This document discusses common myths about work-life balance and provides guidance on effective work-life balance programs. It addresses 10 common myths, such as the myths that work-life balance means an even 50/50 split of time between work and home, or that all employees benefit equally from work-life balance programs. The document emphasizes that effective programs consider employee and organizational needs, optimize flexibility and support, and are tailored to the unique context rather than just copying other companies. It warns that propagating the myths could lead organizations to implement misguided work-life balance programs.

1. Matt Grawitch, Ph.D.
Lacie Barber, M.S.
Saint Louis University

2. Discuss common misconceptions regarding the

topic of work-life balance
Learn how to assess the different benefits

associated with key work-life programs and
practices
Re-conceptualize work-life balance programs

as employee resource-allocation programs

3. Part I: Definition of Work-Life Balance

Part II: Who Needs Balance?

Part III: Work-Life Balance in Organizations

Part IV: Work-Life Balance in Your Organization


4. The Work-Life
Balance Quiz

5. Myth #1: Work-life balance means spending

50% of your time at work and 50% of your time
at home
Myth #2: Work-life balance is synonymous

with work-family balance or family support
Myth #3: Having work-life balance means

getting to do everything you want to do in a
given day, week, or month

6. Myth #1: Work-life balance means spending

50% of your time at work and 50% of your time
at home

7. Extent to which one’s perceived allocation of
physical, mental, and emotional resources between
the work and non-work domains matches one’s
expectations.
Essentially, then, work-life balance occurs when
individuals with a finite amount of mental,
physical, and emotional resources allocate those
resources in a way that corresponds to their
personal and/or professional goals.
Carver & Scheier, 1982; Grawitch, Barber, & Bagsby, 2009; Hobfoll, 1989

8. Personal Resource Supply
Intervention
• Time
Points • Energy
• Money
Resource Allocation Demands on our
Resources
• Choice of Allocation to Work
• Choice of Allocation to Non- • Work Demands
Work • Non-Work Demands

9. Conflict: When role Facilitation: When one
 
demands a greater role has a positive
level of resource contribution to
allocation than another role, resulting
desired, resulting in in a state of balance or
a state of imbalance enrichment
Grandey & Cropanzano, 1999; Jansen, Kant, Kristensen, & Nijhuis, 2003; Grawitch, Barber, & Bagsby, 2009

10. Myth #2: Work-life balance is synonymous

with work-family balance or family support

11. Equating work-life balance and family support

as synonymous assumes only those with
families desire balance
Can lead to a backlash against single

employees or employees without children
Research on singles-friendly culture is a

response to this backlash
Casper, Weltman, & Kwesiga, 2007; Parker & Hall, 1992; Voydanoff, 1988; Watkins & Subich, 1995

12. We all have a limited amount of energy,

money, and time (resources) to devote to life
pursuits
Hence, every employee can benefit from more

effective resource allocation
Not all employees will benefit from every WLB

practice

13. Myth #3: Having work-life balance means

getting to do everything you want to do in a
given day, week, or month

14. Number of hours in a day: 24

Number of hours in a work day: 24

Number of hours in a weekend day: 24

Number of hours on bowling day: 24

Number of hours on the day of your child’s

parent-teacher conference: 24
No matter what, the number of hours we have

to spend doing something stays the same

15. Work
Exercise
Demands
Time
Family
Day: 24 hours Sleep
Demands
Week: 7 days
Personal Social
Pursuits Events

16. Myth #4: Women desire more work-life

balance than men
Myth #5: All employees will benefit from

work-life balance programs
Myth #6: Effective work-life balance programs

prevent your work-life from “spilling over”
into your non-work life by reducing your work
demands

17. Myth #4: Women desire more work-life

balance than men

18. Annual Career Builder surveys finds that at

least 1/3 of men would quit their jobs to stay at
home if they could afford it
Many studies have found no sex differences in

the experience of work-life conflict
Men and women are both affected by non-

work and work demands
Findings in relation to sex differences in work

and non-work domains are often weak or
inconsistent
Eagle, Miles, & Icenogle, 1997; Frone, Russell, & Cooper, 1992; Grzywacz & Marks, 2000

19. Myth #5: All employees will benefit from

work-life balance programs

20. Employees with the training required to utilize

work-life balance programs effectively
Employees with the tools (e.g., technology)

required to use work-life balance programs
effectively
Employees with a fair amount of self-control

Employees with supportive friends, family,

supervisors, and co-workers
Hartman, Stoner, Arora, 1991; Marler, Liang, Dulebohn, 2006; Rodgers, 1992

21. Myth #6: Effective work-life balance programs

prevent your work-life from “spilling over”
into your non-work life by reducing your work
demands

22. Spillover can be positive or negative

Spillover can occur from work to home AND

from home to work
The goal of work-life balance programs

Not to decrease employee workload

Permit employees to manage when, where, and how

they complete their work, so as to optimize the
interplay between work and non-work demands
Barnett, 1996; Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985; Grzywacz & Marks, 2000; Small & Riley, 1990

23. Myth #1: Work-life balance means spending

50% of your time at work and 50% of your time
at home
Myth #2: Work-life balance is synonymous

with work-family balance or family support
Myth #3: Having work-life balance means

getting to do everything you want to do in a
given day, week, or month

24. Myth #4: Women desire more work-life balance

than men
Myth #5: All employees will benefit from work-

life balance programs
Myth #6: Effective work-life balance programs

prevent your work-life from “spilling over” into
your non-work life by reducing your work
demands
What are the implications if these myths

are propagated in an organization?

