Of course, finding that balance probably shouldn’t be something you have to do by yourself.
Research by Erin Kelly, professor of work and organisation studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, shows companies and managers can play a key role in creating a better environment for workers. For her book, Overload: How Good Jobs Went Bad and What to Do About It, she and co-author Phyllis Moen split more than 1,000 employees at a Fortune 500 company into two groups: one that worked under a management redesign and one that continued working within the existing management structure.
Under the management redesign, many steps were taken to ensure better work-life balance for workers and prevent burnout. Managers were regularly reminded to explicitly support their employees, for example, and workers were allowed to make changes, like cancelling 0900 morning meetings.All of this was done in the name of increasing job satisfaction and giving workers greater flexibility, and to assure workers that it was something management was committed to.
Unsurprisingly, Kelly and Moen found that employees in the redesign group reported less stress, less burnout, were less likely to quit their jobs and, over the next four years, were 40% less likely to quit than those who kept working under the old policies.
“Work-life balance is understood to be an individual’s response – so [people think] ‘it’s up to me to manage the craziness of my work life’,” says Kelly. But organisations need to examine the demands they’re placing on employees. “The root problem is not how the two pieces of work and life come together. It’s that we have unrealistic expectations of what we’re asked to do on the work side.”If your workplace isn’t an environment where work-life balance is possible in the first place, any strides you attempt to make toward it on a personal level will be in vain.
That’s a conversation that appears to be gathering pace since the pandemic ripped up the rule book for how we work as well as reshaped our working lives. The new prevalence of remote work, flexible work or even ‘hybrid’ working models will likely all play important roles in how we balance our professional and personal lives going forward.
And if it seems like finding that perfect balance remains elusive, the experts say that keeping some perspective can help. We’re in an era of catastrophic job loss; the pandemic alone has slashed 255 million jobs worldwide, and more jobs could be lost in the next decade as AI advances and more offices digitise. For millions of people, work is about being able to put food on the table. Talking about work-life balance “is a very privileged conversation”, says Lechner. “If we’re reflecting, maybe we should also reflect on that.”
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III gave marching orders to the China Task Force today.
The task force, led by Ely Ratner, is engaged in a sprint to identify priorities for the Defense Department with regards to the near-peer, Asian competitor, Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby said.
Kirby spoke during a press briefing, where he also discussed DOD's COVID-19 vaccination program.
Austin provided initial guidance to the China Task Force, which draws participants from the office of the secretary of defense, the Joint Staff, the armed services, the combatant commands and the intelligence community. "Today's meeting is intended to formalize the mission, timing and outputs of the task force as they work towards a baseline assessment of departments, policies, programs and processes on China-related matters," Kirby said.
The task force will finish in about four months. At the end, DOD officials want to provide Austin with specific and actionable recommendations and milestones to meet the China challenge. Over the years, there have been many initiatives that addressed growing Chinese provocations in many areas. The secretary wants an assessment of the best ways to defend the international, rules-based order that has kept great power peace since the end of World War II.
The DOD effort is part of the government's look at U.S.-China relations. The DOD China Task Force will specifically look at the DOD's interaction with China, Kirby said. "What the secretary wants Mr. Ratner to do is to look at the pacing challenge that China poses to the department from our perspective, and what we need to do to make sure we're ready to meet that challenge," Kirby said.
The finding will be used as part of the Global Posture Review that is already going on in the department.
Kirby announced that DOD will begin receiving shipments of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine in the next week. The one-shot vaccine gives service members another choice as they make decisions about getting protected.
The Food and Drug Administration has given emergency use authorization for three COVID-19 vaccines, which means service members have the option of decline. The military seems to be mirroring the civilian community with about a third either delaying the shot or opting out.
Kirby said Austin is aware that some people of color fear getting the inoculation. "He's mindful that there are cultural and community concerns in many, many people of color about the vaccine, some of it's based on some painful history," Kirby said.
Austin received the shot after consultations with his family and doctors. Kirby said the secretary believes DOD needs to do a better job of providing the right kind of information and context about the vaccine so they can make decisions for themselves.
Within DOD, medics have administered 1,144,697 doses of the vaccine; 735,000 are initial doses, and 409,000 are second doses.
DOD continues to send out active-duty teams to help communities vaccinate against COVID-19. There are 10 teams deployed around the United States to put vaccines into citizens' arms. Large teams of 222 service members are operating in California and Texas. Another is due to start in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, and one will begin in Illinois on Friday. Small teams of up to 139 are operating in New Jersey, Texas, New York, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Florida. More small teams will go to New Jersey and North Carolina in the coming days.
