Kids or career? In Hydro, we won't make you choose

(September 3, 2007)

Maybe this scenario is an exaggeration, but people around the world are increasingly preoccupied with how to balance the demands of career and life outside work. As an employee in a dynamic company like Hydro, we can’t promise that you won’t have days like this. Indeed, there’s no doubt that many of our staff experience stress. But in Hydro, we care about finding the balance.

Although work is a big part of our life, it’s not our entire life. We recognise this, and we’re doing our bit to make the lives of our employees more manageable and rewarding – offering the possibility of more flexible working hours, working from home, portable PCs and supportive management attitudes that focus on results, not hours. We talked to Hydro employees in different countries — and gathered some advice on what you — and we — can do to help achieve the balance.

The American Way

Pick up a newspaper or magazine in the US these days, and there is bound to be an article about stress. Stress at work, stress at home, stress traveling from home to work and vice-versa.

Compared to other developed countries, Americans work more hours and get less paid time off. They arrive early and stay late. They skip lunch, or eat at their desk. One common story is no one wants to be the first to leave, or that no one dares to leave before the boss does. And, goes the complaint, many don’t take all of their holidays because they’re “too busy” or “don’t dare” for fear of appearing “lazy.”

Making a getaway

Matt Aboud at Hydro’s Baltimore office tells a story about a previous job he had during the dot-com boom in the ’90s. He and his colleagues were putting in 12-hour days at a financial services company, often working until nine or ten at night.

THE FEDEX ESCAPE: Matt Aboud of Hydro's Bailtimore office demonstrates how faking a Fedex drop-off allowed him to escape from work at a previous employer

“No one would leave early,” he recalls. “I’d have my work done, but I felt I couldn’t leave. I didn’t want everyone to hear me jingling my keys.” A friend from another company shared a trick: “I’d stuff my jacket in a FedEx box and say I had to make a delivery in order to exit the building while avoiding the stigma of leaving ‘early’.”

Hydro is not like that at all, says Matt. He’s has a one-year-old son and is responsible for strategy and business development in Metal Products’ US operations. “It’s not about face time” – how much time you spend being seen – but about getting the job done. “You get it right the first time, you work safe. If you have a great idea, you go with it. Take charge and do it.”

Control — the key to mastering stress

Many of the employees in the North America Competence Center in Baltimore say that stress is a factor in their lives, but they find ways to alleviate it. In fact, that is the key, says Martin Carter, head of the Competence Center. Stress is a fact life these days – it’s what you do about it, as a company and as an individual – that counts.

“The question about stress is whether it’s undue or unexpected,” he says. “It’s not necessarily from the workload, but from processes that could be improved. How stressed one feels has to do with a sense of empowerment – whether you feel in control of your situation.

Flexible father

FLEXITIME: Jeff Kennedy has a flexible work arrangement that means he can arrive early and leave early to beat the traffic, or do it the other way around, but is also available during the core part of the day for meetings.

Jeff Kennedy is responsible for benefits issues in Human Relations in Hydro’s office in Baltimore. He and his wife Kate have two school-age sons in private school, and moved to a neighbourhood of tree-lined streets and colonial homes in northern Baltimore to be near the school.

The only downside is that their new home is on the far side of the city from the Hydro offices. “Rush hour” seems to never cease, and the commute for Jeff means endlessly inching along the freeway.

Fortunately Jeff has a flexible work arrangement. He can arrive early and leave early to beat the traffic, or do it the other way around, but is also available during the core part of the day for meetings. What’s important is that the work gets done, not that it all gets done between 9 and 5. He and his wife, who is a human relations consultant, juggle their schedules to accommodate their kids’ school day.

“One of the reasons I chose Hydro is that they have this philosophy,” Jeff explains. “It’s not the company’s responsibility to work it out for you, but I know I have the support of my boss and others.”

Thinking outside the box in the UK

FOCUS ON THE KIDS: "The first three years are really important to a child's development," says Sue Vincent (standing), Head of Corporate Communication in the UK

Sue Vincent, head of corporate communication in the UK, has plenty of experience as a working mother. She has four-year-old twins in pre-school – Scarlett and Matilda – and baby Lola. A flexible work schedule is a must, or else all the pieces of the puzzle wouldn’t fit together. She usually works Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Her optometrist husband, Clive, is off Mondays. A nanny looks after the twins on Wednesdays and Fridays.

“Once I found out I was having twins, I took up the idea of a three-day week with the managing director,” Sue recalls. “I work three days, but I’m always available by e-mail or my Blackberry” — the must-have mobile electronic device.

“I'd like to continue part-time work until Lola is at least three. The first three years are really important to a child’s development.”

Happiness breeds productivity

PDA: Sue never leaves home without her trusty Blackberry pocket PC

While some scepticism may still exist in the UK about part-time work, Sue feels that it’s not an issue.

“If someone isn’t there full time, they’re seen as not fully committed. In my case, I’m just as committed, and Hydro recognizes you’re committed. Hydro has a grown-up approach to its employees. It recognizes that everyone doesn’t fit into one box, and that you can still make a contribution.

“The company realizes you have a life, and if you’re happy in general with your life, you’re more productive.”

With a nanny and baby at her south London home, though, Sue prefers to go into the Twickenham office. “It’s harder to stay at home, I think. There’s no structure, no goal. Going to work makes you feel like a normal person. The beauty of this day and age is that you can choose.”

Norwegian town life provides idyllic contrast

COMMUTER: Tove Sjøblom Stuhr is Oil & Energys head of Exploration for the North Sea, and commutes by train to Oslo. Returning to her home town, yet keeping her responsibilities with Hydro, makes the long commute worth it. She is shown here with husband Erik and daughter Ida.

Tove Sjøblom Stuhr is Oil & Energy’s head of Exploration for the North Sea, a position that carries a lot of responsibility — but that’s the way she likes it.

Working days can easily be long. She rarely gets home to the small town of Horten south of Oslo before evening.

It’s a long commute into Oslo for a busy working couple, but they think it’s worth the effort. Both have interesting tasks at work, and they prefer the idyllic contrast of small-town life. Usually work at the Kjørbo office continues at full throttle, but she can work from her home office when there is something important on the family agenda.

“Yes, Mom works long days,” her 11-year-old daughter Ida admits, but there is no hint of reproach in her voice. Both Tove and her husband Erik realize the importance of looking after the family, which also includes their daughter Kine, 16, and a large cat called Texas.

“As long as I find the job enjoyable and interesting, it’s up to me to decide how much time and energy I want to invest in it,” she says. “My husband and I look after the family as well as we can, and we share the tasks.”