????我從沒想過自己會成為一名職場媽媽。我的母親曾是一位全職媽媽，那時的我也很享受，因為她能一直在家里陪我。如今，我曾經(jīng)也希望能像她那樣，即便現(xiàn)在也還是這么想。雖然一直抱著這樣的想法，我后來還是有了自己的事業(yè)。

????在我組建家庭之前，我有大量的時間發(fā)展和完善其他的事情，比如職業(yè)技能，職業(yè)團(tuán)隊團(tuán)隊等，其中最重要的是一份對事業(yè)的熱愛。如果讓我一下子拋棄所有這一切，我覺得對我來說并非正確的選擇。

????3月份，我兒子剛滿5個月，這時候回去工作并不是件容易的事。我每天都在為自己要如何選擇而矛盾不已。幸運地是，我認(rèn)識了一些優(yōu)秀的女士，她們來自不同的行業(yè)，但與我有同樣的經(jīng)歷。她們既是了不起的媽媽，在職場中也有非凡的成就。這些女性在各個方面都是佼佼者。在面臨如何平衡母親的角色與事業(yè)的追求時，她們并沒有為了某一方而犧牲另一方。恰恰相反，她們找到了平衡兩者的方法，而且效果不錯。

????我希望她們能為其他職場媽媽提供一些秘訣，并為雇主們提供一些建議，如何才能留住這些職場精英女性。

????她們給出了下列建議：

1. 尋求他人的幫助。

????我調(diào)查過的女性無一例外地表示，擁有完善的兒童保育解決方案對于成功重返職場至關(guān)重要。也就是說，要找到值得你信任的人，真正愛孩子的人，或許最重要的是，可以輕松與你進(jìn)行溝通的人。這也意味著要懂得放手。我兒子就很喜歡他的保姆，但這并不意味著他對我的愛有一絲一毫的減少。

2. 與愛人合作

????我丈夫鼓勵我重返職場。在我搖擺不定的時候，他最初的支持非常重要。但更重要的是，他始終都在給我提供支持。他的工作時間比較靈活，所以，當(dāng)我需要在一大早參加晨會，或者我無法在下午6點準(zhǔn)時到家時，他能代替我照看孩子。而且，他還替我分擔(dān)了一些其他雜事，比如購物、準(zhǔn)備飯菜等等。

3. 做自己喜歡的事情。

????如果不喜歡工作，重回工作崗位肯定行不通。雖然全職媽媽并不輕松，但它也能帶來巨大的回報。但在職場上就難說了。如果你忍受不了自己的工作或者同事，這時候，你可能一整天都在想：要是能跟孩子在一起該多好。所以，如果不喜歡自己的工作或同事，那就做一下改變吧。

4. 設(shè)定界限，并嚴(yán)格遵守。

????我每天下午5點會準(zhǔn)時下班，這樣我就能在6點時到家。當(dāng)然，這并不是說我從下午5點就停止工作了，而是說，從那一刻起到我兒子睡著的這段時間，我沒法工作。這點時間非常寶貴，所以我非常珍惜。職場媽媽們也應(yīng)該根據(jù)自己的情況，設(shè)定一個界限。

5. 與其他媽媽們建立一個關(guān)系網(wǎng)

????我重新開始工作之前，加入了一個由媽媽們組成的圈子。我們建立了一個Facebook圈子。最初只是為了在計劃“游玩日”的時候，不必頻繁給彼此發(fā)送電子郵件，不過到最后，這個圈子變成一個巨大的資源庫，里面有各種各樣的建議和信息，包括嬰兒食譜和硬木地板無毒清潔劑等。盡管這個圈子里的人我?guī)缀醵紱]有見過面，但她們總是能提供有效的資源和支持。

