Human Resources: Notes from NYC Work-Life Conference

First Impression
I saw a lot of hugging going on as I strolled around the opening-night cocktail reception at the Sixth Annual 100 Best Companies Work-Life Congress. Consequently, I thought, "Oh, that´s too bad. I´m not going to get much hard-core Work-Life balance information from this conference. It´s just going to be a lot of motivational Dr. Phil stuff."

I was way off base.

The conference, hosted by Working Mother Media, was all about cold, hard cash. It was held earlier this month in New York City and absolutely filled with back-to-back speakers who discussed such practical issues as, "Is Work-Life Really Working?" and "The Dollars and Sense of Maintaining Work-Life Initiatives in a Tough Economy."

Seminars
The president and CEO of Working Mother Media, Carol Evans, welcomed everyone to the conference and mentioned the silent auction, the early morning "Yoga & Yogurt" sessions, and the three different tracks of seminars each day.

The first track was entitled "Work-Life Startup Strategies" and included topics such as starting a childcare center and how to make a business case for flextime. There was also a problem-solving roundtable on this track. The second track included strategies for the advancement of women and a debate about whether Work-Life benefits help or hinder female advancement. "Work-Life and the Bottom Line," the third track, contained the best seminar in the conference: attendees received various tips about how to set up free (or almost free) Work-Life programs. During that track we also learned how to measure the impact of flexible options.

On the final day of the conference, the tracks covered Work-Life in a 24/7 technical society; diversity, homosexuality and globalization in regards to Work-Life; and the latest in dependent benefits.

The majority of the seminars focused on how to make the most of what is available in your company, how to figure out which programs will save your company the most money and how to prove how much money Work-Life programs can save.

Keynotes
There were several interesting keynote speakers. Particularly riveting was Marilyn Carlson Nelson, the CEO and chair of Carlson Companies and the chair of the National Women´s Business Council. She opened the conference with "Perspective on the Advancement of Women" and discussed the problems she experienced establishing a name for herself in a traditionally male sector. (For instance, earlier in her career she was asked to sign her correspondence "M.C. Nelson" so no one would know she was a woman.) She also spoke about her difficulties moving up in the family business while trying to balance the needs of her family.

Another dynamic keynote speaker was Pegine Echevarria, who is a management consultant and an author. She is also a comedienne, and her hilarious luncheon session about playing with the "big boys" had everyone up and out of their seats.

Sponsors
The conference was sponsored by no less that 37 high-caliber companies, such as General Electric, Kodak, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Prudential Financial, Merrill Lynch, Discovery, MetLife, Bayer, Dupont, SAS, MasterCard, and New York Life. Clearly, Work-Life balance is an issue that is considered so serious that large companies are willing to spend time and money on it.

Conclusion
In the end, I realized that the conference was actually very motivational, but in a different way than I had anticipated. Most of the attendees I spoke with were excited about getting back to work to start incorporating the tips gathered at the conference.

If you are responsible for Work-Life programs at your company, you may find it worthwhile to attend next year. Overall, the Sixth Annual 100 Best Companies Work-Life Congress was a very informative, practical, "down-to-brass-tacks" approach to Work-Life balance that focused on women in the workplace. And it was wrapped up on the last night with just a few goodbye hugs.

For more information, go to www.worklifecongress.com, or contact Carmen Nieves at carmen.nieves[at]workingmother.com or 212 351 6411.