Employer considerations and the elder care phenomenon

“There are only four kinds of people in this world. Those who have been caregivers, those who are caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.” Rosalynn Carter, Former First Lady

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that in the year 2010, 54% of workforce employees will provide eldercare for a parent or parents and that nearly two-thirds of caregivers will experience conflict between demands at home and demands from employers.

Today’s employed Baby Boomers are the caregiver generation for their parents. They are finding themselves juggling care responsibilities around their employment obligations. Sometimes employees find they have no option but to take leave from work or use sick time to meet their care giving demands.

Employers also feel the toll it is taking on their employees. A report by the AARP describes the cost to employers:

“Companies are also seeing the emotional and physical toll that care giving takes on their workers. In one study, 75% of employees caring for adults reported negative health consequences, including depression, stress, panic attacks, headaches, loss of energy and sleep, weight loss, and physical pain. Businesses suffer, too, by having to pay high health insurance costs and in lost productivity. That doesn’t count the promotions or assignments workers turn down that require travel or relocation away from aging relatives."

Businesses that don’t offer benefits or address eldercare wind up paying for them. A recent study by the MetLife Market Mature Institute and the National Alliance for Care giving states that U.S. companies pay between $17.1 billion and $33.6 billion annually, depending on the level of care giving involved, on lost productivity. That equals $2,110 for every full-time worker who cares for an adult.

Eldercare cost businesses:

•                $6.6 billion to replace employees (9% left work either to take early retirement or quit)

•                Nearly $7 billion in workday interruptions (coming in late, leaving early, taking time off during the day, or spending work time on eldercare matters)

•                $4.3 billion in absenteeism" AARP

Typically, human resource departments work with employees on many issues that may affect their work productivity.  There are programs for drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, illness, absenteeism and child care; but, help with eldercare issues is not normally provided.

The AARP report follows several companies who are providing help with eldercare issues and what they are doing for their employees.

•                “Freddie Mac has a free eldercare consultant and access to subsidized aides for a relative up to 20 days.

•                Verizon Wireless offers seminars on eldercare issues and allows full-time workers 80 hours a year in back-up care, 40 hours for part-time, and $4/hour for in-home help.

•                At the Atlanta law firm Alston & Bird LLP, workers can donate vacation time to colleagues who have used up theirs to care for family members. “ AARP

A growing number of companies nationwide are directing their HR departments to provide resources; education and group help for care giving issues by:

•                Providing materials from community resources such as phone numbers to their local Senior Centers or Area Agencies on Aging.

•                Making available brochures and booklets on specific programs and services by eldercare experts

•                Providing speakers to educate employees on care giving options

•                Allowing options to use paid sick leave, employee job sharing and flexible hours

•                Allowing employee caregivers to use business computers for care giving research

•                Contracting with companies who provide eldercare services to help employees

Eldercare service providers are also reaching out to help employee caregivers by providing informational presentations at the work place during lunchtime or other times set up by employers. One such presentation provided information on reverse mortgages. Jason, who had been trying to help his parents pay for home care, learned at a work site presentation that a reverse mortgage was one way to cover caregiver expenses.

The HR Department of a local business in Utah, invited the Salt Lake Eldercare Planning Council to present a “Brown bag, Lunch and Learn” during their employees' lunch hour. In 30 minutes time, those who attended learned how the services of a Care Manger, Home Care Provider, Elder Attorney, Medicaid Planner and Financial Consultant could help with care giving decisions. Problems were discussed, questions answered and employees left armed with information and the names of professional people they knew could help them.

“This was the most productive lunch I have ever attended”, related Mary, one of the attendees.

“I had been very hesitant to contact an attorney to discuss my parents' estate, because of the cost involved.  The attorney at our 'lunch and learn' answered my few basic questions which will allow me to prepare what I need before I meet with him to finalize my parents' estate planning.”

Besides workplace help for employers and employees dealing with care giving, the Internet is also a great research tool.  The National Care Planning Council website at longtermcarelink.net is a comprehensive resource for eldercare, senior care and long term care planning.  It contains hundreds of articles on all aspects of eldercare.  Professional providers list their services on the NCPC website.  Each of their listings provides unique information on specific eldercare services and how to obtain help.

