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Here is a list of other companies that have gained recognition amongst their employees and the work force in general for having innovative programs to help the working parent meet the demands of work, home, and finance.

With all the companies on this list, you will find that there is typically some type of flex work scheduling program, additional maternity leave, or discounted day care. Some of them will also provide on site services that help to eliminate the number of routine tasks that parents have to complete in their off hours.

• Merrill Lynch is based in New York, NY and provides financial services to private, institutional and government clients. There are, of course, Merrill Lynch branch offices all over the United States. They have a total of 51,100 employees in their New York Offices and 21,500 of those are women.

• Turner Broadcasting System produces news, entertainment and young-adult programs. They currently provide jobs to 9049 employees and 4,105 of those are women.

• Freddie Mac located in Mclean, VA sporting 5414 employees, 2680 of which are women. They provide financing for home mortgages and rental housing.

• patagonia is located in Ventura, CA. They manufacture outdoor apparel and accessories. They are small but innovative and growing every year. They currently sport an employee base of only 764 employees, with 416 of those being women.

• Lego is based in Enfield, CT. and has long been the name associated with the manufacturing of toys that are now sold in more than 130 countries. Lego has 906 employees and 543 of those are women.

• Covington in Washington, DC is another small company with a big agenda of services for its employees. Covington provides corporate, litigation, and regulatory counsel. With 1043 employees, 600 are women and they are continuing to grow.

• Intel has its headquarters in Santa Clara, CA, but also has major facilities in the Portland Oregon area. They are one of the companies that has truly created a modern work force, while always being the innovative leader in high tech manufacturing of computer systems. With 46,207 employees they show 11,166 of those being women.

• Microsoft is the Seattle-based giant developed by Bill Gates. They develop computer software, services and solutions. In their Washington state facility, they employ 51,143 people, with 13,043 of those being women.

• Bank of America is based in Charlotte, NC, but provides jobs all over the United States. Their employees total 186,892 and 123,127 of those are women. B of A is of course, well known for its banking services, but they also provide investing, asset management and other financial and risk management services as well.

If one does a bit of research while they are on the job hunt, they can find many companies that are taking major strides to provide a work environment that enhances the working parents life and helps to keep the “work/life balance” more balanced.

Whatever your needs are, when you are interviewing, ask about the programs that the company offers to its employees. You’ll be surprised to find how many employers are attempting to bring on programs that help to meet those needs.

Continuing our look at companies that recognize the duties and responsibilities of people in the work force who are also raising families, we have found a couple more companies that offer some terrific services to the working Mom and Dad.

Hallmark Cards has its headquarters in Kansas City, MO. They are of course a household name to most of us, providing greeting cards, ornaments, TV programming as well as many other products. Hallmark has been in business for 98 years and currently employs 31,412 employees, with 25,951 being women.

• Hallmark has been providing flexible work schedules for more than a decade. Their flex-work program includes telecommuting, job-sharing, and compressed workweeks.

• Full-time care for children has been made very affordable through a ten-percent employee discount at two national child-care chains. They also have access to a resource and referral service to help locate other options.

• In 2007, Hallmark sponsored an executive panel discussion on worklife balance and a women’s leadership conference. They believe this initiative is have a real effect, especially since last year more than 80% of the new managers were women.

Allstate Insurance is headquartered in Northbrook, IL, they provide insurance and financial products. They have a total of 36,495 employees, 21,590 of which are women. A couple of their programs include:

• All State has a headquartered-based daycare program with an additional three nearby child care facilities that provides up to 30% off the cost of a day care center for the working parent. Yet it doesn’t stop there, if the employees are working for Allstate in another location, they also get access to discounted child care through four other national providers.

• A very important aspect of the Allstate work force programs is their flex scheduling. Since women represent such a high number of employees, the work/life balance is encouraged. In 2007, 75% of employees flexed their schedules, included in that 75% were 28% who telecommuted and 10% who worked compressed schedules.

