What’s important to you when it comes to your job?
For me, I love the challenges running a company brings. Things change on a daily basis—I never know what will be new tomorrow, who I’ll meet, or what we’ll be working on. That keeps me on my toes!
But most of all, I love working at a company that helps others. I take the most satisfaction in hearing from Care.com members say how we’ve helped their family find care.
Just last week, I was at an event at Isis Maternity here in Boston and a young working mother stood up and talked about how Care.com helped her find a nanny for her new baby. Now she tells all her friends how easy our service is to use!
Everyone’s different when it comes to happiness at work. Recently, a new study of over 100,000 working adults came out showing people in certain occupations tended to score higher in overall well-being. The survey measured things like job satisfaction, emotional and physical health, access to housing or health care, and overall quality of life.
So who was at the top of the list in terms of job satisfaction? It wasn’t the corporate managers, doctors, or lawyers (the ones who made the most money or had the most “prestige”). The employees who were the happiest with their jobs were the self-employed and business owners—people who were their own bosses or worked at home!
Many Care.com members are moms and dads who work or stay at home with their families. With technology making this kind of flexibility possible for millions of employees, it’s not surprising that people take advantage of these types of job opportunities.
Here at Care.com, we’ve tried to create a flexible work environment despite the demands of a growing online company. Many of us are parents, so we try to give our employees a chance to set their work schedules around their family time. We even have a 40-member “Mom Force” that helps with member care and our safety and security features. This team of moms works remotely from their homes, which are spread across the country anywhere from Massachusetts to Oregon. They work with our Member Care Team to review every care provider profile and job post before we put them onto Care.com.
Micki S. and Kathleen R. are two members of the Mom Force. They were kind enough to talk a little about their experience with working from home for Care.com.
We asked them what they liked about working from home. Both gave answers based on being there for their families—something all moms can identify with!
“[I like] the convenience of being home for my son when he gets out of school and being able to take him to his soccer and hockey practices,” said Micki
Personally, I think it takes a special type of person to be able to work from home, especially if you’re a parent. You’re juggling both your work and household responsibilities at the same time.
“It can be stressful trying to maintain the home, shuffle the kids to various activities and school, keep up with the homework, and work at the same time,” Kathleen said. “However, there is nothing that I value more than family, and I love the fact that Care.com allows me the opportunity to use my knowledge and skills along with being home for my children and husband.”
Sometimes when you’re working from home, you trade in some of the things from a traditional office setting and take on a whole other set of challenges.
“If something goes wrong and your computer is down, you can’t work. It’s up to us to get it fixed—and quickly,” Micki said.
Kathleen told us, “Sometimes I miss the social interaction with co-workers, but then we’ll just pick up the telephone!”
What do you think about working from home? It’s definitely something that’s working out for moms like Kathleen and Micki. If you have a family, would you rather leave office life behind and set up a home office? Or do you think you’re just as happy (if not more so) working in a “traditional” office environment?
I want to hear about the parts of your job that makes you happy, so post a comment and let me know!