25. Myth #7: The ultimate goal of work-life balance

programs should be to give employees “a break”
from their hectic work environment
Myth #8: When work-life balance programs fail, it

is because the organization failed to properly “sell”
their benefits to the employees
Myth #9: Work-life balance programs with more

components are more effective than work-life
balance programs with few components
Myth #10: The best way to adopt potential work-

life balance programs in your organization is to
borrow from programs used in other “successful”
organizations

26. Myth #7: The ultimate goal of work-life

balance programs should be to give employees
“a break” from their hectic work environment

27. Work-life balance practices perform one of two

functions
Promote flexibility in performing work (work flexibility)

Provide employees with sufficient non-work-related

resources (e.g., time, money) to assist them in managing
non-work demands (non-work support).
Work flexibility should not reduce the allocation of

resources toward performance
Non-work support either provides additional non-

work resources (e.g., time, money) or permits
employees to temporarily suspend their allocation
of resources to the work domain (e.g., vacation,
leave)
Grawitch, Barber, & Bagsby, 2009; Grzywacz, Casey, & Jones, 2007; Kelly et al., 2008

28. Flexible scheduling/flextime: Allows employees to

schedule around non-work demands
Telecommuting: Allows employees to reduce

commuting time and schedule around non-work
demands
Compressed work weeks: Allows employees to reduce

commuting time, spend fewer total days in the office
Part-time options: Allows employees to reduce the

number of hours they regularly put into their work in
exchange for less pay and benefits

29. Vacation time, sick time, or personal time off: Allows

employees to temporarily cease working to manage non-
work demands/interests
Maternity/paternity/adoption leaves: Allows employees

paid or unpaid time off to manage a specific parental
demand
Life management services: Provides employees with perks

to assist them in managing non-work demands (e.g., gym
memberships, dry cleaning services, concierge services)
Childcare/eldercare benefits: Provides employees with

discounts/access to specific childcare /eldercare facilities to
reduce the financial burden related to childcare/eldercare
issues

30. Personal Resource Supply
Intervention
•Non-Work Support (i.e., life
Points management services,
childcare/eldercare benefits)
Resource Allocation Demands on our Resources
•Work Flexibility Practices •Non-Work Support (i.e.,
(flextime, telecommuting, Vacation, PTO, leaves, life
compressed work weeks) management services)
•Work Flexibility (job sharing)

31. Myth #8: When work-life balance programs

fail, it is because the organization failed to
properly “sell” their benefits to the employees

32. Most programs that fail do so because they

were poorly designed
Too much driven by top management

Too little driven by employee involvement

Hence, context is important

Grawitch, Gottschalk, & Munz, 2006; Parchman & Miller, 2003; Pfeffer, 1994

33. Specific work flexibility and non-work support

benefits come with upsides and downsides
Not all practices or benefits will be a fit with

every organization
Need to consider:

Employee needs

Organizational context (e.g., technology, financial

resources, culture)
Find a way to optimize the interplay between

the two
Brache, 2001; Fitz-enz, 1993; Grawitch, Gottschalk, & Munz, 2006; Pfeffer, 1994

34. Myth #9: Work-life balance programs with

more components are more effective than
work-life balance programs with few
components

35. Having more options does not guarantee better

results
Having a few high-quality practices is more

effective than having many low-quality
practices
Capitalize on the strengths of the organization

and the expressed needs of employees
Offering a benefit and then taking it away is

worse for morale than never having offered the
benefit in the first place
Grawitch, Barber, & Bagsby, 2009; Kelly et al., 2008

36. Myth #10: The best way to adopt potential

work-life balance programs in your
organization is to borrow from programs used
in other “successful” organizations (i.e.,
benchmarking)

37. What works in one organization is not likely to

work exactly the same way in your
organization
Trying to copy the programs in another

organization fails to consider your
organization’s unique context and employees
Law of equifinality plays a key role in success

Delery & Doty, 1996; Grawitch, Gottschalk, & Munz, 2006; Fitz-enz, 1993; Pfeffer, 1994

38. Myth #7: The ultimate goal of work-life balance

programs should be to give employees “a break” from
their hectic work environment
Myth #8: When work-life balance programs fail, it is

because the organization failed to properly “sell” their
benefits to the employees
Myth #9: Work-life balance programs with more

components are more effective than work-life balance
programs with few components
Myth #10: The best way to adopt potential work-life

balance programs in your organization is to borrow
from programs used in other “successful” organizations
What are the implications if these myths are

propagated in an organization?

39. Work-Life Balance Checklist

Allows you to think through the types of practices

Allows you to think through barriers to and

facilitators of those practices
Process

Half of the audience will consider Part I of the Work-

Life Balance Checklist
Half of the audience will consider Part II of the

Work-Life Balance Checklist
Debrief as a large group


40. Final Questions or Comments