• They also provide a number of services that cut down back on the number of things a person has to fit into their already over packed off hours. Included in the stress buster service program are such things as dry cleaning, catering, movie rentals and minor auto repairs. There is of course available as well on-site insurance and financial agency services.

General Mills has its base in Minneapolis, MN. Of course they are well-known for all the packaged food products they produce. They have 16,809 employees and 6,795 of those are women. Take a look at some of their programs.

• Time off to volunteer – but here’s the nice part – its paid time off! GM will give up to ten hours of paid time off a year to work as a volunteer in the community.

• New parents can receive as much as 26 weeks off, without risking their jobs. Three weeks are fully paid, and three are partially paid for the moms. For the dads, or adoptive parents, it is two fully paid weeks off.

• They also run flex scheduling with 42% of the employees regularly changing their hours and in the summer, most employees work a 45-minute longer day so that Friday quitting time is at lunch.

What tends to classify a company as innovative to the working parent? Overall, it is the company that recognizes there is more to your life than working and commuting to home so that you can get rested up and start the work/commute all over again, except for those off hours where you have to jam in all your life duties, rapidly and sometimes rather stressfully.

It is the company that recognizes parents are working for their families, but those families exist right now and the work needs to be done in accordance with the responsibility of also being a parent.

Some companies are recognizing more and more the burden it can be for working parents to juggle finances, time, work, and the responsibilities of parenting and taking steps to provide programs to the working parent that will help ease that juggling act.

Here are a few companies that have risen to the occasion and begun to get a name for themselves amongst the working parents.

Dell: More than likely you are familiar with this Texas-based company. Located in Round Rock Texas, they manufacture personal computers and servers as well as network and mobile technology. They currently provide jobs for 28,436 employees, 8631 of which are women.

Dell has made a name for itself with three of its programs designed to help create a positive and rewarding work environment.

• The company continues to value employee feedback about the way it does business. A new survey asks staffer to actually rate their managers, and they have two blogs where staff can discuss workplace issues.

• In both the Texas and North Carolina facilities parents have access to full time and back up child care at ten near-site centers. They even have an in-home nanny program that staff can request, at a cost of $4.00 per hour when a child cannot attend regular care for some reason.

• They also provide a healthy pregnancy program for mothers-to-be, giving important physical health information to help during those critical nine months. This program even provides a maternity hotline that parents can call 24/7.

• They may be one of the few companies recognizing the care that the elderly also require with their program designed to help workers with aging parents. Employees can locate elder care through a resource and referral hotline and can poll an employee support group for recommendations.

Accenture: a New York company that supplies management consulting, technology services and outsourcing. They currently have a total of 28,468 employees, 11,925 of which are women. They offer some great programs. Here’s a couple of examples:

• Accenture allows the freedom to work four long days in exchange for Fridays off, as well as working from home during the weeks of July 4, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

• Accenture also provides an extended leave program. They allow employees to divert a portion of their pay to help fund their leave. One example of how this program works is with new moms. They can add an extra month to their 16-week maternity leave. (Already 10 weeks better than most places!) Other employees have used the program to take three months off without jeopardizing their jobs or health benefits. Just imagine – summer with your kids!

We’ve all heard people discuss the importance of not bringing your work home with you. You’ve had a bad day – leave it at the office. Home is home. Work is work. Guess what – the same is true in reverse. Do not bring your home to work with you.

That is a challenging statement to make, but it is also a true one. How many people have you met in your life who lost their job because of personal problems. Conversely, how many people have you met in your life who lost their family because of work problems.

Separation of these two aspects of life is critical. Here’s the facts: Nobody cares about your problem except you and possibly the other person involved in it.

Your boss may lend a kind ear about the problem you had with your son or daughter now and then, but a) he’s not going to give you a raise because now you need to put your kid in private school, or b) give you more time off so you can handle the kid, or c) repeatedly lend a kind ear.

