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Work/Life Balance Benefits
- 1. WORK/LIFE BALANCE Alisha Stewart, Riley Bradley, Ginny Sager & Alysia Chevalier
- 2. Introduction Organizations today are designing benefits programs that provide employees with a balance between their work and individual lives. Employees today want more: Flexibility Balance Family Friendly Job Sharing Environments
- 3. Introduction Cont. Work-life balance now ranks as one of the most important workplace attributes— second only to compensation. Work/Life Benefits plans can include: Childcare Elder care Flextime Schedules Family Advocacy Programs Telecommuting Programs
- 4. Section I: The Contemporary Importance Attraction & Lower Rates of Retention Absenteeism Employer Benefits Physical and Increase Mental Health Productivity
- 5. The Contemporary Importance Cont. Employee Benefits Reduced stress, fewer health physical and mental health Increase productivity at problems home and work, healthier family life, increase overall quality of life
- 6. Video: Contemporary Importance Cont. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=H9brT4tU-sE
- 7. Section II: Key Issues Working Population Demographics Keeping the Work Separate Managing
- 8. Working Population Demographics 2006: 92 million unmarried and single (18% Singles alienated by residents 18+) traditional work/life Almost ½ U.S. programs households lead by an unmarried Shifting population Rise in households needs different kind without minor of balance children
- 9. Keeping the Work Separate Increased Schedule Control Employee Stress Levels Crossing work/home lines role conflicts Brings into question Costs vs. Benefits of schedule flexibility
- 10. Managing Managing Traditional Teams vs. Managing Virtual Teams Keeping team members engaged Encouraging continued communication Monitoring productivity and output
- 11. Video: Success
- 12. Section III: Team Reflections
- 13. Bibliography Bonewend, Larry. „The Work-Life Balance.” Youtube.com. 12 March 2007. Web. Oct 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=H9brT4tU-sE Brennan, Robert, et al. "The relationship of perceived flexibility, supportive work-life policies, and use of formal flexible arrangements and occasional flexibility to employee engagement and expected retention." Community, Work & Family 11.2 (2008): 183-197. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. Brough, Paula, and Michael P. O'Driscoll. "Organizational interventions for balancing work and home demands: An overview." Work & Stress 24.3 (2010): 280-297. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. Casey, Patrick R., and Joseph G. Grzywacz. "Employee Health and Well-Being: The Role of Flexibility and Work-Family Balance." Psychologist-Manager Journal 11.1 (2008): 31-47. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. Eidson, Carl. “Six Strategies for Managing Telecommuters.” CIO.com. December 08, 2009. Wilson Learning. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. http://www.cio.com/article/510269/Six_Strategies_for_Managing_Telecommuters Marsh, Nigel . “How to make work-life balance work.” Ted.com. Feb 2011. Web. Oct 2011. http://www.ted.com/talks/nigel_marsh_how_to_make_work_life_balance_work.html Nauert, Rick. “Too Much Work Flexibility Can Lead to Stress” Psychcentral.com. 30 Sept. 2010. University of Toronto. Web. Oct 2011. http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/30/too-much-work-flexibility-can-lead-to-stress/18957.html Neault, Roberta (2005). That Elusive Work-Life Balance!, National Consultation on Career. http://www.natcon.org/archive/natcon/papers/natcon_papers_2005_e5.pdf Pryles, Victor. “Work/Life Balance Is Just Good Business!” Business Performance Pty Ltd. 2010. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. http://www.businessperform.com/articles/nature-work/work_life_balance.html The Staff of the Corporate Executive Board. “The Increasing Call for Work-Life Balance” Bloomberg Businessweek. March 27, 2009. Web. 13 Oct. 2011.. http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/mar2009/ca20090327_734197.htm?chan=careers_special Wells, Susan J. “Are You Too Family Friendly?” SHRM.org. October 2007. HR Magazine, 52(10), p.1-7. Course Content. Oct 2011. http://shrm.org/hrmagazine/articles/1007/1007cover.asp
- 14. Conclusion
- 15. Recommended Discussion Points How might your ideas of success contribute to an unbalanced work/life? What informs them? What cause effect relationships do you attribute to the increasing divorce rate in America in regards to work culture? Name other factors that you feel are linked to work life balance that have not been discussed here. Describe an ideal management system which facilitates balance for its employees. What key experiences have you had managing your work/life? What were your “carrots”? What were your “sticks”? How might your core values affect your ideas of balance? What was most interesting among the information presented? Do you feel the current recession impacts the level of power that employees have to achieve career and family balance? The video suggests that there are professions which simply will not be conducive to work life balance– Do you agree? How might performance management and training systems be adapted to virtual teams? Do you think that factors such as gender, age, race, career level, profession, etc effect the possibility of achieving work life balance?
