❶ ❸❹2003 Research Quarterly

Work/Life BalanceChallenges and Solutions

Nancy R. Lockwood

HR ContentExpert

SHRM Research

S O C I E T Y F O R

H U M A N

R E S O U R C E

M A N A G E M E N T

❶ ❸❹2003 SHRM®Research Quarterly

AbstractIn organizationsand onthe home front,the challengeof work/lifebalance is rising to the top of many empl

oy-ers’ and employees’ consciousness. In today’s fast-paced society, human resource professionals seek options to positively impact the bottom line oftheir companies, improve employee morale, retain employees with valu-able company knowledge, and keep pace with workplace trends. This article provides human resource profes-sionals with an historical perspective, dataand possible solutions—for organizations and employees alike—to work/life balance. Three factors—global competition, personal lives/family values, and an aging workforce— present challenges that exacerbate work/life balance. This article offers the perspective that human resource professionals can assist their companies to capitalize on these factors by using work/life initiatives to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Work/Lif

e Balance: Challenges and Solutions

Inasocietyfilledwithconflictingresponsibilitiesandcommitments,work/lifebalancehasbec

ome apre-

dominantissue in

theworkplace

. Threemajorfactors

contributeto the interest in, and the importance of, serious consideration of work/life balance: 1) global competition; 2) renewed interest inpersonal lives/ family values; and 3) anaging workforce. Researchsuggests that forward-thinking human resource profes-sionals seeking innovative ways toaugment their organization’s

competitiveadvantage in the market-place mayfind that work/lifebalance challenges offer a win-win soluti

on.

TheGenesisof Work/LifeBalance

Work/Life Balanc

e:n.Astateofequilibrium inwhichthedemandsofbothaperson’sjobandpers

onallifeareequal.1

Phrases

and words

serve as cultural

signposts to explain

where weare and

where weare going.

The term “work/life

balance” was

coined in 1986, al-

though itsusage in

everyday language

was sporadic

for a number of

years. Interestin

gly, work/life

pro-grams

existed asearly as

the 1930s.

Before World

War II, the W.K.

Kellogg Company

created four six-

hour shifts to

replace the

traditional

thr

eeda

ily ei

ght-

hour

shifts

, an

d th

e ne

w shi

ftsre

sulte

d in

incre

ased

em

ploy

eem

oral

e an

d eff

icien

cy.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter’s

seminalbook (1977),

W

or

k

an

d

Fa

mil

y

in

th

e

Un

ite

d

St

at

es

: A

Cri

tic

al

Re

vie

w

an

d

Ag

en

da

for

Re

se

ar

ch

an

d

Po

lic

y,

br

ou

gh

t

th

e

is

s

u

e

o

f

w

o

r

k/

lif

e

b

al

a

n

c

e

t

o

t

h

e

f

o

r

e

fr

o

n

t

o

f

r

e

s

e

a

r

c

h

a

n

d

o

r

g

a

ni

z

a

ti

o

n

s.2

I

n

t

h

e 1980s

and

1990s,

companie

s

began to offer work/life programs. While the first wave of these programswere primarily to supportwomenwith children, today’swork/life programsar

e less gender-specific and recognize other commitments as well as those of the family.

Work/lifebalanceinitiativesaren

ot only a U.S. phenomenon. Employees in global communities also

want flexibility and control over their work and per-sonal lives. However, for thepurposeof this article, the research and surveys presented focus on work/lifebalancein the United States.

Defining Work/Life Balance

Life is a balancingact, and in Americansociety, it is safe to say that almost everyone is seeking work/life balance. But what exactly is work/life balance? We have all heard the term, and many of us complain that we don’t

haveenoughof it in our lives. Among menand womenalike, the frustratingsearchforwork/lifebalance is a frequent topicof conversation, usually tra

nslatedinto not enoughtime and/or supportto do, to handle,to manage … our work commitments or personal responsibilities.

“

J

u

g

g

l

i

n

g

c

o

m

p

e

ti

n

g

d

e

m

a

n

d

s

i

s

ti

ri

n

g

if

n

o

t

s

t

r

e

s

s

-

f

ul

and

bring

s

lower

produ

ctivity

,

sickn

ess,

and

abse

nteeis

m, so

work/l

ife

balan

ce is

an

issue

for all

empl

oyees

and

all

organ

izatio

ns.”3

1 Work-life balance. (2002). The Word Spy. Retrieved January 30,

2003, from

http://www.wordspy.com/words/work-lifebalance.asp

2 Kanter, R. M. (1977). Work andfamily intheUnitedStates:Acriti

calreviewandagendafor researchandpolicy.NewYork:Russell Sage Foundation.

2

Work/LifeBalance: Challeng

esand

Soluti

ons

❶ ❸❹2003 SHRM®Research Quarterly

The meaning of work/life

balance has chameleon

characteristics. It means

different things to different

groups, and the meaning

often depends on the con-

text of the conversation and

the speaker’s viewpoint. The

following are working

definitions of terms used

regarding work/life balance;

some definitions overlap and

some are continuing to

evolve.

