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By Rosalind Stefanac
Photography: Corey Mihailiuk
 ARE FLEXIBLE WORK OPTIONS HELPING CAS STRIKE A BALANCE BETWEEN PERSONAL AND BUSINESS DEMANDS?
Sergio Topatigh is making his way through the day's to-do list. Next up: buy groceries. When he gets to the store it's practically empty — not unusual for a Monday morning — so he spends a bit of extra time choosing the freshest fruits and vegetables for his sons, Jacob, 7, and six-year-old twins Shawn and Derek. They deserve the best, after all. Continuing down the list, he'll drop off the groceries at home, pick up the kids from school and prepare their lunch. It won't be anything fancy, maybe soup or peanut butter sandwiches or just a plate of veggies and dip. It doesn't matter, the boys like everything dad makes — and they like having him home with them even better.
Topatigh isn't on holiday — this is his daily routine. In 1998, he left a small accounting firm in Georgetown, Ont., to become a stay-at-home dad, a post he doesn't expect to leave in the foreseeable future. "Where am I going to find a job where I can bring my kids home for lunch?" says the 38-year-old CA.
The arrangement wasn't part of a grand plan for Topatigh; he initially took a 10-week paternity leave after the birth of his twin sons and tried to go back to the firm part time. "I'd be at work but always looking at the clock to see what time I was going home to be with the kids," he says. That's when he decided to leave his job, to the shock of CA friends and colleagues. "Now they have kids and see how precious time is," he says.
Topatigh's situation may be unique, but his quest for life balance certainly isn't. A 2002 study by US-based staffing service OfficeTeam reported that 32% of employees said balancing business and personal demands was their No. 1 career concern, above job security and salary. Similarly, a recent North American study, The Next Generation: Today's Professionals, Tomorrow's Leaders, by Catalyst showed that 67% of Generation X professionals (born between 1964 and 1975) would like a compressed work week, and 59% would like to telecommute.
 "The statistics have come out hard and clear that this generation expects to have a life outside of the office," says Susan Black, vice-president of Catalyst, a nonprofit research and advisory organization that focuses on women in business. "They're saying they're not going to work 100 hours [a week] to make it to the top." Black credits this shift in work-life expectations to a rise in dual-career families where both spouses want to play an equal role in parenting and younger workers who have lost their jobs or were privy to the wide-scale layoffs of their parents in the early 1990s. "The classic promise that an employer will take care of you if you're loyal is gone, and that makes people look at things differently," she says.
Baby boomers have their own reasons for wanting a new work model — some hope to scale back their hours instead of taking early retirement, and many others face the demands of caring for aging parents. The latter is a growing concern; according to Roy Romanow's 2002 report on the future of healthcare in Canada, up to 90% of care needs of the country's elderly are addressed by informal caregivers, such as family and friends, who often require time away from their jobs to provide the necessary care at home.
Of course, the quest for a greater balance between work and home life is nothing new. Many companies — including the large CA firms — initiated flexible work policies a number of years ago to address the issue. The question is, are these policies actually helping people achieve that coveted balance, or are more employees taking Topatigh's lead and leaving the workplace?
According to the 2003 edition of Canada's Top 100 Employers, some CA firms are doing a good job meeting the changing needs of their employees. Ernst & Young, Mintz & Partners and KPMG all earned spots in the book in part for having flexible work options. Similarly, US magazine Working Mother put Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers in its annual (unranked) list of 100 best companies for working mothers in 2002. (All of these companies have been on the list for at least four years, and Deloitte & Touche tops the group at a consecutive nine years.) The firms accrued points based on the types and use of benefits offered, with particular weight given to flexible scheduling, advancement of women in upper management and time off for new parents.
These results indicate that work-life balance is a key perk in an industry where you can fix your own schedule. "This is a profession that can easily accommodate flexible arrangements, especially in the type of work I do," says Lynn Pratt, a partner with Deloitte & Touche's assurance and advisory group in Ottawa who works a five-day week but leaves early each day. "My clients know I'm available until 4 p.m., and if they want to reach me they'll call me in the morning."
Pratt, who has been with Deloitte & Touche for the past 13 years, says she faced no resistance from her employer when she opted for a flex arrangement in 1999 after the birth of her twin boys. She hopes to stay at the 80% schedule for the rest of her career because of the better balance it provides. "I have plenty of work — the arrangement doesn't reduce my commitment to my clients — but I'm also available to my children," she says, adding that the flexibility allows her to attend her children's doctor appointments, gymnastic sessions and parent-teacher interviews. "I have the best of both worlds."