Hinweis der Redaktion
- Organizations today are designing benefits programs that provide employees with a balance between their work and individual lives. Employees respond well to these programs because they value the flexibility. “In the current economic environment, work-life balance now ranks as one of the most important workplace attributes—second only to compensation”. (Staff of Corporate Executive Board 2009) For numerous years there has been an ongoing need for employers to provide flexibility in employees’ work schedules. Employees seem to want more flexibility, balance, job sharing and family friendly environments at work. Work/life benefits provide employees with a balance between work and their personal lives. A typical plan may include elder care, childcare, flextime work schedules, telecommuting programs, and other miscellaneous benefits. (Pryles) As the United States population becomes more diverse and family make-ups change employers must find ways to offer more diverse programs.
- In today’s workplace employee work/life balance is an important issue for many employees and should be as important to employers. There are many employer benefits to provide work/life balances in the workplace. Employers need understand that an employee’s personal and work life are interconnected, overlap and influence each other(Brough and Driscoll, 292). By doing this employers can begin to develop work/life balance initiative that seek to aid employees in the struggle to manage the two. If an employee is at work and there are preoccupied by a sick child at home or other family obligations how can they be productive at work? If an HR practice can alleviate this distraction then the employee will be more productive while at work. In addition, the employee might have greater job commitment and satisfaction as a result of a more flexible work schedule or time off policy. In a study conducted by Patrick Casey and Joseph Grzywacz from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, “An increase in perceived flexibility was associated with decrease in sickness absences and work related impairment and improved job commitment. Decreased flexibility over the year was associated with a significant increase in impairment and reduced job commitment” (42). Examples of workplace initiatives are: health and fitness centers, onside childcare, paid paternal leave spouse/partner benefits, part-time/flexible work hours, elder care and access to healthy living tools. Having these programs available is not enough employers must actively engage and educate employees on available work/life balance programs and develop a supportive work environment that manages the work experience and the development of employee engagement (Brennan et al., 185). It is also important for employers to educate employees on how to successfully self-manage their work/life balance practices.
- For an employee managing work with a personal life is a constant tug of war. “As many individuals juggle several significant life roles (e.g., parent, spouse, child, worker, student, community member), role conflict has contributed to work-life imbalance” (Neault, 1). Issues at home can cause distractions at work, affect one’s mood, emotional and physical stress, low levels of job satisfaction, depression and high blood pressure. Work/life balance practices offered by companies can help employees not only manage their work environment but their home life as well. When children or a family is sick it can allow you to work from home or take the day off without it counting toward your absenteeism rate. It can allow an employee to find day care options and backup care when schools are closed for non-observed work holidays. “From an employee standpoint, flexibility presumably allows individuals to meet work-related responsibilities while maintaining a satisfying personal life” (Casey and Grzywacz, 31). Successfully managing work and home can increase an employee’s overall quality of life. By alleviating the stress associated with balancing work and home obligations an employee will have more free time to focus on performing well at work and maintaining healthy relationships at home. It is beneficial for an employee to exercise control and make decisions that are beneficial for themselves when it comes to work/life conflicts without retaliation from the workplace. Fear of retaliation in the workplace can cause stress at work and home. In addition to the many personal benefits work/life programs can provide they can also influence an employees decision of where they should work. If an employer offers greater work/life programs one might be more interested in working there even if it the firm is offering a lower base salary.
- Shifts in the demographics of the workforce are calling for changes to work/life programs to accommodate the growing single/unmarried population (Wells) Increase in schedule control has been found to increase stress levels for employees, creating issues for telecommuters (Nauert) Work/life programs allow more employees and teams to work virtually calling for new managing techniques to keep teams successful (Eidson)
- An increase in divorce rates has shifted the population towards marrying later in life and living a single, working life longer than traditionally was the case in the U.S. The American workplace has been centered around the family and working parents for decades but with this new shift in demographics, the traditional characteristics of the workplace are no longer accommodating the employees. Traditional work/life programs have focused on childcare conflicts, school events and sick children which won’t be the case for the majority if the workforce continues to shift towards a single, unmarried majority. Wells recognizes this building issue not only in the slight of the single workforce but also in the absence of the parental workforce. Traditional accommodations for working parents often leave incomplete workloads to the singles who are assumed to have nothing of importance in their lives outside of work. This leads to stress, overworking and unhappy workers. In order to keep the workforce productive and happy in the workplace, work/life programs are going to need to be balanced out to accommodate the single workers and ensure they are treated with the same amount of flexibility that married employees are.
