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Its a random Tuesday in October, and your kids are home again. A national holiday? Nope. A snow day. Not even a speck of frost on the ground. Its Professional Development Day or Parent-Teacher Conference Half Day or one of the 15 other noninstructional days that appear in the school calendar like little landmines for anyone with a full-time job. At this point, Ive stopped trying to keep track. Every month seems to come with a surprise, theyre home moment. And as a working parent, there are few phrases that strike fear into my heart quite like: No School Today! I love my kids, but that doesnt mean I can drop everything every time the school district decides teachers need a day to recalibrate. I want their educators to have the time they need, I truly do. Its a job I dont have the patience or superpowers to handle. But the system is still built around a 1950s fantasy where one parent is home and is available for midday pick-ups, early dismissals, and weeklong winter breaks. Most families dont live that reality anymore. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2015\/08\/erikaaslogo.png","headline":"Girl, Listen: A Guide to What Really Matters","description":"Ericka dives into the heat of modern motherhood, challenging the notion that personal identity must be sacrificed at the altar of parenting. ","substackDomain":"https:\/\/erickasouter.substack.com\/","colorTheme":"blue","redirectUrl":""}} The hidden toll of random days off This juggling act is brutal. Every day off becomes an exercise in logistics, guilt, and creative problem-solving. Whos taking off work this time? Can I trade shifts? Do we have any vacation days left? Should I call in sickAGAIN? For parents who cant afford nannies or backup care, there arent many options. A babysitter can cost more than what a parent makes in a day. Drop-off programs seem to fill up within minutes and you have a better chance of winning the lottery than getting off the waitlist. And working remote with kids running around, making noise, and needing food hardly makes for a productive day. Of course, the burden doesnt hit parents equally in cisgender households. Research shows that working mothers are far more likely to take time off or rearrange their schedules to cover the gaps in childcare. A 2023 study found that unexpected school closures forced mothers to cut six hours per week on average. Over a three-month period, that adds up to 72 hours. So, its not just inconvenient, it can have economic consequences. Most families cannot afford to bring home less money, and for single parents, this could cause a crisis. Surviving this requires even more emotional labor: coordinating carpools, texting neighbors to ask a favor, setting up playdates with a child that has a SAHM. This is about childcare and the mental strain of dealing with an unpredictable and unsupportive system. There has to be a better way So, whats the solution? Its not as simple as hiring more babysitters. We need modern policies that reflect how families live and work today. Here are a few ideas worth exploring: Community care partnerships. Check out your local YMCAs, libraries, and afterschool programs. Some receive state or district funding to offer affordable coverage on non-school days. Some cities, like Seattle, already do this. Rethink remote flexibility. If companies can pivot to global time zones and hybrid schedules, they can also accommodate parents during the school-year craziness. Family Flex Days could allow workers to shift hours without penalty. Policy shifts. Paid family leave cant just be about new babies. It should also recognize the everyday realities of caregiving. That includes the random Tuesday your second graders school closes at noon. Until the workplace and the school system sync up, parents will keep paying the price in time, money, and peace of mind. The bottom line is, we dont need parents to be more flexible. We need the system to be. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2015\/08\/erikaaslogo.png","headline":"Girl, Listen: A Guide to What Really Matters","description":"Ericka dives into the heat of modern motherhood, challenging the notion that personal identity must be sacrificed at the altar of parenting. ","substackDomain":"https:\/\/erickasouter.substack.com\/","colorTheme":"blue","redirectUrl":""}}
Category:
E-Commerce
One X user named Julia recently shared screenshots of an email exchange with her boyfriend in which she was, in her own words, “colleague-zoned.” In the now-viral post, which has over 15.4 million views at the time of writing, Julia penned in the caption: “Sent a document to my boyfriend’s work email so he could print it for me and got colleague-zoned.” Julia had emailed her boyfriend a document to print, ending her note with, “I love you! Please print this for me! Thanks,” and a red heart emoji. To which he formally responded: “Julia, thanks for reaching out. I have received your document and printed it on 8″ x 11″ paper. Will deliver to you later this evening to be signed. Thank you.” Of course, Julia responded as any girlfriend would. “Are you breaking up with me?” she emailed back. To which he wrote: “Keeping things professional. Just wanted to confirm that I have followed up on your request. Best regards.” Some speculated that his emails are likely monitored, hence the professionalism. That is a man who is locked tf in at work, one wrote. Others recognized the screenshots for what they are: a funny bit. And it turns out, many people apparently do this. My favorite time of year is when I email our HOA bill to my husband and he does this, one wrote. Its like professional flirting. Another added: Something about office speak with loved ones is so funny. Julia is not the only one who has found herself colleague-zoned. Another TikTok creator recently shared a screenshot of her text exchanges with her finance bro husband. Just got 2026 HC enrollment presentation. Lets get lunch/coffee again this weekend and discuss next year, he texted. Just sent to our Gmails so you can review ahead of time. As professional boundaries blur and work continues to bleed into our personal lives, it can be easy to accidentally slip into office speak when replying to a personal email or syncing calendars with your partner. You might circle back to Thanksgiving plans or touch base on what day the trash needs taking out. Some take things a step further and purposefully conduct monthly performance reviews of their romantic relationships, or discuss KPIs and OKRs with their significant others to align on future goals. It works for some. For others, perhaps its a sackable offense. As for Julia, to assuage concerns over her relationship, she later shared screenshots of a follow-up text exchange. Im crying. I just looked at my phone for the first time in like two hours. lmao. Are your emails actually monitored?? Or were you just being silly? she asked. Her boyfriend admitted, No, theyre not monitored at all. I was just being funny. Now entering: the colleague zone.