Many working women share Pratt's view. A 2001 Canadian study by market research firm Pollara Inc. revealed that 47% of female executives considered leaving their jobs to have a better work-life balance, and four in 10 said the impact on personal life was the most important factor in considering a new job.
Women, however, aren't the only ones choosing flexible work schedules. Men's expectations surrounding work-life balance have changed dramatically in the past 10 years, says Black. "When we first started studying this in a systematic way, women would say work-life balance was difficult to achieve more than men did," she recalls. "Now we see men saying it's just as difficult." In the Catalyst study, 79% of men and 86% of women listed a loving family as a primary goal, followed by enjoying life. "The concerns are the same across genders," says Black.
Take Mike Castelino, for example. The 54-year-old principal in tax at Ernst & Young's Montreal office started working a four-day week in 2001 after deciding 35 years of working full time was more than enough for him. "I came to the realization that once I die I'm not coming back so I might as well enjoy myself while I still can," he says. In fact, he made his intentions for a flex arrangement known to his employer when he joined the firm full time in 1997. "I knew my wife would be retiring in three or four years and I would want to start cutting back," he says. "They had no issue with it then and when the time came it was no surprise."
Castelino says his colleagues have been nothing but supportive. "They don't interfere with me on my day off [Friday] and even if they leave a message they always say it can wait until Monday," he says. The arrangement is working out so well he is considering dropping another day later this year, partly to indulge in one of his favourite passions: golf. And when he's not golfing? "I go shopping or have lunch with my wife or nap," says Castelino. "Being able to take an hour nap in the afternoon is a godsend."
Yet despite statistics favouring work-life balance — and individual cases like those already mentioned — the majority of big firms report less than 10% of staff practising flexible work arrangements. "It's very easy to set up a policy, put it in the employee handbook and tell everyone about it," says Black. "But does it get used and does it give you the results you were hoping it would have?"
In addition to financial constraints, Black says employees' resistance to try such arrangements could be indicative of the nature of an industry that thrives on billable hours. "It's challenging for CAs or anyone who has billable hours because everything is driven by the amount of time you put in," she says, adding that technology is only fueling the 24/7 business phenomenon through the use of e-mail, voicemail and handheld computers. "The tendency is to say everyone has to be available at
all times and we need to figure out how to help managers get a handle on this communication overload that's making work-life balance difficult."
It's also up to employees to educate their superiors about their work-life balance needs, says career coach Karen Graham, owner of Panacea Coaching and consulting Inc. in Coldwater, Ont. "I think we [as employees] place unrealistic expectations on ourselves and, by doing so, tell colleagues and employers that it's OK to keep piling on work and expecting us to be chained to our desks," she says. "We need to learn to say no, delegate, negotiate and generally stand up for ourselves."
She recalls one 30-something CA client in a senior comptroller role at a multinational company who was "miserable and stressed" about working long hours and having little time for herself. Graham encouraged her to focus on self care — getting away from the office for lunch, booking massages, listening to calming music in her car, reconnecting with friends, making time for dates with her husband and paring back on nonessential activities.
"She experimented with leaving work early and discovered that the world didn't crumble around her," says Graham, who often asks clients to remember their last vacation and how incredibly productive they were the week leading up to it. "Knowing that we're going to leave work for a while really focuses us on what's important and increases our effectiveness."
Still, the bottom line for any business is satisfied customers. John Gunn, national human resources partner with Grant Thornton in Toronto, says trying to balance the employee's needs with the client's demands is the biggest challenge he faces when it comes to arranging flexible work schedules. "You have to think about how the client will be served when you're not there," he says. "The employees who are really adamant about protecting their personal lives tend to leave rather than make it work because it takes a lot of effort." He admits that flex arrangements aren't handed out on a silver platter either. "We want to work with [employees] on this. It's up to us both to come up with a win/win situation because if clients aren't well served it's not going to work."
Helen Mallovy Hicks, a partner in the valuation and strategy advisory group at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Toronto, understands the importance of that win/win situation: many of her clients have no idea that she works a reduced week because she's always there for them as much as they need her to be — and the ones that do are completely receptive to the arrangement. "If you're committed to what you're going to get out of it, you're going to make every effort to make it work," she says.
