I'm all business this morning. Two items caught my eye last week that suggested that there are companies out there that recognize that the next great employment wave of the future will rest on ensuring that workers are happy and free to structure their lives in the way that most benefits them. And the biggest contributor to happiness for most workers is some sense of work-life balance.

First, Google's Eric Schmidt suggests in Newsweek the workplace shouldn't be about doctrinaire clock-punching:

At google, we think business guru Peter Drucker well understood how to manage the new breed of "knowledge workers." After all, Drucker invented the term in 1959. He says knowledge workers believe they are paid to be effective, not to work 9 to 5, and that smart businesses will "strip away everything that gets in their knowledge workers' way." Those that succeed will attract the best performers, securing "the single biggest factor for competitive advantage in the next 25 years."

I have no idea if Google walks the walk: it's one thing to offer great fringe benefits to induce workers to overwork. It's quite another to offer fringe benefits that truly encourage balance and happiness. I once worked at a business that -- for a period of time -- catered in lunch. It was great food. And it was, invariably, eaten at desks, lest we miss a moment of work.

The other great item was from Business 2.0, where leading lights of the business world were asked to give their "Golden Rule." Here's the one from Shelly Lazarus, chairman and CEO, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide:

I am constantly asked by women how to balance careers with family. I know from experience that there is no silver-bullet answer; if there were, we would be seeing more women in the corner office. The truth is that balance is achieved through a host of individual dance steps, from being willing to suffer a little domestic chaos to insisting that performance be measured by results, not just time spent in the office. Unless you love your work, you won't find the balance. How can you, if you resent the time away from family spent at a tedious job? I fell into a job and a company I loved. I never wanted to leave and never worried that my family suffered for it. Finding fulfilling work should be an early and deeply pursued part of everyone's career path. This may sound soft and mushy, but happy people are better for business. They are more creative and productive, they build environments where success is more likely, and you have a much better chance of keeping your best players.

Another joins the SAHD fold: Dutch from Sweet Juniper and Blogging Baby is prepping to be an at-home dad. Welcome to the club.