Work-life balance – Striking a balance

Pam Henderson explores the tricky issue of helping employees to achieve a work-life balance in a sector that has historically been characterised by long hours and inflexible working practices.

Earlier this year, the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) published survey findings showing that twice as many employees would rather work shorter hours than win the Lottery. That?s how desperate many people are to have some control over the hours they work. But for many it just seems like pie in the sky ? a Chartered Management Institute survey this June indicated that 33% of managers would like flexible working options, but less than 5% thought they were likely to get them.

So, what are the issues around work-life balance? Work-life balance is about people having some control of how, where and, particularly, when they work. Whilst many people love their work and choose to work long hours, work-life balance is about acknowledging that the ideal balance will vary at different stages of the life cycle. The work-life debate aims to recognise that there are different ways of working ? that working long hours is not the only way to demonstrate commitment, ability and effectiveness. Work-life balance enables people to work in different ways. It is achieved when an individual?s right to a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work is accepted and respected as the norm, to the mutual benefit of the individual, the organisation and society.

The benefits

Indicators of an unsatisfactory work?life balance can include ill health, low morale, lack of commitment, poor quality of work, absenteeism and a high staff turnover. Consequently, organisations that have put thought, time and sometimes money into working with staff to develop appropriate work-life policies and practices, often achieve the following benefits:

– Making employees feel valued
– A loyal and motivated workforce in a less stressful environment
– Attracting a wider range of candidates
– Increased productivity
– Reduced absenteeism
– Improved staff retention
– An improved customer experience.

To put it in bottom line terms, employee costs are often at least 50% of a company?s expenditure, with replacement costing anything from £3,000 to £10,000 depending on seniority and level of technical skill.

A report from the Institute for Employment Studies shows that some small businesses save up to £250,000 each year by using family-friendly work policies to reduce staff turnover, and one company claimed profitability was up by 37%. Research by the erstwhile Department for Education and Employment in 2000, showed that 43% of workplaces reported that the main advantage of work-life balance is having happier staff. Happier staff means more productive staff. Given that the purpose of a manager is to make people productive, then it would seem that a manager who chooses not to put a work-life balance strategy in place is missing out on an extraordinarily effective way of improving their organisation?s performance.

Developing a strategy

The key here is to use your skills as a manager to develop a range of work-life policies and practices that meet the needs of your employees, but that are also compatible with your organisation?s objectives. One approach would be to review business and employee requirements in terms of meeting customer needs, achieving employee satisfaction and ensuring compatibility with relevant legislation. This could be followed by researching other organisations? experiences and then establishing success measures, including productivity indices, labour turnover, sickness and absence rates. Consultation with management and staff representatives should follow, support for staff and monitoring of the process should ensure success.

You may decide to introduce policies and practices on some of the following:

Annualised hours ? total working hours are calculated over a year rather than a week. This means people can work according to the peaks and troughs of activity over the year.

Job-sharing ? this could be two part-time employees sharing the duties of a post that are normally done by one person. Job-sharers divide pay, holiday and other benefits.

Term-time working ? this makes it possible for permanent employees to take unpaid leave during school holidays.

Tele-working ? employees work at home, and use a telephone and computer to keep in touch with work.

Breaks from work ? these are often due to maternity or parental and paternity leave but some employers also offer unpaid career breaks and sabbaticals.

Flexi-time ? people choose when they work, usually outside the agreed core times. This means staff can vary their start, finish and break times each day.

Staggered hours ? employees can all have different start, finish and break times. This allows employers to cover longer opening hours. It also offers employees more flexibility, so long as they?re consulted first.