If he sees that your morale drops, that your work begins to suffer, or that your overall pleasant countenance with your co-workers begins to decline, he is going to take a different approach. He is going to start watching you closely. He’ll start a little tally on your lateness and early departures. He’ll start to review your work with a more critical eye, and he will certainly put out the word that there may be a position opening up shortly to the appropriate personnel if you don’t shape up.

You see, a part of the workplace attitude is on your shoulders to create. If you are there working hard, being pleasant and managing your problems then you are a true saint. You are worth way more than you are being paid, and you will find that raises do come your way. Managers and employers depend upon their staff to create a safe and happy work environment just as they depend upon themselves to do the same.

If a worker begins to have problems at home that he does not leave at home, then he begins to have a drop in morale and overall performance on the job. He’s supposed to be working, but he is instead going on and on about how his wife is getting way more than she should from the divorce. Let’s face it. It is not work-related. He himself will become the problem. The more of a problem he becomes, the more he will find that he has yet a new problem – His job is getting closer and closer to termination.

What is underneath this whole mess? It is the subject of professionalism. Sometimes in the work world, and especially if you have been with the company for awhile, we get very close with our co-workers. We have lunch, and barbecues. Maybe we go to the gym together. It is only natural. The professionalism at work becomes seemingly less apparent.

However, there is a line that cannot be crossed: professionalism does not disappear because of friendship and relationship building. Always remain a professional during work hours, while maintaining the friendships and the rules of “home is home” and “work is work” and you will find that you can weather the storms in both environments without a backlash in either environment.

In past articles, we have discussed the importance of presenting your resume with a cover letter. This letter gives important information about yourself and your goals, while highlighting a couple key points of interest for the interviewer to entice him or her into looking at your resume and scheduling you for an interview.

There are many successfully employed people who have done the above quite well.

There is another letter that is rarely used, and definitely under-utilized in the job seeking process. That is the Negotiations Letter. Many people, as they have been job hunting, tend to develop a sense of desperation, which leads to immediate acceptance of any offer they get.

That may become a double edged sword for them. If they are working a new job at a steep pay cut for example, they may find that instead of their financial strain being lifted, it is growing steadily worse. Or they may find that a cut in benefits has caused them to no longer have something essential for their lives.

Issues such as the above come up more often than one realizes. If the person also finds that they are very happy in their position and truly don’t want to search again, then their dilemma can become even more severe. A sort of “I love my new job, but it’s wiping me out financially” type dilemma to be exact.

The correct use of a Negotiations Letter is one way to help resolve such a situation.

Follow this simple guideline to help you:

1. Review the offer that is presented.

2. List out any questions that you have.

3. Calculate the wage that is being offered.

4. Calculate your last wage.

5. Determine if you will be coming out ahead or behind.

6. If the benefits package is unclear, vague or stated too generally, list out your questions there as well.

Prepare a Negotiations Letter where you first thank them for the offer and let them know how pleased you are to have received it. Then inform them that you have a few questions you would like to get clarification on. From there, list out your questions, briefly and succinctly. Sign it and send it.

Do not get into personal matters, and watch your wording: Do say: “In my last position I was receiving a dollar an hour more than your offer. How long would it be before your company would provide my first raise?” Or “Based upon my experience, I would like to discuss with you starting at a dollar an hour higher”. Do not say, “There is no way I can work for that amount of money and still pay my bills!”

Keep the letter professional, succinct and to the point. You may just find that it saves you a world of trouble in the future.

Is your current job stable? Is the job you are searching for stable? Is it possible that if you are job hunting there are some types of companies that are more stable than others?

These are questions that many Americans are asking these days, and is it any wonder? With the Nation’s newscasts reporting so much doom and gloom, and as the months progress and the reports only grow more and more prevalent, it is only natural.

There are many industries however that are doing well. If you are job hunting, there are a number of companies that are hiring and are still operating at full or mostly full capacity. There are other industries that are not doing so well.

If you can, try to focus your job search in these areas.

Lending Institutions: Yes, despite all the information that is out there, most lending institutions have had to increase their staffing by the hundreds to help accommodate and handle backlogged loans. They’ve added new departments and expanded others. Many have received bail out funds to help pay the staff.