- A study conducted by the University of Toronto explored the extent to which an employee’s level of control over their schedule related to their stress levels. Ultimately, the study found that higher levels of schedule control, meaning the more flexibility an employee has with their schedule, the higher their stress levels tended to be. This stress resulted from the blurring of work and home lines when employees were increasing the amount they were working from home to accommodate family responsibilities. They would have trouble keeping their work and family roles separate because of the freedom to work whenever they needed to and this often lead to shirking family responsibilities and damaging relationships. Work life would bleed into home life and create role conflicts. These role conflicts lead to higher stress levels which can ultimately result in sickness and health related problems. These are implications that employers need to address when offering telecommuting or flexible work arrangements. Their employee’s health and home lives must be kept in mind and encouraged to be kept separate.
- Virtual teams have the potential to outperform traditional working teams when managed effectively according to an MIT study conducted in 2009. The key to this finding is that the teams must be managed effectively which means very different management techniques than are used with physical teams. Virtual teams are generally a result of globalization and cross-work site teams, however, work/life programs allowing for telecommuting contribute to the increase of these teams. With one or more team member working virtually, members must be kept engaged and committed to reaching the common goals of the team. Disengagement is often a problem when a member is not available for physical meetings or creating personal relationships with other members because of the physical distance. Another related concern is maintaining constant communication between all team members. Telecommuters may not always continue to work the same 9-5 schedule as their work-site counterparts. This creates conflict when scheduling meetings, conference calls and deadlines. Ensuring that there is constant communication within the team through channels such as instant messaging and virtual chatting can keep issues from arising and communication lines open. Lastly, managers must be concerned with the output and productivity of virtual team members. It is much more difficult to manage those team members who cannot be physically monitored while working. This can create tension between members if there is a perceived difference in output and eventually impact the end goals. Employers looking to increase flexible working arrangements and telecommuting must address the differences in managing techniques that these arrangements require and ensure that teams remain as effective if not more after the switch.
- Work/life balance is an extremely important element to life for everyone. An imbalance either way will compromise your work performance, home relationships, mental health or all of the above. Every person needs to be given some degree of flexibility in their work arrangements regardless if they have a part-time retail position or are a full-time executive. It has been engrained in the American culture that, once of out school, work dictates life and 9 to 5 becomes the framework around which life is shaped. We don’t think this necessarily fits with the world of today. Employers need to reevaluate the jobs their employees are doing to decide whether a 9 to 5 schedule is mandatory. There are many jobs where a shift from 9-5 to 10-6 or half day home/ half day in the office wouldn’t make too much of a difference as long as the work is being done. Especially in a world where so many organizations are going global, certain jobs may call for collaboration across time zones that may require a different schedule to accommodate all parties. In sum, there is more and more need for flexibility in the workplace and We think that if employers want to provide a satisfying and attractive work environment, then they will need to start building flexibility into their employees’ schedules.We think that work life programs are valuable assets to both employers and employees. We see it a great tool for retracting and recruiting talent and as way for employees to balance their work and personal lives. We think that its valuable because it makes employees more productive by reducing stress. It also can help drive health care costs by lowering risks such as high blood pressure. We see this issue becoming more and more important to the future workforce.Efforts to facilitate balance for employees should not stop at the availability of programs but also must include the integration of those opportunities into the company culture. Otherwise, the notions of ownership and paying dues may remain at odds in the practice of work/life balance. Ownership demands that the employee prioritize in a balanced way and then communicate those priorities to the company or that he/she utilize the systems in place for employee benefit. However, if the culture is not consistent, there still may be the expectations that one pay dues (such as long hours, more frequent/ menial assignments) as a manner of proving interest, competence, work ethic, or gaining respect. This may be more common if senior coworkers paid dues early in their own careers. If company wide access to work life programs is not promoted and accessible for every level of employee then it will not work as a real benefit that the company provides. And the increasing demands on employees dictates that companies which are unable to provide these programs will not engage top talent.