The woman who helped the Kardashians build their business empire says your boss isn’t on the hook for your work-life balance.
Emma Grede, the cofounder of Skims and Good American, said it’s not your employer’s job to figure out how you’ll pick up your kids from school, and you shouldn’t ask about it in a job interview.
The retail boss appeared on the podcast “Diary of a CEO” where she shared what the work schedule of a successful person looks like.
It’s a “personal responsibility” to find a balance between work and home, and those who rise to the top of their companies rarely take a day without doing some type of work, she said.
“Work-life balance is your problem. It isn’t your employer’s responsibility,” Grede said on the podcast, which posted Monday.
However, the Good American CEO said she’s not questioning why employees aren’t at their desks throughout the day. There’s flexibility built into the workday that allows workers to make it to their “haircut or kid’s parent-teacher conference,” for example.
“When somebody talks to me about their work-life balance in an interview process, I’m like, ‘Is something wrong with you,'” Grede told host Steven Bartlett.
The mom of four said she finds time to spend her most of her weekends on the beach in Malibu, but working on Saturdays is to be expected of someone who wants to lead an “extraordinary life.”
Workplace psychologist Katina Sawyer told Business Insider that considering work-life balance a skill reinforces “flawed thinking.”
“It allows employers to ignore the role their expectations play in employee burnout and to shift the blame onto individuals when performance suffers,” said Sawyer, who teaches at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management.
Representatives for Skims and Good American did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.
According to Grede, earning 10% more, getting a bonus, and working in an “incredible environment” should come before expecting the company to provide a work-life balance.
She joins other top bosses, including Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, in not being a fan of the idea of work-life balance. Musk, the richest man in the world, has been outspoken about opposing it and has reportedly required his employees to work more than 40 hours a week in the past.
Meanwhile, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said “work-life harmony” is a better practice to focus on. In 2019 he told the Australian Financial Review that he tries to achieve harmony by aligning his interests with his work.
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