We've highlighted potential trade packages and destinations for the two-time Pro Bowler. Given his age, production and position, Brown is an extremely valuable talent for any team that's looking to solidify their quarterback protection and boost their run game.
We've also talked about the possibility that Brown could remain with the Ravens for the 2021 season. He still has one year left on his rookie contract, and The Athletic's Jeff Zrebiec said there's no reason for the Ravens to panic if they don't feel the compensation is right.
"What they shouldn't do is settle on a deal for Brown in fear that he'll be a distraction if he returns to the team as the right tackle," Zrebiec wrote. "Brown still doesn't have much leverage, and if his attitude and play are subpar this year, he'll only cost himself money. If he opts to sit out, he'll cost himself money and a shot at free agency next March. He should be plenty motivated even if he's back in a Ravens uniform playing a position he doesn't want to play.
"That being said, if the Ravens can get a first-round pick for Brown, they should strongly consider making that move. This draft has a handful of guys who project as Day 1 starting tackles, and with two first-round picks, the Ravens would be in position to find a younger and cheaper replacement. If the Ravens can get two Day 2 picks for Brown, including a relatively early second-rounder, that could also work."
Former New Orleans Saints and Miami Dolphins General Manager Randy Mueller echoed a similar sentiment on the Ravens' position.
"I've always developed the philosophy of let's keep as many good players as we can for as long as we can," Mueller told Glenn Clark Radio. "They have two really good young tackles. I don't think they should punish themselves for that.
"It's a tough spot, they've got to build it around [Jackson], the quarterback they've chosen. I think I would sleep a lot better knowing my two [offensive tackles] have been firmed up, even if I have to pay them excess money."
Research conducted at Åbo Akademi University suggests that when routine work tasks are being replaced with intelligent technologies, the result may be that employees no longer experience their work as meaningful.
Advances in new technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics and digital applications have recently resurrected discussions and speculations about the future of working life. Researchers predict that new technologies will affect, in particular, routine and structured work tasks. According to estimations, 7-35 percent of work tasks in Finland will be automated over the next 10-20 years or so. Globally, it is anticipated that up to 60 percent of all work tasks will be affected by new technologies.
The discussion has thus far centred around which skills are required in the future working life, or if work as we know it will vanish altogether. A recent study conducted at Åbo Akademi University brings a new perspective to the debate.
"Our values guide many of the selections we make during our lives, including career or occupational choices and the type of competences we value. That's why it is important to understand how the changes brought to work by novel technologies affect future work and if work will correspond to what we today view as meaningful," says Johnny Långstedt, who is a doctoral student in Comparative Religion and a project researcher in Industrial Management at Åbo Akademi University.
Långstedt's study indicates that there is a systematic association between the automatability and the prominent values in various occupations. When structured work is being automated and replaced by other tasks -- mainly creative, social and non-regular tasks -- the contents of the work may not necessarily fit with the values that have been characteristic of automatable occupations. This could result in a widespread decreased commitment and job satisfaction if the changes at work are as comprehensive as researchers have estimated.
"Up to date, we have mostly talked about how nice it is that routine work is being reduced. But what about those who enjoy such work? This is the first study aimed at understanding the ways our values are linked to the work we are expected to carry out in the future," says Långstedt.
Google on Monday unveiled new productivity features that are aimed at remote work, as companies consider hybrid work models for a post-pandemic world.
The new tools are for Google Workspace, the search giant's suite of apps and services meant for corporate customers and other organizations. One new feature lets people list their specific working hours when they're juggling different personal commitments at home. Another feature is recurring out-of-office messages, which can let people know when they're physically in the office or not. A tool called Time Insights lets employees evaluate how they're spending their time -- without making that information available to their managers.
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Google also introduced new tools for frontline workers at warehouses and grocery stores to communicate back to their companies' corporate offices. A package called Workspace Frontline includes enterprise versions of Gmail, Docs and Drive with added customer support and data security features.
The announcement comes as businesses prepare for a future with more telecommuting and virtual work. In December, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company was considering a hybrid work model, in which people work in the office for at least three days, while working the other days remotely. But he said the new plan may not be available to all workers, like engineers who spend lots of time in data centers.
Google's new Time Insights tool.
Google
Google was one of the first big companies to let its massive employee base work from home when the pandemic took hold. Last year, Pichai said the company would allow employees to expense up to $1,000 for equipment and furniture in their home offices, such as standing desks and ergonomic chairs.
Other tech companies have also started to rethink what work at the office could look like after the pandemic. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said last year the social networking giant will allow some employees to work from home permanently. He said about half of Facebook's workforce could work remotely over the next five to 10 years. Twitter made a similar announcement, and CEO Jack Dorsey also extended the policy to his other company, mobile payments firm Square.