1● Work/family: a term

more frequently used in

the past than today. The

current trend is to use

titles that include the

phrase work/life, giving a

broader work/life

connotation or labeling

referring to spe-cific

areas of support (e.g.,

quality of life, flexible

work options, life balance,

etc.)

2● Work/familyconflict: the push andpull between workand familyresponsibilities.

3● Work/life

balance from the

employee viewpoint:

the dilemma of

managing work

obligations and

personal/family

responsibilities.

4● Work/life balance

from the employer viewpoint: the challenge of creating a supportive company culture where employees can focus on their jobs while at work.

5● Family-friendly

benefits: benefits that

offer employ-ees the

latitude to

address their

personal and

family

commitments,

while at the

same time not

compromising

their work

responsibilities.

6● Work/life programs: programs (often financial or time-related)established by an employer that offer employees options to address work and personal responsibilities.

7● Work/lifeinitiatives: policies and procedures established byan organization with the goal to enable employees to get their jobs done and at the same time provide flexibility to handle person-al/family concerns.

8● Work/family culture: the extent to whichan organi-zation’s cultureacknowledges and respects the family responsibilitiesand obligationsof its employees andencourages management and employees

to work together to meet their person-al and work needs.

3 Swift, L. (2002). Work-life balance important in relief

world, too. Reuters AlertNet. Retrieved January 30, 2003, from http://www

.alertnet.org/thefacts/reliefsources

4 Parasuraman, S., & Greenhaus, J. H. (2002). Toward reducing some critical gaps in work-family research. Human Resource ManagementReview, 12, 3, 299-312.

Personal Lives and Family Values

to the Forefront

The American work ethic

remains intact, yet in recent years personal and family

lives have become critical values that Americans are

less willing to put on hold, putaside, or ignore, for the sake

of work. Over time, the American workforce has

begun to change course frombeing willing to spend every

hour working to learning to manage the complexities of

modern living. In addition, theimpact of the terrorist attacks

of September 11 has led many people to re-evaluate

their lives and consider the meaning of work.

Consequently,

Americans are looking for

options that allow for both a

personal and family life,

and many seek ways to

have it all. As a result, the

U.S. management

philosophy that expects

employees to put work first,

ahead of personal lives and

family commitments, is

becoming less accepted.

1● In a 2001 survey conducted by the Radcliff Public Policy Center, 82% of men and 85% of women ages 20 to 39 placed

family time at the top of theirwork/life priorities.

2● In a

2001 study byRutgers University andthe University of Connecticut, 90% of working adults said they are concerned they do not spend enoughtime with theirfamilies.

The Changing Face of Family

With the growingdiversity of family

structures repre-sented in the

workforce in thenew millennium, it

is important thathuman resource

professionalsbetter understand

the interface ofwork and family

relation-ships andthe resulting

impact in theworkplace.

Research by

Parasuraman and

Greenhaus (2002)

documented that

segments of the

workforce may be

subject to unique

work/family

pressures, yet often

have few sources of

support.4 The

under-representa-

tion of these groups

of individuals with

potentially dif-ficult

types of work/family

pressures

represents a major

gap in work/family

research and

employers’

understanding of

their needs.

Typically, studies

have focused on

employed men and

women who are

mar-ried or living

with a partner or

those with children.

Omitted from

research are single-

earner mothers and

fathers, single and

childless

employees with

exten-sive

responsibility for

eldercare, blended

families with

children from both

partners’ prior

marriages, families

with shared custody

of children, and

grandparents

raising their

grandchildren.

Work/Life Balance: Challenges and Solutions 3

❶ ❸❹2003 SHRM

®Research Quarterly

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A Pivotal Study

In

their

highl

y

acclai

med

book,

Work

and

Famil

y—

Allies

or

Ene

mies,

Fried

man

and

Gree

nhau

s

(2000

), two

leade

rs in

work/

life

balan

ce,

bring

forth

new

evide

nce

to

help

us

under

stand

choic

es we

make

as

empl

oyers

and

indivi

duals

regar

ding

work

and

family

.5

This

pio-

neeri

ng

study

of

more

than

800

busin

ess

profe

ssion

-als

consi

dered

value

s,

work,

and

family

lives

and

found

that

“work

and

family

, the

domi

nant

life

roles

for

most

empl

oyed

wom

en

and

men

in

conte

mpor

ary

societ

y, can

either

help

or

hurt

each

other.

”6

To

handle

work/life

balance,

Friedman

and Gree

nhaus

emphasize

that worki

ng adult

s learn

to build

networks

of supp

ort athome

, at work,

and in the

communit

y. Confl

ict betw

een work

and famil

y hasreal

conseque

nces and

sig

nifica

ntly

affect

s qu

ality

of fa

m-ily

lifean

d car

eer

attain

ment

of bot

h me

n an

d wo

men.

The

cons

eque

nces

forwo

men

may

includ

e ser

ious

const

raints

on car

eer

ch

oices

, limite

d oppo

rtunity for

career

advance

mentand

success

in their

work role,

and the

needto

choose

between

two appa

rent oppo

-sites—an

active

and satisf

ying care

er or marri

age and

children.

