, But Why?

Accusations of workplace discrimination in the United States spiked last year to 99,922 claims made to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission—an increase of 7.2 percent from the previous year. The largest increase in claims came from people who said they had been discriminated against due to disability. But experts cautioned that the increase may stem from an expansion of the legal definition of “disability” or tied to more employees challenging their termination amid the recession.

READ: “More Workers Complain of Bias on the Job, a Trend Linked to Widespread Layoffs,” by Catherine Rampell, The New York Times, 1/11/11

To mark the end of 2010—and my final Catalyzing post until January 2011—I asked my colleagues at Catalyst what they wish for in the days ahead for women and work. Here are Catalyst’s top ten wishes for 2011:

We wish for…

10. Inclusive, agile work cultures that reward results rather than face-time.

9. Companies around the world to “get it” that more women in senior positions can improve financial performance.

8. Men to champion and sponsor the many talented women they work alongside, question the tyranny of macho norms, take more responsibility for child-rearing and the division of labor at home, and  become truly equal partners to women.

7. An acknowledgment that women are the key to solving the world’s problems.

6. Managers to accept and celebrate the career commitment of mothers returning from maternity leave.

5. Headline writers to actually link headlines to story content—instead of writing unrelated, misleading, or “sexy” headlines that do not reflect the more thoughtful points in the article.

4. An end to the false notion that women don’t help each other advance in the workplace.

3. The realization that diversity is not a zero sum game—women, men, families, business, and the economy have a lot to gain from inclusive workplaces.

2. Equal pay for equivalent work—eliminate the gender pay gap once and for all! 

1. More optimism from both women and men who doubt that all this change is possible.

What do you want to see in 2011 for women and business? Let me know in the comments below!

Almost every weekday morning, messages with the subject “W@H” sprinkle my work email. In Catalyst-speak, this means “working from home today.” While emails like these might spike the blood pressure of managers at other organizations, for me, every “W@H” email is an indicator of just how streamlined and agile our workforce is.

Working from home works—it’s a win-win for employees and companies.

OK, full disclosure: I’m an early adopter. Working from home (and on the road) in 1993, I quickly learned that when the job keeps you on the go, you can keep working. Even back then, I was able to connect seamlessly to my company’s network and keep track of my calendar, emails, files, and databases. Technology has progressed since—sharing voice messages, video, and data has never been cheaper and faster. The technology is here, but many companies are not.

There is still a mindset that dictates shared space, four walls, in-person meetings, and all the trappings of face-time-driven, mid-century corporate America.  Especially in this global economy, why does this still exist?

Some companies have learned the hard way—during snowstorms or other disasters—just how crippling a rigid office-based organization can be. Even without these unexpected events, the reality of an everyday commute should inspire change toward flexibility. In the United States, employees spend an average of 49 minutes getting to and from work each day. Talk about a waste of productivity—and personal time. The total amount of time spent commuting each year is longer than most people’s annual vacation!

The emphasis at Catalyst is not on face-time, but results and getting work done effectively and efficiently. Offering the option to ditch the daily commute is good for a company’s bottom line too—many organizations have saved millions by rethinking and reducing their office space. And Catalyst research suggests that working from home can boost motivation. More satisfied employees translates into lower turnover and, potentially, higher customer satisfaction. Driving less also lowers stress, improves health, and helps the environment.

Some countries are realizing the value of W@H. On November 24, 2010, Canadians celebrated their first National Work From Home Day. As my colleague Deborah Gillis said on her blog to mark the occasion: “When our team is productive—conducting research, planning events, and serving our members across the country—it really doesn’t matter whether we’re working from a house in the suburbs, or the office an hour’s drive away.”

I couldn’t agree more. The only question is: why promote just one day a year to work from home? In today’s 24/7 global economy, the virtual worker has become a business necessity—not just a nicety. Companies that fail to update their work model will be left behind.

Strike up the band! ForbesWoman called Catalyzing “an insightful blog,” and named it and the Catalyst website to its roster of the top 100 websites for women. Toronto hosted an inaugural G(irls) 20 Summit. Australia swore in its first female Prime Minister. Good news galore in this edition, but alas that isn’t the whole story. Read on for the not-so-good developments!

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Best of the Best

We’re five months old and going strong. ForbesWoman rounded up the best 100 websites for working women, and Catalyzing and the Catalyst website made the cut. “We looked for compelling and decidedly female-oriented content, outstanding design, an active community and frequent updates,” wrote ForbesWoman. A big thank you to the magazine and to readers like you!

