Scaling back his work hours to spend more time with his family “is the best thing that ever happened to my career.”
That strong avowal–which sounds like an oxymoron–comes from E. Jeffrey Hill, of Orem, Utah, associate professor of marriage, family and human development at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
Hill, 48, also telecommutes as a part-time researcher for his former full-time employer, IBM Corp., based in Armonk, N.Y., for whom he has worked since 1977. He and his wife, Juanita, have nine children, ranging in age from 4 to 23.
“I always wanted to be a good dad, and at the time that meant providing a good living so my wife could raise our children,” said Hill, who has a master’s degree in organizational behavior and a doctorate in family and human development.
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That philosophy began to change in 1979 when his wife ruptured her appendix. “IBM gave me half-time off for eight weeks–and that’s when I first experienced the richness of family life. It influenced my master’s and doctorate degrees and my career focus.”
In 1989, when Hill was a full-time IBM senior human resources professional, he took a second “flexible work” leave of absence. “We had seven children, and though you were supposed to be there every day–it was before passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act and unheard of for men–I asked how I was different from the women with work responsibilities equal to mine who were granted unpaid leave. I got it.”
In 1997, when another child was born and Hill wanted to work half-days, “there was no question I could do it. It was a far cry from l989.”
When Hill returned to IBM as a marketing support representative from his first leave, he was offered a job in New York doing surveys, which, he says, “I love even more than marketing. But with all the children we had, I couldn’t afford to live in New York. So I asked my manager if I could work as a telecommuter from Phoenix, where we then lived. And she said yes.”
In 1995, when Hill enrolled in his doctoral program, he switched to 20 hours of work a week. His dissertation, not surprisingly, was on the effects of telecommuting on work and family life. And in 1998, he was part of an IBM program that “loaned” employees to teach at universities: Hill went to Brigham Young, where he started a curriculum on work and family issues and has been there ever since.
From 1998 to 2000, the professor took a leave from IBM, but this year he was retained on a flexible schedule to do a work and family survey for the company–from home.
“More and more corporations are seeing that men can be involved in the lives of their families and still be good employees–what’s good for families is good for business, too,” said Hill, who is highly valued by IBM.
Michael Gebert, age 39, a Chicago freelance advertising copywriter, “downshifted” his career in 1998 when his son was born to be a “semi” stay-at-home dad.
“Over the years, I’ve taken time off from working for advertising agencies full time, worked part time, have gone back and then left again,” said Gebert, who is married to Susan Snyder, an attorney who specializes in estates and trusts. The couple became parents of another son in August and Snyder now is on maternity leave.
“Working from home as I do, I feel I’m more valuable as an advertising consultant because I have an outsider perspective that you don’t have when you’re in the thick of it 60 hours a week–and ad agencies need that perspective,” said Gebert.
He works “a full load” but tries to limit it to three days a week, when his older son is in day care, and evenings and weekends. “Somebody said American fathers are like uncles, and I didn’t want to be like that,” Gebert said. “I probably could have advanced to creative director at an agency, but I wouldn’t have the life I have. Besides, there’s another change in my life: I’m a calmer and nicer person.”
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Watch Carol Kleiman’s Career Coach segments Sunday and Tuesday mornings on CLTV.