Many

men have

to trade

off pers

onal and

career

values

whilethey

search

for

ways

to make

dual-care

er famili

es work,

often requi

ring them

to embr

ace famil

y roles

that are

far differ

ent, and

moreegalit

ar-ian,

than those

they learn

ed aschildr

en.

This research reveals acompensatoryeffect between two forms of psychologicalinterference: work-to-family and famil

y-to-work. Specifically, support fromtwo domains (partner and employer) hasa signif-icantimpact onone another. The impact of partner support isgreater when businessprofessionals feel their employers areunsupportive of their livesbeyond work. Conversely, for empl

oyees with relatively unsup-portivepartners, the employer family-friendlinessreduces role conflicts more thanpartners. Thus, one sourceof supp

ort compensates for the lack of the other.

Lo

okin

g at

beha

viora

l

interf

eren

ce of

work

on

famil

y,

the

pictu

re

chan

ges.

In

this

case

, the

whol

e is

great

er

than

the

sum

of its

parts

: the

com

bine

d

impa

ct of

empl

oyer

and

partn

er

supp

ort

lead

s to

a

great

er

reduction in conflictthan does independent employer or partner support.

Stress and theConsequencesfor Employer and Employee

Weliveinstressfultimes,

andeachofusdealswithstresseveryday.Inthepastthreeyears,anincreas-ingnumberofemployeessurveyedindicatetheyarestrugglingwithwork/lifebalance.

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.

Scie

ntists

agree

that in

moderate

amounts

stress

can be

benign,

evenbene

ficial,and

mostpeop

le are

equipped

to deal

with it.

However,

increasin

g level

s of

stres

s can

rapidly

lead to

low empl

oyeemora

le, poor

productivi

ty, and

decreasi

ng job

satisfactio

n. Som

e of the

specific

symptom

s that

relate

directly to

productiv

-ity in

the work

environm

ent are

abuse of

sick time,

cheating,

chronic

absenteei

sm, distr

ust, emb

ezzle-

ment

,

organizati

onal sabo

tage,tardi

ness,

task avoi

d-ance

, andviole

nce in

the work

place.

Other

serious

repercussi

ons are

depressio

n, alco

hol and

drug abus

e, marit

al and

financial

problems,

compulsi

ve eatin

g disor

ders,and

employee

burnout.

Dr. Bruc

e S. McE

wen,direc

tor of

th

e ne

uroe

ndoc

rinol

ogy

labo

rator

y at

Roc

kefel

lerU

nive

rsity,

has

been

stud

ying

stres

s for

mor

e th

anthr

eede

cade

s. As

heno

tes,

“blari

ngca

r al

arm

s,

contr

olling

bosses,

two-care

er marri

ages, six-

mile traffi

c jams

, andrude

salescler

ks were

simply

not part

of the

plan.”7

E

mplo

yee

Assis

tanc

e

Prog

rams

(EAP

s),

offer

ed

by

man

y

empl

oyer

s,

are

an

excel

lent

reso

urce

for

empl

oy-

ees

unde

r

stres

s.

EAP

s

provi

de a

myria

d of

servi

ces,

from

drug

and

alcoh

ol

abus

e

coun

selin

g to

addr

essin

g

famil

y and

marri

age

probl

ems,

finan

cial

and

legal

diffi-

cultie

s,

and

stres

s-

relat

ed

probl

ems.

In

additi

on, in

line

with

the

times

and

the

incre

asing

stres

s

level

s in

our

socie

ty, a

new

profe

ssion

has

emer

ged:

work/

life

5 Friedman, S. D., & Greenhaus, J. H. (2000).Work andfamily—Allies or enemies? What happens when business professionals confront life choices. New York: Oxford University Press.

6Ibid.

7Theheavy costof chronic stress. (2002). New York Times. Retrieve

d December 17, 2002, fromhttp://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/1

7 /health/psychology/17STRE.html

4Work/Lif

e Balance:

Challengesand

Solutions

❶ ❸❹2003 SHRM®Research Quarterly

Sources: EAPs and/or Eldercare

U.S. Department of Health

and Human

Services/Employee

Assistance Programs:

http://www.health.org/../workpl

ace

/fedagencies/employee_assist

ance_programs.aspx

Society for Human Resource Management:

http://www.shrm.org/surveysEmployee Assistance Professionals Association:

http://www.eapassn.org

The Online EAP Directory: http://www.eap-sap.com/eap/

Elder Focus: http://www.edlerfocus.comLabor Project for

Working Families: http://violet.berkeley.

edu/~iir/workfam/ho

me.html

professionals. The concept of work/life professionals

originally developed as an extension of wellness pro-

grams (established as early as 1933) and EAPs (created

in the 1940s). The Alliance for Work/Life Progress

(http://www.awlp.org), the national associa-tion for

work/life professionals, leadsand promotes work/life

initiatives in business, academia, and the public

sector to support a healthier work/life balance between

work, personal, and family life.

Work/life programs

represent a largely

untapped workplace

solution that have the

potential to signifi-cantly

address stressful work

environments.