Employers, employees and eldercare service providers working together can make parent or senior care giving a workable solution for all.

Learning from Experience

Once in a great while, experience teaches us a lesson that that can only be described as an axiom or a truism. It just is. You can try to understand its origins or debate its basis in theory, but if you ask me, that’s just a waste of time. You’re better off just taking it for what it is - an empirical observation - and benefiting from its implications.

Now, I know some of this stuff straddles philosophy and psychology, but there’s a good reason for that. While they are indeed “real world” observations, they were perceived through a subjective filter - my brain - which, for better or worse, includes all kinds of strange and diverse influences.

So, while you will find elements of Taoism, Freudian theory, Ayn Rand, and “What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School”, make no mistake: they’re all practical lessons that can help your career … or even change your life:

·      If you don’t know, say so. If you don’t know what you’re talking about, stop talking.

·      Whether negotiation is strong or weak depends entirely on your goals.

·      Don’t jump ship before you hit the iceberg.

·      Anger is never about what you think you’re angry about.

·      It is; confidence comes from success, knowledge comes from failure.

·      Jerk is a subjective noun.

·      If you’re miserable, quit and do something else. If you’re still miserable, it’s you.

·      Success is based on current behavior, not past performance.

·      If you protect your domain or CYA, that’s all you’ll accomplish.

·      Thin-skinned people are actually “Thick-headed”.

·      People won’t perform for those they don’t respect.

·      If you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, you won’t be successful at it.

·      When you have problems with others, look inside yourself for answers.

·      The workplace is about business, not you.

·      Conflict is healthy; anger is not. Get some help for that.

·      No matter how smart you are, wisdom only comes from experience.

·      Whine and complain all you want; nobody gives a crap.

·      You can BS others but you really can’t BS yourself.

·      The boss isn’t always right, but she’s still the boss.

·      The customer isn’t always right, but he’s still the customer.

If any of this comes across as sort of preachy, just so you know, that’s not my intent. I’m not interested in indoctrinating anyone, just offering an opinion to help you to navigate a complex and challenging working world.

Ethical Leadership and the 21st Century CEO

Ethical leadership and principle-centered leaders apply moral and ethical standards of "right" and "wrong" -- values and virtues -- to policy development and decision-making in business, government and the non-profit sectors. Principled leadership happens when men and women of good character and integrity take the helm of an organization or enterprise and let their principles drive their actions. 

Some, like business executive John Beckett, invoke Judeo-Christian principles to guide corporate decisions and policy-making for his company and its employees. Beckett is chairman and CEO of the R.W. Beckett Corporation, the world's largest producer of oil burners, located in Elyria, Ohio. Beckett established three "enduring values" -- each based on Scripture -- to guide his company's decision-making about everything from product development and marketing to people management and compensation:

Ø  Integrity

Ø  Excellence

Ø  A Profound Respect for the Individual.

The American public is in a schizophrenic quandary over principled leadership. Many people wonder if they can really trust those who put themselves forward as ethical leaders. In moments of honest reflection we realize an inner desire for competent leaders who display moral rectitude. Not only is this a desire, it is also for many of us fundamental in our understanding of leadership.

This desire and expectation for morally driven leaders is too often crushed by those who present themselves as such, and yet prove to have a reckless disregard for a consistent, principled lifestyle. At a time when many believe we are in desperate need for persons of high ethical standards to lead us, we become immediately suspect when such persons step forward..

Our suspicions sometimes arise from hurts or wrongs that we have received as a result of placing our trust in disingenuous leaders and their misguided endeavors. Human hopes and efforts can be crushed when leaders prove themselves to be mere images of the virtues that they espouse. This breach of trust often results in an unwillingness to believe the best about any leader again; others express skepticism toward principled leaders because of a general fear of losing control. These persons see "follow ship" as an untrusting arena in which no one is to be trusted. For those who view "follow ship" in this way, even the most moral leaders are viewed as suspect and possibly threatening. Regardless of the leader’s ethical track record, the fear of losing control can often greatly tinge how others view them.