READ: “Top 100 Websites for Women,” by Meghan Casserly and Jenna Goudreau, ForbesWoman, 6/23/10

Diversity Down Under

Australia swore in its first female Prime Minister, but gender equality still has a long way to go. “Just look at the upper echelons of business, the military, the churches and the federal public service, and you will see that women are as rare in these arenas as female prime ministers once were,” writes Anne Summers. “Now this barrier is broken, perhaps it is time to address the others.”

READ: “Historic Moment, but Barriers Remain for Half the Population,” by Anne Summers, The Age, 6/25/10

Girls Speak Up

Twenty-one girls representing each of the G20 nations and one from the African Union gathered in Toronto to discuss ways to fulfill United Nations goals that impact women and girls. “I would ask the leaders of the G20 nations to reduce the arms expenditures and instead use it for education,” said Aiki Segawa, the representative from Japan. Will the G20 leaders listen?

READ: “Girls Talk–Are G20 Leaders Listening?” by Craig and Marc Kielburger, Toronto Star, 6/21/10

Work and Life

Is it really about balance? For Judith Timson, the issue is the “separation” between work and the rest of life. “And here,” she writes, “no matter what stage we’re at, we’re failing.”

READ: “Work-life Balance? Can that Cliché,” by Judith Timson, Globe and Mail, 6/17/10

Tuning Out Women

According to American University’s Women & Politics Institute, female lawmakers have comprised 13.5% of the Sunday news show appearances by representatives and senators in 2010. Does the overrepresentation of men on the shows contribute to a tendency to “think-leader-think-male”?

READ: “Women Scarce on Sunday Shows,” by Erika Lovley, Politico, 6/13/10

Bridging the Gap

Long live the gender pay gap! “When the Equal Pay Act passed, women earned, on average, 60 cents for every dollar earned by men,” writes Linda Meric, Executive Director of 9to5 National Association of Working Women. “In the 47 years that have passed, the pay gap has closed by less than less than 20 cents.”

READ: “On 47th Anniversary, the Equal Pay Act Must Finally Live Up to its Name,” by Linda Meric, Huffington Post, 6/10/10

“If you want to understand the past, look at current conditions,” said PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi at last night’s Catalyst Awards Dinner, quoting an old Chinese proverb. “But if you want to understand the future, look at today’s actions.”

All the great speeches and conversations about the Award-winning gender initiatives from Campbell Soup, Deloitte, RBC, and Telstra demonstrated a bright future for women in business. A lot of work remains to be done, but I left The Waldorf last night knowing we were a little closer to gender parity in business leadership.

The day was filled with engaging, inspirational, and sometimes hilarious moments. I appreciated the down-to-earth advice on men championing women from Frank McCloskey, Vice President of Diversity at Georgia Power. “It’s a manager’s obligation to create a work environment where everyone is valued,” he told a standing-room crowd. “I hope y’all change your culture—if not, we’ll take your people,” he jibed.

Later that day, Irene Chang Britt, President of Campbell Soup, North America, discussed her views on work-life. Like me, she does not like to use the word “balance.” She prefers the term: “work-life integration.” After all, she said, “We’re all nuts if we think we’re balanced.”

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A CEO on Catalyst’s Board of Directors recently told me, “The business world is 24/7/365—people are not.”  In managing her employees, she works from that mindset. She places more value on their levels of engagement and productivity and less emphasis on the hours they log at their desks.

Why is it that so many people consider this an issue of “work-life balance?” I don’t like to use the word “balance” because it infers that equilibrium is the norm and puts the onus of achieving that equilibrium squarely on the shoulders of the individual. I am not alone—many others have abandoned the untenable concept of “balance.” As noted by working dad and blogger, Paul Nyhan, in an online chat last year:

“The word I think is needed is rhythm. I have said work-life balance is a crock, and what I aspire to is a sense of rhythm, there will be crazy busy times and quieter times, but having the tools and flexibility to gain a rhythm to balancing work and family.”

Over the years, Catalyst has developed a workforce approach we call WLE, short for “work-life effectiveness.” Our reports on WLE—Making Change—Beyond Flexibility I, Making Change—Beyond Flexibility II, and Making Change: Building a Flexible Workplace—outline a team-based approach that shifts the traditional request for flexibility from “me” to an organizational tool for “us.” At its core, WLE recognizes that people who work have lives outside of work. Pretty cutting edge, no?

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