The Employer’sPerspective:Return on Investment (ROI)

An employer’s

commitment to

work/life initiatives

is influenced by the

perception of

whether or not such

initiatives have a

positive return on

investment. In

recent years,

employers

increasingly realize

that the quality of an

employee’s

personal and family

life impacts work

quality and that

there are concrete

busi-ness reasons

to promote work

and family

integration.

Diversity and Work/Life BalanceWhile some

companies may

view diversity and

work/life balance as

separate functions,

the business case

for managing

diversity is, in large

part, the same for

work/life balance.

Both diversity and

work/life initiatives

promote employee

commitment,

improve productivity,

lower turnover,

result in fewer

employee relations

challenges, and

decrease the

likelihood of

unethical business

practices.

8 Fineman, M. (1999). Why diversity professionals should care about work/life

balance. Mosaics, 5, 6,6-7.

9 Reynolds, H. B. (1999). Work/life initiatives require cultural readiness.Employee Benefit Plan Review, 54, 6, 25-26.

10 Ibid.

11 Parus, B.(2000). Measuring theROI of work/lifeprograms.

Workspan, 43, 9, 50-54.

Diversity and work/life

initiatives can be found at the

core of the new social

contract being negotiated

between employers and

employees. “The basic out-

line of the social contract, as

it has emerged during the

past several years, calls for

workers to commit their best

contributions and greatest

energies to the job in return

for interesting work,

respectful treatment,

developmental opportunities,

and an environment that

responds to individual needs.

Where those provisions

conflict (e.g., the degree of

commitment and energy

expected by employers

versus the flexibility required

by employees), the expertise

of both diversity manage-

ment and work/life

professionals will be critical to

find win-win solutions.”8

Is Your Organization Culture-Ready forWork/Life Initiatives?

“A common thread that

links the reasons

work/life benefits go

unused is organizational

culture.”9

Before establishing work/life

initiatives, it is important to know if the organization’s

culture is open and ready to support work/life programs.

The path to determin-ing culture readiness may be as

formal as using an

employee survey assessment or as

simple as a thoughtful judgment

made by the organization. The

following provides food for thought

regarding whether an organization is

ready to begin work/life initiatives.

As with most change initiatives, work/life programs require support from senior management. In addition, for the work environment to be ready for work/life ben-efits, it is helpful to have a “corporate culture that encourages employees to look at business in an entirely different way and supports and accepts employees as individuals with priorities beyond the workplace.”10

“Life cycles are another

consideration. People need

different things at different times of

their lives,” explains Sandra

Burud, Ph.D., principal of Bright

Horizons Family

Solutions,

discussing the business strategy

of work/life initiatives. “In the

factory days, everything was

standardized and synchronized …

that’s when the original benefits

package was designed. It

doesn’t fit anymore,” states

Burud.

“Furthermore,” she

continues, “employers are

realizing that work should be

intrinsically interesting and

satisfy-ing to employees, and

these are the folks who produce the

best work. The manager’s job is to

get out of the way. The move from

extrinsic rewards to intrinsic rewards

has an impact on work/life

initiatives.”11

One of the

challenges of

work/life initiatives

—from both the

employer and the

employee

viewpoint—is

equitability, which

has been cited as a

major concern

Work/Life Balance: Challenges and Solutions 5

❶ ❸❹2003 SHRM

®Research Quarterly

regardingwork/lifeinitiatives.2

When organizations are establishingwork/lifeprograms, it is important to consider the purpose of th

e programs and whom they serve.Forexample,do the work/life

programs serve all employees or are they aimed toward emplo

yees who are parents or who are dealing with their elderly

parents?

noth

er as

pect

of jud

ging

orga

nizati

onal

readi

ness

forwo

rk/life

prog

rams

is th

e e

mplo

yees’

view

of pe

r-cei

ved

supp

ortof

the

orga

nizati

on.

The

19

9

9

st

ud

y

by

T

ho

mp

so

n,

Be

au

va

is

,a

nd

L

yn

es

s

at

th

e

Ci

ty

U

ni

ve

rs

it

y

o

f

N

ew

Y

or

k

an

d

Un

iv

er

si

ty

o

f

Rh

od

e

Is

la

nd

c

on

si

de

re

d

th

e

li

nk

s

b

e

tw

ee

n

an

o

rg

an

iz

at

io

n’

s

wo

rk

/f

am

il

y

cu

lt

ur

e,

th

e

ex

te

nt

to

w

hi

ch

e

mplo

yees

used

work/l

ife be

nefits

, th

e ext

ent

of wo

rk/fa

mily

con-

flict,

and

the

em

ploye

es’int

entio

n to

stay

with

their

com

pany.13

To

deter

mine

the

cultur

e

r

ea

di

ne

ss

o

fa

n

or

ga

ni

za

ti

on

f

or

wo

rk

/l

if

e

in

it

ia

ti

ve

s,

th

e

re

se

ar

c

h

er

s

de

ve

lo

pe

d

a

se

ri

es

o

f

qu

es

ti

on

s

to

m

ea

su

re

s

up

po

rt

-i

ve

w

or

k

/

li

fe

c

ul

tu

re

,a

dd

re

ss

in

g

pe

rc

ei

ve

d

ma

na

ge

ri

al

su

pp

or

t,

ne

ga

ti

ve

c

a

re

er co

nseq

uenc

es for

devot

ingtim

e to

famil

y co

ncer

ns,an

d or

ganiz

ation

al tim

e de

man

ds an

d ex

pecta

tions

that

interf

ere

with

famil

y re

spon

sibiliti

es.Th

e stu

dy

r

ev

ea

le

d

th

at

mo

re

w

or

k/

fa

mi

ly

b

en

ef

it

s

tr

an

sl

at

ed

t

o

gr

ea

te

rc

om

m

i

t-

me

nt

,

le

ss

w

or

k/

fa

mi

ly

c

on

fl

ic

t,

a

nd

l

es

s

in

te

nt

io

n

to

l

ea

ve

.