Government Jobs: Most states have also had to beef up various government positions to help resolve a number of issues. Add to that as a new president arrives on the scene there will many types of changes that will roll down through the departments.

Technology Firms: The good news is that we live in an age where technology is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. Most of the technology firms which provide mainline services are stable.

Insurance Firms and Medical Groups: Sadly, as people become more stressed and worried over their lives and the down turning economy, illness tends to increase. Thus the medical industry has reported that they are hiring and they are stable. Insurance firms that provide for the medical industry, as well as insurance for vehicles are also stable industries. Homeowner’s insurance companies should be avoided for the time being.

Any type of Company That Provides a Necessity: As you are looking over companies that you would like to apply at, review what they offer for services or products. If they are offering a service or product that can be classified as a necessity, then you are probably looking at a stable company. If they are a start-up, or if they are offering more of a luxury service, then you would be better off not applying there unless you can also get some honest statistics on their overall productivity and longevity.

If at all possible, try to avoid applying for positions in these areas:

Auto Dealerships or any other Auto-Related Industry: Especially if it is an American Company. If it is a foreign car dealership it is more stable. American Auto Companies and Dealerships just need more time to stabilize. Monitor how the Government Bailout plays out before you consider a position.

Travel Companies, Airline Companies, Vacation Companies, Hotels and Motels: Companies like these tend to perform well when Americans have money and credit to spend. They do not perform well when Americans are focused on necessities only. Stability will be questionable.

Retail & Wholesale Companies: Americans just are not spending like they normally do. Thus any company in this category has experienced a drop in revenue and employees are more at risk of losing their jobs. Thus attention to their overall statistics is important.

Any Type of Company That Provides a Luxury: As stated above, Americans are just not in a spending mood. Luxuries are being purchased less and less. Thus industries in this category are not as stable.

The US Government reports that there are currently 11 million people unemployed. Foreclosures have never been higher, the mortgage industry and the auto Industry have both been given bailout packages. Some are asking, “Are we in a depression, or minimally – are we headed towards a depression?” They ask because in the 30’s when unemployment had wiped out more than one third of the jobs in America, that number also totaled 11 million people.

Yet the answer is still no. We are not in a depression. Today’s 11 million unemployed represents only 6.7% of the workforce, so although it is high, it is not yet a depression setting trend.

The question is and has been for many Americans what to do about their homes. The answer is to hold on – by whatever means they can. But the impact that is created for those in their daily lives does not go unnoticed.

For a moment it is important to acknowledge the wrath that many Americans feel as the housing market collapses and it comes back and hits them in their own work environment. Stressed co-workers struggling to hold onto their homes, cuts in hours, cuts in pay, etc. The declining housing market has made life hard for many, there is no doubt.

Others are angered because the very group that got us into this mess was given the money to get us out of this mess. They are even more angered because while often their lenders are refusing to work with them, they are falling more and more behind in their own house payments.

The work force is hit hard in many ways. People’s morale and attitudes are declining and it shows at work, this affects productivity. As more and more people lose their homes or struggle to keep their homes, there is less cash and credit flowing through the economy, which has caused massive declines in retail and wholesale spending, as well as spending not classified as necessity. Add to that the solution of the US Government– they gave billions of dollars to the lenders which the Americans get to pay back.

But there is hope and there is help. More and more lenders are now coming out with loan modification programs. These programs are designed for homeowners who are steadily employed and can still make a house payment, just not the current high payment they have. Americans do not have to have good credit scores, and they are more likely to get help from these programs if they are already in foreclosure. This is a double-edged sword however. The lenders are urging their creditors to come straight to the lender and stay away from “predatory” groups that will try to get this done for them.

After interviewing a number of people, it becomes clear that many of the lenders are once again not operating in the best interest of their clients. They are urging uneducated homeowners who “got into the soup” in the first place to continue to resist professional aid and assistance because these “predatory groups” may charge a fee.