The haunting lyrics of “Strange Fruit” paint a picture of a rural American South where political and psychological terror reigns over African American communities.
“Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze,” blues legend Billie Holiday sang in her powerful 1939 recording of the song, “Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.” The song’s lyrics portray the everyday violence that was being inflicted on Black people. And Holiday dared to perform it—in front of Black and white audiences, alike.
“She wanted to make a statement with that song. There was something about standing in front of white audiences and being brave enough to confront America’s ongoing crime,” says Loyola University Maryland associate professor of African and African American studies Karsonya (Kaye) Wise Whitehead. “The writing wasn’t simply about the past—it was happening at that moment.”
More than 4,000 Black people were publicly murdered in the United States between 1877 and 1950, according to the Equal Justice Initiative’s 2015 report, Lynching in America. “Strange Fruit” was written during a decade when activist organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People were pressing lawmakers to make lynching a federal crime. But the NAACP’s efforts were continually knocked down by white supremacists in the Democratic Party who used filibusters to defeat any such bills.
Abel Meeropol, a Jewish American whose family had fled pogroms in Czarist Russia, wrote “Bitter Fruit” as a reflection on the August 7, 1930 photo of the lynchings of J. Thomas Shipp and Abraham S. Smith in Marion, Indiana. Shipp, 18, Smith, 19, and 16-year-old James Cameron were accused of robbery, murder and rape. Cameron was able to escape the mob, but Shipp and Smith were dragged out of their jail cells and beaten to death. The photo shows the bodies of Shipp and Smith hanging from nooses as a crowd of white people stare at their bodies. One man looks back toward the camera as he points at the atrocity.
Under the pseudonym, Lewis Allan, Meeropol set his poem to music and performed “Bitter Fruit” as a protest song in the New York area alongside his wife Anne. They even performed it at Madison Square Garden with the blues song vocalist Laura Duncan. The song, now known as “Strange Fruit,” was brought to Billie Holiday in late 1938 just as she had booked set of shows at Barney Josephson’s Café Society, the first racially integrated nightclub in New York City.
Billie Holiday performing at the Club Downbeat in Manhattan, c. 1947.
William Gottlieb/Redferns/Getty Images
Holiday's Performances Left Audiences Silent
After overcoming a reluctance to tackle it, Holiday made “Strange Fruit” her signature closing. As her set was coming to an end, waiters would stop serving. Then Holiday would sit by herself on a stool with only the mic and a pin spotlight on her face as she sang. After the last lines: "Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck/For the rain to gather/For the wind to suck/For the sun to rot/For the tree to drop/Here is a strange and bitter crop”—a chilled silence often followed, and Holiday would leave the stage.
“When the lights came back on, she would be gone, there’d be no encore,” says Whitehead. “She would be off the stage—that was her request—but she wanted to just let the song hang there. And that would be her final statement. And they often talk about how the white audiences would be uncomfortable to clap.”
Whitehead, who is also founding director of the The Karson Institute For Race, Peace & Social Justice adds: “We often think about Billie Holiday as a singer. And we think about Black women at that time as just big singers, but I don’t think we talk enough about them using their platform to make a stand against injustice, and then the cost and the price that they paid doing that.”
A Time magazine critic witnessed Holiday’s performance and wrote a column on it, featuring pictures of Billie Holiday along with the lyrics to the song. “When Billie appeared in Time, that gave her such prestige,” Barney Josephson recalls in his book Cafe Society: The Wrong Place for the Right People. “This made Billie a Black performer who had something to say and was saying it, had the nerve to say it, to sing it.”
'Strange Fruit' Named Song of the Century
Holiday may not have predicted the impact her Time magazine review would have, but she did understand the power of the song. Holiday’s vocalizing and improvisational abilities gave Meeropol’s poetry force and emotional impact.
“The first time I sang it I thought it was a mistake and I had been right being scared,” Holiday writes in her autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues. “There wasn’t even a patter of applause when I finished. Then a lone person began to clap nervously. Then suddenly everyone was clapping.”
Holiday went on to record “Strange Fruit” with the Commodore Records jazz label on April 20, 1939. The song helped raise Holiday to national prominence—at just age 23.
Not all audiences appreciated Holiday's performance of the song. Among them was the director of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Harry Anslinger. Anslinger, who openly espoused racist views, saw to it that Holiday, who struggled with drug use, was targeted, pursued and arrested in 1947 for possession of narcotics. She was sent to Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia for a year. Upon her release, Holiday was barred from securing a cabaret performer’s license.
Despite her struggles, Holiday's performance of "Strange Fruit" continued to resonate—and it remains among her bestselling recordings. In 1999, Time magazine named Holiday’s version of “Strange Fruit” the “Song of the Century.”