In

te

re

st

in

gl

y,

th

e

st

ud

y

re

su

lt

s

co

nf

ir

me

d

an

ec

-d

ot

al

ev

id

en

ce

t

h

at

a su

pport

ivewo

rk/fa

mily

cultur

e is

closel

y rel

ated

to wo

rk atti

tude

s an

d pe

rceiv

edm

anag

erial

supp

ortlin

ked

with

less

inten

tion

to lea

ve th

e or

ganiz

ation

.

Communication is KeyC

om

mu

ni

ca

ti

on

a

bo

ut

wo

rk

/l

if

e

pr

og

ra

ms

i

s

es

se

n

t

ia

l.

A

lt

ho

ug

h

an

o

rg

an

iz

at

io

n

ma

y

of

fe

r

a

ri

ch

m

en

u

of

w

or

k/

li

f

e

b

en

ef

it

s,

th

e

de

si

re

d

ef

fe

ct

—y

ie

ld

in

g

po

si

-t

iv

e

bu

si

ne

ss

r

es

ul

t

s

—is

unlike

ly to

occu

r ife

mplo

y-ee

s do

not

know

abou

t th

e pr

ogra

msor

unde

rstan

d th

em.

Hum

anre

sour

ce pr

ofes

sional

s sh

ould

consi

der

four

critica

l

q

ue

st

io

ns

:1

)d

oe

s

th

e

co

mp

an

y

cu

lt

ur

e

tr

ul

y

su

pp

or

tw

or

k/

li

fe

b

en

e

f

it

s;

2

)

do

es

t

he

m

an

ag

e-

me

nt

p

hi

lo

so

ph

y,

s

ta

rt

in

g

wi

th

s

en

io

r

m

a

na

ge

me

nt

,s

in

ce

re

ly

e

nd

or

se

w

or

k/

li

fe

b

en

ef

it

s;

3)

d

o

ma

na

ge

rs

a

n

d

supe

rviso

rs un

derst

and

the

impa

ct wo

rk/life

bal-

ance

has

onth

eirwo

rkfor

ce;an

d 4)

are

em

ploye

es aw

are

of an

d do

they

unde

rstan

d th

e co

mpa

ny’s

wo

r

k/

li

fe

p

ro

gr

am

s?

f

a

c

o

m

p

a

n

y

a

l

r

e

a

d

y

o

f

f

e

r

s

w

o

r

k

/

l

i

f

e

b

e

n

e

f

i

t

s

,

t

h

e

n

e

x

t

s

t

e

p

m

a

y

b

e

t

o

r

e

p

a

c

k

a

g

e

a

n

d

r

e

c

o

m

m

u

n

i

c

a

t

e

t

h

e

m

s

o

e

m

p

l

o

y

e

e

s

s

e

e

h

o

w

t

h

e

s

e

b

e

n

e

f

i

t

s

o

f

f

e

r

w

a

y

s

t

o

m

a

n

a

g

e

w

o

r

k

/

f

a

m

i

l

y

co

nfli

ct.

In

ad

diti

on

,

de

vel

opi

ng

a

hu

m

an

re

so

ur

ce

s

str

at

eg

y

th

at

is

cle

arl

y

int

eg

rat

ed

wit

h

th

e

co

m

pa

ny’

s

mi

ssi

on

wil

l

de

m

on

-

6Work/Life Ba

lance: Challenges and Solutions

strate howcommitted the organization is toemployee needs. The followingare suggestionsto promote work/lifeprograms:

1●Re

view the human resources str

ategytoseeifitsupportsthecompany’smission.

2●Throu

gh

qu

est

ion

nai

re

s

or

foc

us

gr

ou

ps,

fin

d

ou

t

wh

at

e

m

plo

ye

es

fe

el

ab

ou

t

wo

rk/l

ife

bal

an

ce.

3●Alig

n work/life initiatives with HR strategy (e.g., employer of choice)

.

4●Creat

e

a

wo

rk/

life

aw

ar

d

pr

og

ra

m

usi

ng

no

nc

as

h

inc

en

tiv

es

ali

gn

ed

wit

h

bu

sin

es

s

ob

jec

tiv

es

.

Can Work/Life Initiatives beMeasured?

Work

/lifeinitiat

ivescreat

e

positive

employer

branding,

promote

beingan

employer

ofchoic

e,foster

organiza-

tionalcitize

nship,and

support

diversity

initiatives.