At the foundation, the cynicism that many have toward our contemporary leaders is a result of the erosion of the meaning of values in our country. Simply put, in our country, values are not near what they used to be. Whereas at the time of the founding of our nation, values were based upon universal, moral absolutes, they have gradually lost this foundation. Values have become individualized preferences that are determined by the circumstances and contexts within which one operates.

Noted historian Gertrude Himmelfarb, in her book The Demoralization of Society, puts forward the argument that there is a categorical difference between the concepts of values and virtues. She argues that "values" are based upon the "assumptions that all moral ideas are subjective and relative, that they are mere customs and conventions, that they have a purely instrumental, utilitarian purpose, and that they are peculiar to specific individuals and societies."(The Demoralization of Society, page 11).

Ms. Himmelfarb contends that the concept of "virtues" of the late 18^th and early 19^th century meant "fixed and certain standards against which behavior could and should be measured … And when conduct fell short of those standards, it was judged in moral terms, as bad, wrong or evil – not, as is more often the case today, as misguided, undesirable or ‘inappropriate’." (The Demoralization of Society, pages 12-13).

When values have been separated from a foundation of morality, they come to mean nothing because they mean everything. In a culture where all values are deemed to be equal, the notion of being a values-driven leader comes to mean very little. The basis of cynicism toward principled leaders today is a result of the diminished meaning and authority that today’s values have in our lives and in our choices.

Leadership in a society that has separated values from morality requires clear and reflective thinking. Before a leader puts him forward as an ethical leader, he would do well to determine his basis of understanding ethics and morality. Does he understand his behavior as being molded by standards of virtue and thereby evaluated by these standards? Are his life and leadership based upon moral absolutes or upon cultural and managerial expediencies?

The cynicism toward credible and ethical leaders places these leaders in a quandary of their own. How is it that one wins the trust and respect of their constituents in this age of cynicism? These leaders affirm the importance of taking time to evaluate the character, competence and commitment of those that you follow and support. And yet they also realize that in its essence, the process of leadership and "follow ship" is a process of trust.

Three thoughts that will guide those who desire to be moral and credible leaders are:

• Virtuous leadership must be demonstrated in speech and actions, publicly and privately, 24 hours a day. No leader will ever become a spotless moral paragon. And yet each must be committed to doing what it takes to do what is right. What a leader does in private does matter, and will decrease or increase his scope of influence.
• The test of time is compelling; it also builds patience and in some, a rich humility. Time proves both the value of one’s virtues and the consistency with which they are displayed. Time is the acid test that determines the credibility and morality of any leader.
• Media exposure is of limited value in putting forward and establishing one’s virtue. The establishment of one’s moral authority is a result of building a credible reputation in a relatively small culture. From this culture there is the chance of multiplied influence as one’s reputation becomes legendary.

The antidote to cynicism is reality. It is the challenge of every leader today to put forward the reality of a life that is built around virtuous standards. This will be a lifelong process of personal and spiritual reckoning. And in this process there is the possibility of becoming the kind of leader that we so desperately need.

The Business Calamity Prevention & Recovery Program

A Business Disaster is defined as a sudden, unplanned, severe interruption of normal business activities.  How will your business react and perform when disaster strikes?

Business calamities are not just associated with your computer systems.  A Business Recovery program not only includes the IT aspects of your business but also the entire organization’s function and behavior.

We like to start with a Business Impact Analysis (BIA). In a BIA, we help your company estimate the impact of an interruption on its income, employees, customers and its reputation. We collect this information through meetings with managers, interviews with employees, and by distributing questionnaires to selected individuals. Questionnaires can be distributed in print, by email or on the Internet.

It is essential to estimate Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Minimum Operating Requirements (MOR) during the Business Impact Analysis. These help to determine which continuity strategy would be best for the recovery of each business activity or department. Strategies might include moving to another location, delaying the performance of some tasks, or transferring some work to another office.