The challenge, says Mallovy Hicks, is keeping the work level at 80% — because that's all she's getting paid for. In fact, when an opportunity came up to do some interesting consulting work, she left PwC in the hopes of having more control over her hours. What she discovered, however, was that she missed the support of working in a large firm.
"When you're on your own and the phone rings you generally have to say yes because you don't know when the next job will come," she says. As a result, the extra time she anticipated spending with her children never materialized and she came back to PwC three years later. "I was better off working a flex arrangement in a large firm where there are plenty of other professionals to balance the work and a broader base of competent people to share the workload."
Mallovy Hicks admits that arrangements like hers take time to gain acceptance, even in large organizations where policies are in place. When she initially
re-entered the workforce after the birth of her first child, she was put on the "mummy track," which meant the high-priority and interesting work was passed on to employees who could put in the long hours and travel time. "But the second time I came back I brought a lot of skills to the table, with a better understanding of how to make it work for everyone," she says. "I have no set schedule and I also have people to fill in [with the kids] when needed."
Firms recognize that there is a learning curve for new work arrangements, and are trying to change outdated attitudes. For example, Ernst & Young distributes an annual survey to partners, principals and directors that provides feedback on issues including alternate work arrangements. "We give coaching and assistance to anyone who needs support fostering an open and flexible work environment," says Lynn Healey, director of diversity at Ernst & Young. "For some, it may take guidance because things aren't being done in a way they're used to."
Lynn Wilson, director of leadership and organizational effectiveness at Ernst & Young, says the firm also endorses flex hours at all levels and ensures people aren't penalized for going off the beaten track for a while. "We've actually promoted people on flex arrangements. We make sure those promotions are based on merit and something like a parental leave isn't going to figure into it," she says.
 The fear of being passed over for promotion is certainly understandable in an industry where making partner is the ultimate goal. But it can be done. Georgina Tollstam, a CA at KPMG's tax division in North York, Ont., was promoted to partner while on a four-day week. While she admits to being a pioneer, starting a flex arrangement back in 1985, she now boasts having up to 15% of her staff on reduced-week schedules, including several men. "We had one man working four days a week for a two-year period because he had a young family," she says, adding that two other employees without children have also requested flex arrangements. "If you're a valued employee, we will entertain any good reason because employees are our brain power."
With two teenagers at home, Tollstam says her arrangement suits her life perfectly. On her day off she can attend her children's sporting events, run errands or simply relax in front of the TV. "My day off is never structured because then it would be too much like work," she says. "I have time for my family and a bit of time for myself."
Of course, shortened work weeks aren't the answer for everyone —Topatigh decided to leave his firm even after attempting a part-time arrangement. For him, there was another solution. Today, in addition to serving 15 to 20 clients out of his home, he goes back to his old firm about once a week on a consultant basis. Even so, it's the simple pleasures of family life — like watching his sons hit their first baseballs or lose their first tooth — which bring him the most fulfilment, says Topatigh. "I'm not sure if I will ever go back to the rat race."
Rosalind Stefanac is a Toronto-based writer and editor
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Firm options
A look at some of the popular flex arrangements and formal policies at the larger CA firms
Deloitte & Touche
• Flex time, part time, leaves of absence, alternative work arrangements (three-day weeks, telecommuting) allowing up to a 40% reduction in hours
• The ART initiative (advancement and retention of talented people), which was launched in 1998 to make work-life harmony a key component of corporate culture
Ernst & Young
• Reduced schedule, compressed work week, short-term seasonal leave, telecommuting
• Formal flex arrangements are used by 8% of North American employees
• A company-wide database created five years ago provides information on approximately 600 employees who are on successful flexible work schedules
KPMG
• Flex time, part time, telecommuting, compressed work weeks
PricewaterhouseCoopers
• Compressed and partial weeks that are 60% to 90% of regular work week (used by 5% of the firm's Canadian workforce), flex time, leaves of absence
• "More nights at home" approach to business travel: staff is encouraged to work certain hours so that fewer days are spent out of town, if feasible; or firm will pick up travel tab of spouse or friend who wants to join an employee staying out of town for business over the weekend
Grant Thornton
• Flex time, part time, short-term/seasonal arrangements | |