????同時建議職場媽媽的上司們記住：

1. 切記，對于任何人來說，靈活永遠(yuǎn)都是好事。

????我“日常工作”的很大一部分是為公司提供建議，幫助員工提高效率。允許存在靈活性對于我們制定的策略至關(guān)重要。這條建議對于職場媽媽們尤為適用。或許與其他同事相比，她們在辦公室的時間較少，但她們肯定會有效地利用可以支配的工作時間，這一點毋庸置疑。所以，如果雇主能讓職場媽媽們自行決定上班的時間、地點，以及工作的方式等，她們就可以更加有效地平衡工作和家庭。

2. 依據(jù)結(jié)果管理（衡量）績效。

????如果雇主一直按“出勤時間”來管理和衡量績效，那就得重新考慮一下了。其實，雇主最終想要的都是高質(zhì)量的結(jié)果。所以，管理者應(yīng)該接受這樣一種觀點，即對于員工的管理與獎勵，應(yīng)該根據(jù)最終的結(jié)果，而不是強調(diào)他們?yōu)楂@得這一結(jié)果所花費的時間。

3. 為職場媽媽提供挑戰(zhàn)的機會。

????當(dāng)一個人認(rèn)為工作充滿挑戰(zhàn)時，就會對工作更有熱情。我休假的時候，我的老板跟我接觸，稱希望我回去之后能擔(dān)任一個新職務(wù)。這一舉動不僅表明他希望我能回去繼續(xù)為公司工作，同時也激發(fā)了我的積極性：實際上，我非常希望能有新的挑戰(zhàn)。所以，在我休假結(jié)束重回公司時，我很輕松就完成了向新崗位的過渡，因為在我休假時，我便已經(jīng)完成了角色的轉(zhuǎn)換。

4. 口頭激勵。

????休完產(chǎn)假后，我聽到的最令我高興的一句話是：“我們很高興你又回來了?！痹掚m然很簡單，但卻意味深長。為了能夠回來工作，我做出了犧牲。了解別人對我的出現(xiàn)和我做出的貢獻(xiàn)心存感激，有非同一般的意義，尤其是當(dāng)時我更想留在家里。

5. 切記，職場媽媽的另一半也應(yīng)該被視為解決方案的一部分。

????職場媽媽們的伴侶非常關(guān)鍵。因此，將靈活工作規(guī)定的范圍擴大到職場爸爸或配偶也非常重要。當(dāng)然，我并不是說要“提供父親產(chǎn)假”（如果可以提供的話當(dāng)然更好），而是希望雇主明白，目前大部分家庭是父母雙方都在工作。所以，公司的規(guī)定應(yīng)該是以支持家庭為出發(fā)點，而不僅僅考慮職場媽媽，這樣就能讓所有人都受益。

????“時常感到矛盾，始終擔(dān)心錯過了重要的事情，總是有做不完的事，這樣也挺好的吧?！钡也淮_定所有人都能認(rèn)同這種觀點。

????然而職業(yè)與家庭是可以兼顧的。要成功平衡職業(yè)和家庭，需要有靈活性、愛人的幫助、幽默感，或許還得在Facebook上建一個圈子。

????本文作者喬治亞?柯林斯為戰(zhàn)略商務(wù)咨詢公司DEGW的執(zhí)行董事，負(fù)責(zé)北美地區(qū)業(yè)務(wù)。該公司旨在幫助客戶改善工作條件。

????（翻譯 劉進(jìn)龍）

????I never thought I'd be a working mom. My mom wasn't a workingmom and I loved that she stayed home. I wanted to be like her. I still do. But somewhere along the line, I found a career.

????So before I started a family, I had a solid amount of time to build and refine something else -- a skill set, a team, and, most importantly, a passion for what I do. Suddenly walking away from all of that didn't seem like the right thing to me.

????It wasn't easy going back to work in March -- five months after my son was born -- and I'm still conflicted on a daily basis by my choice. Luckily, I know an extraordinary group of women who've taken the same path as me. They are amazing moms who also have incredible careers -- across a wide variety of industries. These women are overachievers across the board. So when it came to finding a way to balance being a mom and having a career, their starting point was not about compromising one for the sake of the other. Instead, it was about finding a way to make both work, and work well.