Category:
E-Commerce
If talent is the oxygen of a company, succession planning is the life-support system. Yet too many organizations treat it like an org chart exercise, waiting until someone resigns or retires before scrambling to find a replacement. When a leader walks out, the ripple effects are immediate: strategy stalls, teams lose momentum, and culture wobbles overnight. The bigger problem? Most companies arent ready when it happens. According to DDIs 2025 HR Insights Report, only 20% of CHROs say they have leaders prepared to step into critical roles, and just 49% of those roles could be filled internally today. That means most organizations are closer to a leadership crisis than they realize. This isnt just an HR issue; its a business continuity risk. The Spreadsheet Trap Too often, succession planning lives in a spreadsheet. Once a year, leaders review ready now candidates, check the box, and move on. But when someone exits suddenly, those names on paper dont always translate into reality. Ive seen it firsthand. At one company where I worked, the president resigned unexpectedly. On paper, there were successors. In practice, none were ready. The company scrambled to find an external hire, losing momentum and market confidence. Contrast that with PMI Worldwide (the owner of the Stanley brand), where culture and succession planning went hand in hand. The CEO and leadership team lived the values, held open forums, and celebrated wins. They didnt just plan for future leaders; they developed them into leaders. When growth accelerated, the bench was ready. One company had a spreadsheet. The other had a system. The difference was everything. The Succession Reality Turnover remains high. The Work Institute projects that 3540 million employees will voluntarily quit in 2025, even as overall quit rates soften. That includes top performers you cant afford to lose. Employee tenure is shrinking, too. For those under 35, the median is just 2.7 years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Replacing leaders can cost up to 200% of their annual salary, per Gallup and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), and it takes more than a year for new hires to become fully productive. To make matters worse, 38% of new hires leave within their first year, often before being considered for promotions. Meanwhile, DDI reports only 20% of HR leaders believe their workforce is future-ready. Without a deliberate pipeline, companies expose themselves to leadership gaps, stalled strategies, and avoidable financial hits. From Planning to Culture Succession planning isnt a list of names; its a culture of growth. That means development is ongoing, not episodic. Leaders are accountable for building their bench. Talent sharing crosses functions and geographies. Data guides investment in development. A proactive succession process signals to employees that advancement is real, not theoretical. It drives engagement, strengthens retention, and ensures seamless transitions when leadership inevitably changes. Most importantly, it tells your people: your future has a place here. Treat Succession Like a KPI The companies that succeed dont treat succession as a side project. They operationalize it. That means: Measuring it like a KPI. Leadership bench strength should be reviewed with the same rigor as financial results. At Amazon, where I led succession processes, leadership readiness was tracked as closely as customer metrics through indicators like internal promotion velocity, bench strength ratios, time-to-fill critical roles, and successor readiness scores. These metrics werent HR dashboardsthey were business metrics. Stress-testing before a crisis. Ask: If this leader left tomorrow, whats our real plan? If the answer is silence, youre not ready. Embedding it into daily development. Succession isnt built once a year in a talent review. Its built through mentoring, stretch projects, and intentional growth opportunities. What Great Succession Planning Looks Like Succession planning isnt about whos next in line. Its about creating a continuous flow of leaders when the business needs it most. Done right, it: Identifies high-potential employees early, using performance + potential, not tenure. Differentiates between ready now and ready in 12 years and develops both. Prepares for both planned exits (retirements) and unplanned ones (attrition, poaching). Aligns talent strategy directly to growth priorities. Assesses the impact of loss. If a leader leaves, what projects stall? What revenue streams are at risk? Balances internal with selective external hires. Leaders should review succession with the same urgency they give to financials. Ask yourself: Do our successors have the skills to succeed today? Are leadership capabilities aligned with future growth? Where are we most vulnerable to leadership gaps? Are we over-reliant on external hires at the expense of internal talent? If the answers are unclear, the plan isnt strong enough. The ROI of Getting It Right Effective succession planning delivers measurable returns. It helps retain top performers, enables smoother transitions, and strengthens culture. When employees see investment in their development, theyre more likely to stay and more likely to be ready. The numbers back it up. DDIs research shows companies with strong leadership pipelines are 2.4 times more likely to financially outperform their peers. Succession isnt a cost center; its a competitive advantage.
Category:
E-Commerce
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