Building

a strat

egicbusi

ness

case for

work/life

initia-

tivesrequ

ires hard

datadoc

umentin

g posi

tive resu

lts on

the bala

nce she

et. Tow

ard

this

end,

there

have

been a

numb

er of

studie

s ded

icated

to the

financi

al imp

act of

work/lif

e pro

grams

in the

lastdec

ade.

O

ne such

study

(1997)

was cond

ucted by

WFD(for-

merly

Work/Fam

ily Direc

tions)

with rese

arch focu

se

d on

work/

lifepr

ogra

ms

with

a nu

mbe

r of

clien

ts (e.

g.,Du

Pont,

John

son

& Jo

hnso

n, Ho

echs

t Ce

lane

se,

IBM,

and

othe

rs).

At Du

Pont,

forex

am

ple,

“e

mplo

yeeswho

usedthe

company

’s work

/life progr

ams were

45% more

likelyto

agree

strongly

that they

will ‘go

the extra

mile’ and

are least

likelyto

feel over

whelmed

or burn

ed out.”1

4 Data

from Hoec

hst Cela

nesedocu

-ment

ed that

“some

60% of

those

surveyed

reported

the

ability

to balan

ce work

with perso

nal and

familyrespo

nsibilities

was of

great impor

tancein

their deci-

sion to

remain with

the comp

any.”1

5

T

here

are

sev

eral

key

fact

ors

to

be

con

side

red

in

mea

suri

ng

ROI

of

wor

k/life

prog

ram

s:

the

audi

enc

e,

the

cult

ure,

desi

gnin

g

the

dat

a

coll

ecti

on

pro

ces

s,

inte

grat

ing

find

ing

s

and

ma

kin

g

proj

ecti

ons

,

and

ide

n-

tifyi

ng

the

co

mp

any

’s

pri

mar

y

goa

ls.

For

ma

ny

org

ani-

zati

ons

,

ho

wev

er,

qua

ntif

yin

g

the

dat

a

pre

sen

ts

the

gre

ate

st

cha

ll

e

n

g

e

.

T

h

e

b

e

s

t

p

l

a

c

e

t

o

s

t

a

rt

is

t

o

con

-

sid

er

five

key

are

as:

1)

em

plo

yee

tim

e

sav

ed;

2)

em

plo

yee

rete

ntio

n;

3)

incr

eas

ed

moti

vati

on

and

12Ibid.

13Thompson, C. A., Beauvais, L. L., & Lyness,K. S. (1999). When work-family benefitsare not enough:The influence of work-family culture on benefit utilization, organizational attachment, andwork-family

conflict. Journal ofVocationalBehavior, 54,392-415.

14Landa

uer, J.(1997,July).Bottom-linebenefitsofwork/lifeprograms.

HRFOCUS, 74,7, 3-4.

15Ibid.

❶ ❸❹2003 SHRM®Research Quarterly

productivity; 4) absenteeism; and 5) decreased health care costs and stress-related illnesses.

Employee Time SavedOne of the most direct and

measurable financial bene-fits of work/life initiatives is

the amount of time saved byemployees by using

assistance, such as an EAP,

to address and solve

personal problems. WFD

con-ducted research with

clients across industries with

300 employees and

documented that an average

of 17 hours per year were

saved when employees used

a consulting service that

provided counseling,

referrals, and research in

areas such as parenting,

education, childcare,

adoption, and eldercare.

According to this research, a

minimum of 80% of this

saved time would have

involved employees working

on their personal problems

during the day, since most

assistance organi-zations are

only open during regular

business hours.

Employee RetentionThe cost of employee turnover and accompanyingloss of valuable company knowledge can be significant. Work/life programs offer a solution to retention woes. A prime example is IBM’s 1992 workforce survey that documented “the highest performers are the most likely to consider their abilityto balance work and per-sonal responsibilities in a decision to stay with the company. Employees overall rated work-balance issues as sixth of 16 factorsthat keep them with the

company.”16

Increased Motivation and ProductivityResearch indicates

that company

commitment to

work/life initiatives

is closely aligned

with employee

motivation and

productivity. A study

focusing on work,

well-being and

stress illustrates

this link, finding that

“45% of men and

50% of women

would turn down a

promotion if the

new position would

leave them with

less time for their

personal or family

life.”17

AbsenteeismResearch has documented that work/life programscan reduce absenteeism. Johnson & Johnson “found that there was a 50% decline in absenteeism among employeeswho used flexible work options and family leave policies.”18

16 Ibid.

17 Gottlieg, B. H., Kelloway, E. K., & Barham, E. (1998). Flexible work arrangements: Managing the work-family boundary.New York: John Wiley & Sons.

18 Landauer, J.(1997, July). Bottom-line benefits of work/lifeprograms.

HR FOCUS, 74, 7, 3-4.

Decreased Health Care Costs and Stress-Related IllnessesWith increasing

company focus on

the high cost of

health care,

work/life programs

are becoming an

intel-ligent choice to

help lower the

number of health

care claims.

According to the

American Institute

on Stress, 1 million

workers are absent

due to stress-

related complaints,

and American firms

lose more than 5

million workdays

annually due to

illness, more than

half stress-related.