????I asked them what tips they would give other working moms and what advice they'd give employers about how to keep high-performing women in the workforce.

????Here's what they had to offer:

1. Outsource and embrace help.

????Without exception, all of the women I polled on this subject said that having a great childcare solution was critical to their success in going back to work. This means finding someone you trust, someone who loves your child, and perhaps most importantly, someone who you can easily communicate with. It also means letting go a little. My son loves his nanny but that doesn't mean that he loves me any less.

2. Partner with your partner.

????My husband encouraged me to go back to work. His initial support was crucial when I was on the fence. But more significantly, he has continued to demonstrate his support. His job is somewhat flexible, which means he can cover for me when I have an early morning conference call or when I can't be home right at 6pm. He's also taken on a more equal share of the errands, shopping, meal preparation, etc.

3. Do what you love.

????If you hate your job, it just won't work. Being a full-time mom is a huge job; it is also immensely rewarding. That is not always the case for work in the office. If you can't stand what you are doing or who you're doing it with, then you'll spend all day wishing you were with your child instead. So if you don't love what you do or where you are working, consider a change.

4. Set boundaries and respect them.

????I leave work every day at 5 p.m. so I can be home by 6 p.m. This doesn't mean that I stop working at 5 p.m., but it does mean that I am unavailable from that point until the time my son goes to sleep. That time is sacred and I protect it. Set the boundaries that work for you.

5. Build a network of moms.

????Before I went back to work, I joined a mothers' group. We set up a Facebook Group. Originally it was a way to plan play dates without flooding each other's inboxes, but it has become a tremendous resource -- a repository for advice and information on everything from baby food recipes to non-toxic hardwood floor cleaners. They are a constant resource and a support network even though I rarely (if ever) see them in person.

????And for those of you who manage working moms:

1. Remember that flexibility is a good thing (for everyone).

????A large part of my "day job" is to advise organizations on how to help their staff work effectively. Allowing flexibility is critical to the strategies we develop. This advice is especially true for working moms. They may not be in the office as much as their other colleagues, but you can be sure that they are using the work time they do have very efficiently. When employers allow working moms to make their own decisions about when, where, and how they work, they are more successful at balancing work and family.

2. Manage (and measure) performance by results.

????If you manage and measure performance by "face time," you may want to reconsider your approach. Ultimately, what we all want is high-quality results. We have to get better about managing and rewarding people for their results rather than emphasizing the time they spent to achieve them.

3. Offer challenges.

????People who feel challenged in their jobs enjoy them more. While I was on leave, my boss approached me about taking on a new role when I came back. Not only did this send a message that he wanted me back, but it also motivated me: I actually looked forward to having a new challenge. Making the transition to my new role was actually easier when I came back from leave because I had already shifted the responsibilities of my former role to others for the time I was away.

4. Provide verbal encouragement.

????One of the best things I heard when I came back from maternity leave was "we're so glad you're back." It is so simple, but it meant a lot. I am sacrificing something to be back at work. Knowing that other people appreciate my presence and my contribution makes a world of difference, especially on those days that I'd rather be at home.

5. Remember partners are part of the solution too.

????Partners are critical. To that end, extending flexible work policies to working dads or partners is key. And by this I don't mean, "have a paternity leave policy" (although those are good too). Instead, employers need to recognize that most families today have two working parents, not one. Policies that support families, rather than just working moms, therefore benefit everyone.

????I'm not sure anyone goes into this thinking, "Oh, wouldn't it be nice to feel frequently conflicted, to consistently worry about missing something important, and to never get completely through another to-do list again."

????But having both a career and a family is achievable. Success requires flexibility, partnership, a sense of humor, and perhaps a Facebook group.

????Georgia Collins is the managing director of North American business for DEGW, a strategic