We can help your company's executives estimate impact and recovery requirements in as little as one morning or afternoon meeting.

Some companies then want to identify and quantify the potential threats to their businesses. That process is called a Risk Analysis (RA). In risk analysis, we examine threats into three (3) categories: natural threats, technical threats and human threats. A threat can be a power failure, a sprinkler discharge, a software virus or the loss of a big customer, for examples. Many companies already know their most likely threats.

We assess risk by estimating the likelihood that selected threats will happen to your business, and estimating the impact on your business if those threats were to happen. Some threats have a low likelihood of occurrence, but a very high impact if they occur. Others are more likely, but have lower impact on your business when they happen. Our experience as professional planners adds significant value to the process of helping your company decide which of the many possible risks your business continuity plan (BCP) should address.

When we know the risks and the impact, we propose appropriate continuity strategies to meet the cost-benefit and recovery time requirements you have approved during the BIA process. Having a recovery site is often recommended, especially for IT systems. Suspending some parts of your business temporarily may also be an appropriate strategy. Serving customers and receiving revenue are always top priorities.

Then we write a plan based on your business objectives and the continuity strategies your company chooses. We write your plans using software you choose; we can even publish your company's BCP on a private BCP intranet web site for your company, which we setup and maintain for you.

To prepare your BCP, we ask questions like:

•                What could go wrong? What are the possible threats to your facilities and business functions?

•                What is likely to go wrong? How could you reduce the risk of something going wrong?

•                If something went wrong, how would it affect your business?

•                What are the best continuity strategies to achieve your Recovery Time Objectives? For example, if you want customers to be able to reach you by telephone within one (1) day after a disaster, have you selected an appropriate strategy for your telephone system to make that possible?

•                Is your plan in writing?

•                Is your plan available to all employees?

•                Has your company practiced or tested your BCP in the last six (6) months?

For more information and initial analysis please contact me stevehomola@gmail.com, we can assist your business in a smooth, continuous operation regardless of the unforeseen events in your business life.

Business Goals & Objectives

We all know that nothing runs without a plan, and a plan cannot run without having its objectives set.

That applies to any kind of plan, whether we're talking business or personal finances, university degrees or NGO programs, website promotion or weight loss.

Setting objectives and milestones is of crucial importance for any planning activity and is the core of its success, or failure. 
Knowing how to set objectives is not exactly rocket science in terms of complexity, but any strategist should know the basic rules of how to formulate and propose objectives. We will see in this article why objectives play such a major role within a company's planning and strategic activities, how they influence all business processes, and we will review some guidelines of setting objectives.

The Importance of Setting Objectives

One might wonder why we need to establish objectives in the first place, why not let the company or a specific activity just run smoothly into the future and see where it gets. That would be the case only if we really do not care whether the activity in discussion will be successful or not: but then, to use a popular saying, "if something deserves to be performed, then it deserves to be performed well". In other words, if we don't care for the results, we should not proceed with the action at all.

Setting objectives before taking any action is the only right thing to do, for several reasons:

- It gives a target to aim to, therefore all actions and efforts will be focused on attaining the objective instead of being inefficiently used;

- Gives participants a sense of direction, a glimpse of where they're going to;

- Motivates the leaders and their teams, since it is quite the custom of establishing some sort of reward once the team successfully completed a project;

- Offers the support in evaluating the success of an action or project.

The 5 Rules of Setting Objectives: Be SMART!

I am sure most managers and leaders know what SMART stands for, well, at least when it comes of establishing objectives. However, I have seen some of them who cannot fully explain the five characteristics of a good-established objective - things are somehow blurry and confused in their minds. Since they can't explain in details what SMART objectives really are, it is highly doubtful that they will always be able to formulate such objectives.

It is still unclear from where the confusion comes: perhaps there are too many sources of information, each of them with a slightly different approach upon what a SMART objective really is; or perhaps most people only briefly "heard" about it and they never get to reach the substance behind the packaging.