A 1992 study by

Northwestern

National Life

Insurance Co. found

that “72% of all

workers surveyed

experienced three

or more stress-

related illnesses

‘somewhat or very

often.’”19

The entire story

regarding work/life

programs,

however, cannot

be told strictly by

quantitative meas-

urements. To

present a solid

argument for

work/life policies

and programs, the

positive yet hard-

to-measure factors

of work/life

initiatives—

corporate

reputation, public relations,

improved community

relations, increased

employee loyalty, and

enhanced recruitment—

should also be considered.

Family-Friendly Benefits

“Family-friendly firms have a significant impact on the lives and careers of business professionals who work in them.”20

A review of more than 30 surveys regarding work/life

balance published from 1997 to 2003 reveals that

the number of employers who offer family-friendly

benefits has dramatically increased. According to the

SHRM® 2003

Benefits Survey bythe Society

for Human Resource

Management (www.shrm.org /surveys—available late June 2003), the percentage of employers offering family-friendly benefits continues to increase.21 The survey documents that the top five family-friendly benefits offered are:

1● Dependent careflexiblespendingaccounts(71% of

respondents).

2● Flextime(55% ofrespondents).

3● Familyleave aboverequired leave of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) (39% of respondents).

4● Telecommuting on apart-timebasis(34% ofrespondents).

19 Ibid.

20 Friedman, S. D., & Greenhaus, J. H. (2000). Work and family—Allies or enemies? What happens when business professionals confront life choices. New York: Oxford University Press.

21 Society forHumanResourceManagement. (2003).SHRM®2003benefitssurvey.Alexandria,VA.

● Compressed workweeks(31% of respondents).

In 2002,

the Work/Life Today Survey conductedby the Alliance

for Work/Life Progress revealed that an

Work/Life Balance: Challenges and Solutions 7

❶ ❸❹2003 SHRM

®Research Quarterly

aver

age

of 56

% of

em

ploye

es us

edwo

rk/life

bene

fitswh

enoff

ered

. Th

is su

rvey

indica

ted

that

the

top

two

bene

fitspr

ovide

d we

re EA

Psan

d

fl

ex

ib

le

s

ch

ed

ul

es

.2

2

I

ts

ho

ul

d

be

n

ot

ed

,h

ow

ev

er

,t

ha

te

ac

h

s

ur

ve

y

is

o

rg

an

iz

ed

d

if

fe

re

nt

ly

,

wh

et

he

r

it

b

e

fa

mi

ly

-f

ri

en

d

ly

o

rw

or

k/

li

fe

.F

or

ex

am

pl

e,

th

e

SH

RM

®

20

03

B

en

ef

it

s

Su

rv

ey

c

o

ve

rs EA

Psun

der

the

healt

h se

ction

.

ith

th

e

ev

er-

inc

re

asi

ng

nu

m

be

r

of

su

rv

ey

s

an

d

stu

die

s

av

ail

abl

e

th

at

foc

us

on

fa

mil

y-

fri

en

dly

be

ne

fits

,

hu

m

an

re

s

o

u

r

c

e

p

r

o

f

e

s

s

i

o

n

a

l

s

w

h

o

a

r

e

c

o

n

s

i

d

e

r

i

n

g

o

f

f

e

r

i

n

g

w

o

r

k

/

l

i

f

e

p

r

o

g

r

a

m

s

,

o

r

e

x

p

a

n

d

i

n

g

c

u

r

r

e

n

t

w

o

r

k

/

l

i

f

e

i

n

i

t

i

a

t

i

v

e

s

,

h

a

v

e

s

u

b

s

t

a

n

t

i

a

l

a

n

d

c

o

n

v

i

n

c

i

n

g

d

a

t

a

t

o

s

u

p

p

o

r

t

t

h

e

i

r

p

o

s

i

t

i

o

n

s

.

Work/LifeBalance Tre

nds

Th

e

ch

all

en

ge

of

wo

rk/l

ife

bal

an

ce

in

ou

r

so

cie

ty

is

unl

ike

ly

to

dis

ap

pe

ar.

Id

en

tifi

ed

an

d

dis

cu

ss

ed

as

fol

-

lo

ws

ar

e

fo

ur

wo

rk/l

ife

bal

an

ce

tre

nd

s.

Aw

ar

en

es

s

o

f

t

h

e

s

e

t

r

e

n

d

s

w

i

l

l

p

l

a

c

e

t

h

e

h

u

m

a

n

r

e

s

o

u

r

c

e

p

r

o

f

e

s

-

s

i

o

n

a

l

i

n

a

p

o

s

i

t

i

o

n

t

o

b

e

t

t

e

r

e

d

u

c

a

t

e

m

a

n

a

g

e

m

e

n

t

a

n

d

w

o

r

k

c

l

o

s

e

l

y

w

i

t

h

e

m

p

l

o

y

e

e

s

.

New ResearchThe topic ofwork/life balance is getting a gre

at deal of attention in the academic and corporate worlds, and new researchis continually being conducted. The following is anexample of new

research in the grow-ing field ofwork/life balance.