The only thing a person who finds himself in trouble on his mortgage can do, is get himself out of trouble. He’s advised by many to not rely upon the advice of his lender. And rightfully so. The homeowner is much better off hiring an expert to get his loan modified. Somebody who will not be bullied by the lender and who can read the fine print to make sure that the homeowner is protected and not once again going to be in trouble.

The work force will recover and calm down to the degree that people are not carrying such huge burdens every day at work. Research shows the major burden is the economy and the potential loss of their home. Even if a person is not behind on their mortgage, it behooves them to seek out a professional loan modification or credit angel type firm and get their loan modified. In some cases that person could experience a reduction in their monthly payment that is almost half of what they are paying now.

Workers need to feel like they are working for a reason, and a purpose and a future. When they feel this way, they feel that their job and their company is worthwhile and all runs well.

In tougher economic times, employers are less likely to provide Christmas bonuses to their staff. Although there are strong economic reasons for this, it is not always in the best interest of the company overall to omit the Christmas Bonus and the Christmas Party.

There are traditions in our country that extend into the workplace. One of those traditions is the celebration of Christmas. Although it should be noted that as more and more religions gain in numbers, this is often renamed to the Holiday Season. Tracking back to the very beginnings of our country, people have come together at Christmas to celebrate and revel in the warmth and good cheer of their friends, family, neighbors and co-workers. No matter what we call it, or how it has blossomed, it is still that special time of year.

It is ingrained in the blood of the people and the work force.

Tough economic times can cause many employers to simply find themselves without the wherewithal to provide bonuses for their staff. Staff, on the other hand often depend upon the bonus to help make ends meet during the holiday season when work hours are cut back, and when more shopping is done.

How does the employer and the employee solve the dilemma?

The first action is with the employer. If the employer is not able to provide a Christmas Bonus, he needs to inform his staff of this as soon as he possibly can. He needs to do it with tact and grace. He needs to address with the employees all the excellent things that they have done for the company and their coworkers and he needs to make it perfectly clear that the bonuses are not being given because of only one reason, tough economic times have prevented the company from bring in the gross revenues required to operate and expend a higher than normal outgo.

However, it should be noted here, that a wise employer prepares for downturns in the economy and uses an old accounting procedure known as a set-aside to acquire and keep safe important monies for the company. This practice, when in use, can prevent an employer from finding himself in a position of having to deny his staff such an essential part of their holiday paycheck.

Another concern for the employer who has opted not to provide a Christmas Bonus is the message he is sending to his staff. The staff can hear loud and clear that it is the Christmas bonus being cut now, but what will the next cut be? Is the company that bad off? Is their future employment guaranteed? There is great concern and potential instability sent out to a staff when the employer does inform all that there will be no bonus. The ripple effect must be greatly considered.

The second action is with the employee. If your company has not announced whether or not there will be bonuses, and you know that the company coffers are not as full as they should be, then you should not assume that bonuses will be distributed. You need to be a little proactive and simply inquire. You may find that your inquiry saves you much financial hardship in January, or that you may go on about your Christmas planning as usual, without due concern for what January will bring. Just don’t assume that you are getting it when you know there are tough economic times.

Every company can benefit from the “on-the-ground knowledge of their staff. Not all companies realize just how beneficial this knowledge can be, however. In fact, there are even employers who frown upon advice, suggestions, or information from their staff. That is an unfortunate occurrence, but there are sometimes valid reasons for the frown as well.

The solution to being able to deliver on-the-ground knowledge that benefits the company and prevents the frown has been the development and use of a system that allows employees to provide suggestions, remarks, feedback, ideas, or information without having to reveal to their bosses or to their co-workers who they are.

There is a drawback to it as well, the drawback is if your tip take the company to a new level of gross receipts that you are not benefiting from. You may feel resentful. Here’s some thoughts on how you and your company can benefit.

1. Suggest to the management or employer the idea of creating a “Staff Suggestions Box” that can be placed in the lunch area or some other group-based location. This box should be similar to a lockable mailbox, where only the authorized person can gain access to it.

