Kathy has a problem. She has a huge project proposal due on Wednesday. However, her daughter, Tina, has dance practice this afternoon, Fido has to stay on his feeding schedule, and she has to have her suit dry cleaned in time for a presentation on Thursday. Her car is due for an oil change, and the grocery shopping has not been done for the week.
Kathys situation is not that uncommon for todays worker. How do stressed employees deal with finding a balance between their personal and professional responsibilities? They dont. According to the author of The Overworked American, Juliet Schor states that professionals are working 4 weeks more per year than they were 20 years ago. It may seem like this extra time at work may benefit employers, but not when 10 to 20 percent of the workday is devoted to personal tasks.
So how can corporate America find a way to help employees get that balance so that work time becomes more productive and focused? Some human resource / employee benefit professionals have turned to concierge services to help employees get personal tasks taken care of so that their focus is on professional tasks. For a fee that ranges from $25 to $1,000 per...