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Balancing Work and Life
A new study suggests that employees who balance their professional and personal lives are prouder of their companies, more satisfied with their jobs, and more willing to recommend their employers to job-seeking friends and family.
Most employees believe work/life balance policies are important when considering whether to take, remain in or quit a job. And employers who deliver on their promise of a good balance between professional duties and personal needs tend to have more engaged employees who say they're more satisfied with their companies. According to a Sirota Survey Intelligence poll, almost three-quarters (73 percent) of more than 300,000 employees are positive about their work/life balance situation. Among those who are positive, 89 percent rate their satisfaction with their employer as favorable (compared to 58 percent of those who are negative about their work/life balance). In addition, 91 percent say they are proud to work for their employers (compared to 68 percent of those with negative work/life balance); and 88 percent would recommend their employers as a good place to work (compared to 64 percent of those with negative work/life balance). Such findings suggest HR leaders should make sure their companies deliver on the promise of their employment brands, says Douglas Klein, president of the Purchase, N.Y.-based Sirota Survey Intelligence, a firm specializing in attitude research. "A company sets expectations during the candidate process," he says. "Candidates shop -- and employment brands are shipped to desirable candidates who seek fundamental fairness and equity, a sense of achievement and being rewarded." When these conditions are met, Klein says, an employee may be willing to make sacrifices, such as a long commute to work or working longer hours. "When the job does not meet expectations," he says, "that longer commute becomes impactful, not just descriptive." Jim Bird, CEO of WorkLifeBalance.com, an Atlanta-based firm specializing in work/life balance education, says that work/life balance done right drives productivity. HR may need to educate the C-suite, he says, showing them the results of studies such as Sirota's, and attempting change the mind-set if management does not believe, for example, that people can get their jobs done from home. "Create the mind-set in management that this is not a nice thing to do," says Bird, "but a necessary thing to do." He recommends some additional steps HR can take to promote a feeling of work/life balance: * Reinforce what you're already doing to promote work/life balance through constant communication with employees. Make sure the relevant policies and benefits are on the company Web site and on employee intranets. * Endorse working from home at least one day a week whenever possible. (Obviously, this is not an option for all organizations.) * Make a policy of having "no cell phone/no lap top" vacations. * Sponsor an employee athletic team or some other form of "extracurricular activity." * Create a more accommodating "on- and off-ramp" policy for those who leave the firm, especially if it is to spend time with family. When they show interest in coming back, make it easy for them to get back on where they left off. Sirota's Klein says companies should encourage first-line supervisors to accommodate work/life balance requests from employees whenever possible -- especially from the 80-90 percent who, according to Klein, "show up at work every day wanting to do great things." Jim Loehr, CEO and co-founder of Orlando, Fla.-based Human Performance Institute, a training company specializing in high-stress and high-performance industries, cautions that individuals are better able to determine what work/life balance means to them when they are healthy. Loehr recommends subsidizing healthy meals at the workplace, sponsoring health fairs and encouraging physical fitness. "Family, health and happiness come first," he says. "Get that right and it's the ultimate equation of balance."
December 26, 2007 Copyright 2007© LRP Publications |
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