Working with Dual Career Couples

Sarah Brown

Module 4: Case Study #3

February 14, 2016

Working With the Dual Career Couples

        In today’s society almost every other household consist of Dual Career Couples. These are people in which both spouses obtain their own career. It is important that our organization learns to properly accommodate employees in this scenario because it will help us recruit and reserve valuable employees as well as utilize a reputable name.

        Building a strategy to correlate with the couples personal lives is essential to their performance in their professional lives. There are many different approaches that can be proposed for us to support them. Understanding the issues that come with dual career couples can help us determine how to work with their needs.

Here are a few options I am proposing:

• Committee for collecting data about the dual career couple

• Helping the spouse find a job

• Collaborating with neighboring institutions

• Expanding departments for dual recruitment and job sharing

• Day care services

• Flexible personal time benefits

        One of the first actions we can take is to learn about our employee’s situation and about their spouse. Is the employee and spouse at the same stage of their careers? This is valuable information for us to know so we can know how to work towards a reasonable direction. Are the couple’s careers at the same stages or is there a trailing spouse?

        I am proposing a program built for the trailing spouse for employee relocation transfers. In this program, there will be a committee who can learn about the spouse’s career status and develop options for them. Job options available at the new location are important to our employee’s family in order for them to accept their new position, therefore we can help set them up with interviews for jobs and reimburse traveling expenses for whatever trips they may need to take before relocating. Although this may seem costly, it is more beneficial than the risks of losing a worthy employee. To make available job options easier, we should partner with other organizations who will be willing to recruit our trailing spouses. In return, we can also assist them by making jobs open at our locations to the trailing spouses of their relocating employees.  Probational positions are also an option. It is understandable to have some concern about quickly trying to accommodate the employee and trusting their spouse will be a good candidate for these positions. Probational positions can be the temporary solution for the transition. If the spouse is a good candidate during the probation period, they can then be recruited to a permanent employee. This will at least help the couple feel comfortable about the transitioning changes.