helping employees find a work-life balance

Helping Employees Find a Work-‐Life Balance

Anu Mannathikuzhiyil, PHR

Agenda

•  DefiniDon • Why employees feel overworked •  The effect a lack of work-‐life balance can have on both employees and employers

•  Strategies to implement within the workplace to promote work-‐life balance

What is work-‐life balance?

• Work-‐life balance is a comfortable state of equilibrium achieved between an employee's primary prioriDes of their employment posiDon and their private lifestyle

Iris Grimm, Work Life Balance: Adventures in Medicine.

Looking Back

•  50 years ago: •  Most of middle-‐class American families had one working parent

•  The divorce rate was around 25%

•  Extracurricular acDviDes for children were not as compeDDve or extensive Paul Malon, Set Your Site in Philadelphia: Flickr.

Today

•  60% of American families have two working parents

•  The divorce rate is around 45%

•  Familial responsibiliDes •  Financial obligaDons have increased •  EducaDonal debt •  Rising cost of living •  “Keeping up with the Joneses”

Dale Hudson, Raising Kids When Both Parents Work Full-‐Time: Relevant Children’s Ministry.

Today’s ExpectaDons

•  45% of employees polled feel that they do not have enough Dme each week

•  65% of employees say their managers expect them to be reachable outside of the office

•  67% of HR professionals think their employees have good work-‐life balance

Sangeetha Shanmugham, 6 Tips for Time Management Strategy: WES Student Advisor.

Lack of Work-‐Life Balance

•  Stress •  Burnout • Health Problems •  Lack of focus •  Employees are less efficient and less sociable •  Turnover

Passport to Problems

•  Singapore •  60% of employees are planning to quit in the next 12 months

•  Studies show that employees in Singapore are the unhappiest in Asia

•  Singapore is the home to the highest proporDon of millionaire households in the world

•  Australia •  64% of employees are completely saDsfied with their current jobs due to two reasons •  Work-‐life balance •  Flexible work opDons

HCA, Phillipines the new offshore hot spot for Australian firms: HC Online.

Work-‐Life Balance Benefits

•  For organizaDons •  Employers are able to adract and retain quality employees

•  Cost savings •  Reduced turnover rates •  Meet challenges of globalizaDon and modernizaDon of the workplace

•  Increased availability to clients/customers •  Increased producDvity


•  For employees •  Greater control of where, when and how their work gets done

•  ReducDon in work/family conflict •  Less commuDng Dme •  Less likely to miss work due to illnesses or non-‐work related demands

•  Improved well being


•  For communiDes •  Allows employees to parDcipate in more community, school and family events that take place during tradiDonal working or commuDng Dme

•  Less cars on the road leads to a beder environment

What is a possible soluDon?

Flex Jobs, Work-‐Life Balance Game: Flex Jobs.

Today’s ExpectaDons

•  75% of employees look for employers that offer workplace flexibility

•  Surveyed employees ranked Dme off as the most important benefit an employer can provide, with the second being financial support

Lauren Miles Brunelli, French-‐Speaking Jobs from Home: About ParenDng.

Why should employers care?

•  RetenDon and compeDDon •  Impact on producDvity •  Technology and global Business • Millennials in the workplace

RetenDon and CompeDDon

• When the going gets tough, the tough find new employment

• Non-‐work commitments/demands

Nathan Miller, 7 Ways to Fix High Employee Turnover at Your Agency: Hubspot.

Impacts on ProducDvity

• Overworked, disengaged and unhappy employees ohen perform poorly, which results in slower producDon and higher rates of absenteeism

Tom Weeks, How Can You Regroup AOer Bad Customer Reviews?: Minutehack.

Technology and Global Business

•  According to a report by the SHRM FoundaDon, telecommunicaDon increased by 80% between 2005 and 2012 alone

•  Businesses no longer funcDon in a normal “9-‐5” daily rouDne

•  Technology and integraDon allow operaDons to run almost 24/7

Millennials in the Workforce

• Want to spend Dme with their families •  Invested in personal growth •  Commided to learning •  Place high value on personal Dme and less value on wealth

Istock,Global Trends: IStock.

