Work life balance spotlight on Tillie Hidalgo Lima president/CEO of Best Upon Request

Tillie Hidalgo Lima

Growing your company by over 500% is no easy task, especially when you are a role model for work life balance, but that’s exactly what Tillie Hidalgo Lima and her team have done since she became president/CEO of Best Upon Request in 2003. 

Cincinnati-based Best Upon Request concierge service  covers a vast array of services to help make work life balance a little easier by doing everything from running errands to event planning.  Eighty nine percent of Best Upon Request customers agree concierge services help increase work life balance.  Read on for more work life balance insights from Tillie.

1.  What do you think is the biggest work life balance challenge Cincinnati businesses face in 2009?
I think the biggest challenge is moving away from the mentality that, because of the recession, everyone must do more with less and that you have to spend more time at work at the expense of life responsibilities.  Now more than ever it is important to show employees that you care about their well-being and their work-life integration.  If not, when the economy fully recovers, they will find an employer that does. 
 

2.  What is the smallest sized organization you have as a client?
The smallest-sized organization we serve on-site has 250 employees. 
 

3.  How many employees does your largest client employ?
Our largest client employs close to 14,000 employees.
 

4. What does Best Upon Request offer as far as work life benefits to its own employees?
It is so important to “walk the talk.”  At our corporate office, located in Montgomery, employees can use concierge services like lunch pick-ups and dry cleaning.  We offer flextime and summer hours, as well as programs like Dream Manager, Finance Manager and Rock Solid to support team members holistically.  Other programs include company-supported volunteering and professional development tracking as a key performance indicator.  Company-wide, we provide full-time benefits at 30 hours, generous paid-time-off accrual and 10 paid holidays each year.
 

5. What work life balance challenges do you face as CEO of a successful organization?
The work life balance challenge I face is that if I do not actually schedule the time off to relax and rejuvenate, it would never happen.  I also tend to do “just one more thing” at the end of the work day which is hard because I get so engaged in that task that I forget what time it is.  I challenge myself to be home by 6:30 p.m. for dinner.  I love to travel and want to schedule more time to do so. 
 

6.  What are the top requests you receive from Cincinnati clients or do you find the top requests are the same regardless of geographic area?
It’s often the same regardless of geographic area.  In particular in the Cincinnati area the top requests are for car services, dry cleaning, postal services and shopping.

Special thanks to Jessica Lima Bollin for contributing to this article.

Send email to pattipaulett@gmail.com.  Thanks for reading!