2. Suggest to management that employees be allowed to provide their suggestions – in typewritten form with no signature.

3. Provide guidelines for the suggestions – try to make it clear that this is not an employee complaint system. This is a system that allows employees to quietly review their work environment and find ways to improve it for the benefit of all. Valid suggestions would include things like equipment that could be updated and what may be a good type of update (older style monitors retired for flat screens, providing better visibility, and more desk space, or work flow interruptions such as incorrect multi-tasking functions leading to stress and incomplete work load). Make it clear that complaints about management or co-workers or conditions can be accepted, but only if a) they are not negative and b) they provide a solution.

Example: My co-worker has consistently had a quality issue with project X, despite my attempts to correct the quality point, the problem persists. When we spoke of this, she explained that she was struggling with a keyboard that keeps sticking and causing untold trouble for her. If we could have somebody take a look at providing some kind of routine maintenance on heavily used office equipment, this problem would not crop up for employees.

1. Ask the management to implement a policy that if Management likes the suggestion and would like to implement it into the company, that the person then could reveal that the suggestion was theirs. They can inform management of the date and time that they offered the suggestion. This should have an expiry date for coming forward as well – for example, two weeks.

2. Ensure that employees know that this is a completely voluntary program and the person can continue to remain anonymous if he so desires. It is also important for the employee to understand that there is an expiry date for a number of reasons.

Systems like this one are becoming more and more popular in the work place. Management can’t be everywhere all the time, solving every problem that crops up. Employees want to solve problems but don’t always feel like the have the right or authority to do so. Safe and anonymous tips can be a real problem solver for all.

If you work phone sales, customer service, or some other telephone intensive job, you have more than likely had “one of those days”. It seems with every call you take or make, somebody is chewing you up and spitting you out. You get to the point where you dread picking the phone up again. If it is a sales position, you start worrying if the manager is aware of how badly you are doing, and the more you worry, the worse it gets.

If it is a customer service call, you find yourself escalating your third call in a row and you just know that any minute the team leader is going to be down at your desk demanding to know what is going on.

And it seems that no matter how you bolster courage and pep talk yourself, you just can’t pull yourself out of it.

How do you turn it around?

1. Take a walk. But don’t walk and smoke and talk and think and walk and drink sodas and talk and think. Just walk and look at things. Keep at it, doing nothing but walking and looking at things, trees, bushes, buildings, sidewalks, the sky, the clouds in the sky, buses and cars, anything you can look at, just keep at it. Soon you will start to feel a sense of calm return to you. You’ll experience a refreshed feeling.

2. Remember that you create your emotions state, your emotions don’t create you. After your walk, return to your work space, and enjoy some creating. Create a smile on your face, create an attitude of fun for yourself. Take a moment to look around in your immediate work space and find a few things that you personally like and enjoy using, your headset, your “cool new pen” that you just picked up last week, your chair that doesn’t hurt your back, etc. Just find the pleasure in the simple little things that help to make your work space a pleasurable place to be. Enjoy creating the sense of comfort with those familiar items. If your work space is untidy, take a few minutes to neaten it up and make it even more comfortable for you.

3. Talk to somebody you enjoy talking to. We’ve all got a favorite customer or client that we can check in with from time to time. Just a short call to say hello and how are things going. No need to sell them anything. Just give them some pleasant communication and receive some pleasant communication back. If you are inbound only – then use your cell phone and do this simple action with a friend – but keep it short you are on the clock.

4. Decide that you can take or make any kind of a call go well. This is a simple decision. Not a big elaborate affirmation. You just decide that you can make it go well and you do so. Remember, point number two – you create your own emotions – you also create your own actions. So things are going well now. That is all.

5. Take or Make a call and be happy about it! You will find that your happiness exudes through that phone to the recipient and they will immediately be at ease and enjoy talking with you.

These simple steps will get you back on track. You will have successfully restored your own ability to communicate and put an end to your “bad day on the phones” because you got on top of you!