Work Life Balance

     Paid work – particularly full-time paid work – is also having an impact upon people’s leisure activities and eating habits.

     Those with children, particularly children under six, and those in high-level professional work are most likely to feel they lack time for evening classes or similar activities. Those with children are far more likely to eat healthily, however, and the group most likely to neglect their nutrition (and strongly agree that ‘in the evening I just eat fast food, pre-prepared meals and snacks because I don’t have time to cook’) are young, single, high-level professionals without children – the ‘Marks & Spencer demographic’.

     Women continue to, on average, earn 81p for every average male £1, and this can also mean that their career is seen as a lower priority for the household. This means that the existing tendency of women to take on the brunt of domestic responsibilities is reinforced by their increased likelihood to earn less and place less priority upon their career.

     This unequal distribution of domestic labour is still a problem. But what’s really interesting is that those who have careers of equal priority and have similar earnings are more likely to share the childcare and housework than other households, and that this was more likely to happen in non-manual households. It is not just about gender; economic status makes a difference.

     Career-minded individuals are also more likely to say they have too much work to do in their contracted hours (61%), particularly if they are full-time workers and work in the public sector.

     This strongly suggests that it is having control over their time, i.e. having flexibility to make choices about how they spend their time, that contributes to their contentment.

     This interpretation is supported by the fact that the only people happier than the self-employed are those who have chosen to restrict their hours, i.e. the part-time workers.

     But what is so striking is that over two-fifths (41%) of the full-time workers agree that if they were given more control over their time they would be more productive – compared to one in five part-time workers, who may be working shorter hours but clearly don’t feel this necessarily means that they’re in control. And, surprisingly, those who prioritise their career are far more likely to say that they would be more productive given more control over their hours. This may hint at frustration with long hours cultures that can require individuals to stay even if there is no need for them to do so. Which has implications that go to the heart of what ‘work-life balance’ means to all workers – not just parents or those with caring responsibilities – and how organisations should respond.

     It is important to note that the other word used in the context of organisations’ approaches to work-life balance is ‘flexibility’, and equally important to note that working flexibly doesn’t necessarily mean you improve your work-life balance, as many people working flexibly may find themselves working at weekends and during evenings.

     Younger workers coming into the labour market have also often been found to have different attitudes towards work from previous generations – an observation that may be often muttered under an older worker’s breath! Surveys do, however, back up the idea that different generations have different work ethics, with findings suggesting that members of the so-called ‘Generation X’ (born between 1965 and 1980) are far more likely to challenge presenteeism and be reluctant to work as many long hours as their parents did. And this is not just because they’re ‘slackers’: a global survey of final year high-flying MBA students reported that 45% said a balanced lifestyle was a priority when they were choosing a future career, while 90% cited work-life balance as a key factor in determining commitment to their employer.

     Change is not easy: the regularity with which general organizational change programmes, touted as ‘changing the way we work’, fizzle into history, becoming just more failed initiatives, demonstrates the difficulty of changing workplace cultures. The barriers that are hardest to overcome, and yet the most important, are cultural and attitudinal: research on change programmes shows that the main obstacle to successful change is employee resistance at all levels (frontline, middle and senior management). There are good reasons for such resistance: employees tend to resist because of a lack of understanding of the change, comfort with the way things are and fear of the unknown, while middle managers fear they will lose control and be overloaded with work.

􀁺 Wages – many, particularly low-paid workers, cannot afford the reduction in wages required by many flexible working practices.

􀁺 Workload – a large volume of work can make it difficult to work reduced hours or adopt alternative work patterns.

􀁺 Reliance on individuals – employers may want individuals to work out what would work best, when they may be unaware of available options or feel unable to suggest the changes.

􀁺 Career progression – many may worry that flexible working will be seen as a sign of lack of commitment.

􀁺 Long hours – workplace cultures may belie the policies, with workers feeling that they would not be supported if they did take advantage of them.

     ‘Work-life balance is achieved when an individual’s right to a fulfilled life inside and outside work is accepted and respected as the norm to the mutual benefit of the individual, business and society.’

     Work-life balance debates have progressed rapidly and are changing people’s lives gradually. But they need to keep progressing: over a third of people think they are policies just for parents, undermining the wider relevance of work/life balance and misunderstanding what it is for. Work-life balance is about living a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work, having control over your time so you can achieve that. Despite the increased profile of work-life balance, most workers still face a time squeeze, women are still bearing the brunt of domestic labour and a new low-paid female labour market is being created to prop up the way we’re working. It’s not sustainable.

     Work-life balance has always been about changing and challenging the way we work. Its future is in making work better for organizations and for employees.

 Remember, striking a work-life balance isn't a one-shot deal. Creating balance in your life is a continuous process. Demands on your time change as your family, interests and work life change. Assess your situation every few months to make sure you're keeping on track.

 Balance doesn't mean doing everything. Examine your priorities and set boundaries. Be firm in what you can and cannot do. Only you can restore harmony to your lifestyle.

     The business case

     Recruitment and retention

􀁺 Wider talent pool: PwC argues that work-life balance policies are an essential ingredient of successful recruitment and retention strategies.

􀁺 Employer of choice: Lloyds TSB believes that flexible working is a 'powerful tool to support the motivation and commitment of its people that really contributes to its goal of becoming 'employer of choice'. This is particularly because the scheme is open to all employees who can make a business case, regardless of their reason for wanting to work flexibly.

􀁺 Retention: 98% of women who leave BT for maternity leave now come back, saving over £3 million in recruitment and induction costs alone. And at IXL Laundry, office staff turnover, which has previously been considerable, has been reduced to 0% this year so far.

     Productivity and reward

􀁺 Improved performance: PwC believes long hours do not necessarily equate to commitment or productivity, and at Lloyds TSB over 80% on the Work Options work-life balance scheme believed flexible working improved their performance (almost 90% of their managers endorsed this). BT home-worker productivity is up by 31% so far.

􀁺 Output focus: the association of reward with output rather than with attendance at BT has resulted in the average participant in their 'Self Motivated Team' project working fewer hours whilst being more productive and earning more money.

     Product development and marketing

􀁺 Product development: BT's way of working has allowed new flexible working products to be developed, such as technology facilitating working from home. It also means that it is demonstrating the capability of its own products, showing the 'business and societal benefits of harnessing technology to deliver greater flexibility'.

     Reduced overheads

􀁺 Lower accommodation and travel costs: technology has facilitated over 7,000 BT people working at home and not needing to travel into the office.

     Flexible workforce

􀁺 Reduced absenteeism: in BT absenteeism is down to 3.1%, compared to a UK average of 8.5%.

􀁺 Flexibility: it's easier to deploy people to cover absence when shifts are flexible.

     Customer benefits

􀁺 Continuity: better retention means greater continuity of service and, often, better customer retention.