Either way, let us try to uncover the meaning of the SMART acronym and see how we can formulate efficient objectives. 
SMART illustrates the 5 characteristics of an efficient objective; it stands for Specific - Measurable - Attainable - Relevant - Timely.

1. Be SPECIFIC!

When it comes of business planning, "specific" illustrates a situation that is easily identified and understood. It is usually linked to some mathematical determinant that imprints a specific character to a given action: most common determinants are numbers, ratios and fractions, percentages, frequencies. In this case, being "specific" means being "precise".

Example: when you tell your team "I need this report in several copies", you did not provide the team with a specific instruction. It is unclear what the determinant "several" means: for some it can be three, for some can be a hundred. A much better instruction would sound like "I need this report in 5 copies" - your team will know exactly what you expect and will have less chances to fail in delivering the desired result.

2. Be MEASURABLE!

When we say that an objective, a goal, must be measurable, we mean there is a stringent need to have the possibility to measure, to track the action(s) associated with the given objective.

We must set up a distinct system or establish clear procedures of how the actions will be monitored, measured and recorded. If an objective and the actions pertaining to it cannot be quantified, it is most likely that the objective is wrongly formulated and we should reconsider it.

Example: "our business must grow" is an obscure, non-measurable objective. What exactly should we measure in order to find out if the objective was met? But if we change it to "our business must grow in sales volume with 20%", we've got one measurable objective: the measure being the percentage sales rise from present moment to the given moment in the future. We can calculate this very easy, based on the recorded sales figures.

3. Be ATTAINABLE!

Some use the term "achievable" instead of "attainable", which you will see it is merely a synonym and we should not get stuck in analyzing which one is correct. Both are.

It is understood that each leader will want his company / unit to give outstanding performances; this is the spirit of competition and such thinking is much needed. However, when setting objectives, one should deeply analyze first the factors determining the success or failure of these objectives. Think of your team, of your capacities, of motivation: are they sufficient in order for the objectives to be met? Do you have the means and capabilities to achieve them?

Think it through and be honest and realistic to yourself: are you really capable of attaining the goals you've set or are you most likely headed to disappointment? Always set objectives that have a fair chance to be met: of course, they don't need to be "easily" attained, you're entitled to set difficult ones as long as they're realistic and not futile.

Example: you own a newborn movers company and you set the objective of "becoming no. 1 movers within the state". The problem is you only have 3 trucks available, while all your competitors have 10 and up. Your goal is not attainable; try instead a more realistic one, such as "reaching the Top 5 fastest growing movers company in the state".

4. Be RELEVANT!

This notion is a little more difficult to be perceived in its full meaning; therefore we will start explaining it by using an example in the first place.

Imagine you going to the IT department and telling them they need to increase the profit to revenue ratio by 5%. They will probably look at you in astonishment and mumble something undistinguished about managers and the way they mess up with people's minds.

Can you tell what is wrong with the objective above? Of course! The IT department has no idea what you were talking about and there's nothing they can do about it - their job is to develop and maintain your computerized infrastructure, not to understand your economic speech. What you can do it setting an objective that the IT department can have an impact upon, and which will eventually lead to the increase you wanted in the first place. What about asking them to reduce expenditures for hardware and software by 10% monthly and be more cautious with the consumables within their department by not exceeding the allocated budget? They will surely understand what they need to do because the objective is relevant for their group.

Therefore, the quality of an objective to be "relevant" refers to setting appropriate objectives for a given individual or team: you need to think if they can truly do something about it or is it irrelevant for the job they perform.

5. Be TIMELY!

Not much to discuss about this aspect, since it is probably the easiest to be understood and applied.

Any usable and performable objective must have a clear timeframe of when it should start and/or when it should end. Without having a timeframe specified, it is practically impossible to say if the objective is met or not.

For example, if you just say, "we need to raise profit by 500000 units", you will never be able to tell if the objective was achieved or not, one can always say, "Well, we'll do it next year". Instead, if you say "we need to raise profit by 500000 units within 6 months from now", anyone can see in 6 months if the goal was attained or not. Without a clear, distinct timeframe, no objective is any good.