Dual Career Couple

Human Resource Management Strategies for Assisting Dual Career Couples

Given that 40% of the total workforce is comprised of dual career couples with many of them having children, the need for Human Resource Departments to provide services that both alleviate time conflicts and also promote a healthy lifestyle balance is critical. For small companies in particular, the challenge of retaining dual career couples is compounded by the need for first retaining top talent when larger organizations with a broader range of family care services, in addition to staying competitive in their markets while giving employees flexibility in taking care of their families.

While smaller companies may find competing on benefits alone will be difficult, the one advantage they do have is flexibility and a closer management of time for dual career couples with families. First, smaller companies can create a telecommuting policy that will allow workers to work from home while at the same time being able to take care of their families. A telecommuting policy is commonplace in larger organizations and could significantly increase productivity for workers who may need to be home when their children are sick. A second approach smaller companies can take is to create a flextime policy where workers can make up days over the weekend if they choose to in order to complete work; also included in this program will be the ability to define work hours as well on a daily basis. A third strategy for assisting dual career couples is to promote a policy of hiring spouses in different departments. The benefits of having a shared career objective is one of the reasons companies pursue this specific strategy.

Finally, if a smaller company finds that they have several dual career couples with small children, creating a nursery or pre-kindergarten in one area of the building is also an excellent idea.

This allows both parents to see the child and gives the mother the freedom of returning to work after the child has received preschool age.