Baby Boomers vs. Millennials

Baby Boomers •  Prefer feedback given at certain Dmes of the year

•  Salaries and bonuses rank higher than having a “job that they love”

•  Feel that the office environment and the tradiDonal workday is the best way to be producDve

Millennials •  Rely on immediate responses

•  They value their opinions and creaDvity over money and feel like their bosses could learn from them

•  Want to make their own hours and they don’t believe that they need to work in the actual office

Types of Workplace Flexibility

•  Time •  LocaDon and connecDvity •  Amount of work

Flexibility in Time

•  Flexible Schedule •  AlternaDve start and end Dmes, but total hours equal same as regular employees

•  Compressed Workweek •  Normal hours per week compressed into a lesser amount of days;

•  Ex: Instead of 8 hours per day, 5 days per week, some may choose to work 10 hours per day, 4 days per week

LocaDon and ConnecDvity

•  TelecommuDng •  Employees are allowed to work away from the main worksite.

•  Frequency can vary based on company needs •  Examples:

•  Home-‐based telecommuDng •  Satellite offices or neighborhood work centers •  Remote work (far from main worksite)

Job Sharing

•  Part-‐Dme employees share one full-‐Dme posiDon •  Full-‐Dme responsibiliDes are kept intact •  CompensaDon is apporDoned between workers

ConsideraDons

•  ConsideraDons before implemenDng flex scheduling or compressed workweeks: •  Departmental coverage/communicaDon requirements

•  Tracking of work hours •  Discussion of performance measurement •  DelegaDon of tasks when supervisor is out

ConsideraDons

•  ConsideraDons before implemenDng telecommuDng: •  Handling of meeDngs and projects •  CommunicaDon during core hours •  Equipment and IT support needed •  Schedule coordinaDon

ConsideraDons

•  ConsideraDons before implemenDng job sharing: •  ImplicaDons in pay and benefits •  Division of responsibility •  Schedules and overlap •  CommunicaDon •  Performance evaluaDon for each team member

Now what?

•  Communicate •  Set goals and expectaDons

Life Enthuziast, How Top Sales People Use Goal SeRng to Achieve Greatness: Life Enthuziast.

Real-‐World Examples

“The whole topic [workplace flexibility] has a lot to do with producWvity. The more flexible we make the work environment, the more we can provide workers with what they need to manage their lives and their jobs. We end up with higher producWvity. It is great for the economy and the companies.” – Brenda Barnes, CEO, Sara Lee CorporaDon

Sara Lee Desserts


• AstraZeneca •  96% of employees stayed because of the workplace flexibility AstraZeneca fosters

AstraZeneca


•  Deloide •  QuanDfied cost-‐savings for flexible work arrangements

•  Saved $41.5 million in 2003 alone

Deloide

PotenDal Pisalls

•  Employee is using telecommuDng in lieu of child care. •  Ensure your flexibility policy has a statement clearly establishing that flexibility is not a subsDtute for regular dependent care. If employee is not producDve when working from home, have a discussion with the employee.

PotenDal Pisalls

•  A manager denies requests for a flexible work arrangement because they are uncertain about the pracDce. •  Ensure all managers are provided training and allow them to express concerns and work together to find soluDons. Sharing success stories of business needs being met through flexible work arrangements may also help managers become more supporDve.

Summary

•  Fostering a posiDve work-‐life balance is an important factor for boosDng producDvity and efficiency.

•  A lack of work-‐life balance can result in low morale, employees with poor health and high turnover.

• Offering workplace flexibility results in happier employees who are more saDsfied with their employers.

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QuesDons? G&A Partners

[email protected] (800) 253-‐8562

*This webinar has been recorded and will be posted on the G&A website by Friday.

helping employees find a work-life balance

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