“Work/Life Balance is a terrible term,” says Jack Welch. The term should be “work/life choices.” Different choices are not bad choices, but we need to recognize that there are choices and that the choices have consequences.
Welch, former head of GE and a staunch supporter of HR, made his remarks at the recent Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Conference and Exposition in New Orleans.
As to the specific issue of women who take time off for children and then want to return to the workforce, Welch said, “In my experience, it’s rare for someone to stop for a period of years—go off-track—and then come back and rise to the top.” They can have good careers after they come back, but they will not likely achieve the top ranks, he said.
How about the need for estrogen?
How about the need for estrogen? asked Claire Shipman, who moderated the session. “There are indicators that diverse groups make better decisions,” he responded.
Mentoring—’The Worst Idea’
Mentoring is “The worst idea ever to come down the pike,” Welch said. “You could end up with someone who is unliked, or someone who’s a horse’s ass.”
His advice is to look at everyone as a teacher and pick up bits from here and there. “I was a PhD chemical engineer, and I just figured it out,” he said. “I read everything and talked to everybody.”
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Excuses
Welch said that some people’s excuse for why other managers get what they want is that “The CEO likes them.” No, said Welch, that’s not the reason. “They know how to handle the CEO. There’s a difference.”
To get that strategic seat that HR managers crave, said Welch, “One word—overdeliver.” Make your bosses look smarter, he said.
“In my companies, my corporate HR person gets the company HR managers together with their CEOs and boards every few months,” Welch said. “I make it happen.”
Times Are Changing
“Take a look at your compensation program,” said Welch. “I guarantee it’s stale, probably written in 2007.” Welch was incensed when he saw a fellow MIT professor using teaching notes that were 4 years old. “How can that be?” he said. “So much has changed.”
How about your policies and procedures? Still 2007 vintage? We’ve just seen major changes to the FMLA. The ADA, military leave, accommodation rules—the list of new policy requirements seems endless. But you can’t backburner work on your policies—they’re your only hope for consistent and compliant management that avoids lawsuits.
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Great article…I have another wonderful article on the same topic here http://resources.jobsbridge.com/?p=11
Hooray to Mr Welch for being willing to admit the reality that estrogen is part of diversity, but that also, sadly, a woman’s career can be drastically de-railed by also being a parent or caregiver.
Now that he has admitted it, what is his proposal to change it? “There are indicators that diverse groups make better decisions” seems to be an extremely flippant comment from the more powerful side of the aisle.
Does he expect that we, as women, should just accept this the same way racism was accepted? If memory serves me correctly, that reality began to gasp it’s last breaths in the 60’s, but not without terrible cost to everyone.
Or worse, should women simply stop giving birth??? Last time I checked, no male has given birth in all of history. This is not “choice” it is an unalterable scientific fact, and to disguise it as choice, which ultimately hides its discrimination factor, is an insult to everyone including Mr. Welch himself.
Oh, and kudos for the rest of the article, it is dead-on accurate.
I think Jack Welch’s comments “How about the need for estogen” is sexist and especially inappropriate given the audience he was addressing at SHRM. He previously commented that work-life balance was a terrible term. Jack Welch was known as nuetron Jack at GE. His leadership style leaves a lot to be desired.
I always enjoy reading Jack Welch’s direct and unabashed thoughts on business. In light of the fact that we live in a world where political correctness is the safety net of job security, I find his outspokenness refreshing.
As for the issue of women who step off their career ladders to take time for children, I’ve come to believe that the interference of achieving top ranks has more to do with a change in personal values than anything else. Whereas, before children, a woman may have valued her career above everything else, after children, she now values her children above her career–however slightly that may be.
I admire Jack Welch for his leadership and for bringing GE to forefront of exceptional organizations. But I think he is a little out of touch with these comments…Work/Life Balance is a proactive term whereas Work/Life Choices seems to say it’s either this or that–a choice, and if you make the wrong one, you’re stuck with it. Balance seems to be a bit more flexible which is what organizations have tried to do. I don’t pretend to know the success rate of organizations that have adopted the work/life balance theory, but I would guess that it has been pretty successful especially for parents and individuals dealing with eldercare issues. Flexible work schedules and telecommuting are part of the work/life balance equation and if you take that away, happy employees and job satisfaction will take a nose-dive.
As for mentoring, I think Jack is right that you don’t want to end up with the wrong mentor. But that’s where his logic of the importance of mentorship ends. The organization must set up processes by which mentors are chosen by using a committee for example, to select and identify potential mentors and establish a set of criteria that will be used to make such a selection. Criteria will include job performance, leadership IQ, interpersonal skills, and peer references. This will minimize the risk of having a mentor that is ill-sufficient to be one.