2003 study

reveals that employees are often preoccupied with work when not

working,and when in the company offamily and loved ones,experien

ceaninability to bemeaningfully engaged in nonwork spheres.3

Asresearcher Ezzedeenexplains, “modern work has become knowledge based, flui

d,and intellec-tual;overworked people think aboutwork allofthe t

ime. For many people, work has become cognitively intrusive.”To

understand work/life balance,Professor Swiercz and DoctoralCandi

date Ezzedeenof The George Washington University developedand testeda cogni-tive approach, the“CognitiveIntrusion of Work.”Insimple term

s,this means thatwork/life balance is notjustaboutfinding “physi

cal time” to do all that needs to be done. Instead, and more imp

ortantly,itis aboutthe “cognitive space” necessary to process,or

ganize, and respond to the thinkingdemandsof lifewithin a complexsociety.

zz

ed

ee

n

an

d

S

wi

er

cz

fo

un

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8Work/Life Balance: Challenges and Solutions

work

/life

bala

nce.

They

foun

d

that

the

expe

rienc

e of

intru

sion

trans

cend

s

dem

ogra

phics

and

pers

onali

ty

and

is

roote

d

inste

ad in

the

desi

gn of

the

job

and

the

orga

nizati

onal

cultu

re of

the

empl

oyer.

Com

ment

ing

on

the

pote

ntial

impa

ct of

this

rese

arch

on

orga

nizati

on

polici

es

and

practi

ces,

Profe

ssor

Swier

cz

states

, “this

resea

rch

not

only

gives

empl

oyers

a new

benc

hmar

k-ing

tool, it

also

provi

des a

new

theor

etical

basis

for

under

standi

ng

this

impor

tant

social

issue

from

a

resea

rch

persp

ective

.”

EldercareOne of

the most

significant

trends in

work/life

balance is

the incre

asingfocus

on

eldercar

e. Res

earchers

point out

that work

/life prof

essional

s antic

ipate

eldercar

e will

become

a maj

or issu

e in the

coming

years.

Accordi

ng to

census

data,

13%of

America

ns are

age 65

or olde

r, and

by 203

0, 20%

of Ame

ricans

(abo

ut

70mi

llion

) wi

ll be

over

age

65.

The

popu

latio

n ag

e 85

and

olde

r is

the

fast

est-

gro

wing

seg

men

t of

the

olde

r po

pulat

ion,

gro

wing

by27

4

%

overthe

past25

years.24

In addi

tion,the

Labor

Project

for Wor

king Fam

ilies stat

es that

40%of

people

caring

for elde

rs also

have

childcare

responsi

bilities.25

These

trends

have

led to

the bab

y boo

mer gen

eration

being

known

as the

“san

dwic

h gene

ration.”

A growi

ng numb

er of comp

aniesoffer

work/life

pro-gram

s addre

ssingelder

care. Accor

ding to the

SHRM®

2003Bene

fits Surv

ey, while

not as

mainstrea

m as childc

are progr

ams, some

organizatio

ns offer

various

formsof

eldercare.

Eldercare

programs

include

elder-care

referral

servi

ce

(20% of

responde

nts), eme

rgency

eldercare

(3% of

responde

nts), subs

idy of

eldercare

cost (2%

of resp

ondents),

and paid

eldercare

(1% of

responde

nts). The

2001stud

y by Hewi

tt Asso

ciates

points out

that som

e empl

oyers

offer depe

ndent

care prog

ramsthat

include

help

wit

h ch

ildca

re ex

pens

esan

d as

sista

nce

with

elde

rcar

e.

E

m

plo

ye

e

As

sis

ta

nc

e

Pr

og

ra

ms

ca

n

pla

y

an

im

po

r-

ta

nt

rol

e

in an

orga

nizati

on’s

elder

care

progr

am.

Som

e of

the

lesse

r-

know

n

bene

fits

of an

EAP

are

refer

rals

to

com

muni

ty

progr

ams

and

cont

acts

regar

ding

elder

care

issue

s.

Hum

an

reso

urce

profe

ssion

als

coul

d

signif

i-

cantl

y

incre

ase

EAP

usag

e by

learni

ng

more

about

EAP

elder

care

supp

ort

and

com

munic

ating

this to

22 In perspective: Use of work/life benefits on the rise. (2002). IOMA’s Report on Managing Benefits Plans, 02, 8, 7-9.

23 Ezzedeen, S. R., & Swiercz, P. M. (2002). Rethinking work-life balance: Development and validation of the cognitive intrusion of work scale (CIWS)

—A dissertation research proposal. Proceedingsof the 2002 Eastern Academy of Management Meeting.

24 Societyfor HumanResource Management. (2002).Work-life balance.Workplace Visions, 4, 1-8.

25 Labor Project forWorkingFamilies. (2002).Retrieved March18,2003,fro

m http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~iir/workfam/home.html

❶ ❸❹2003 SHRM®Research Quarterly

employees. Through these actions, HR professionals can emphasize the importance of EAPs to manage-ment and at the same time leverage EAP benefits to employees.

Work/Life Balance in the Relief WorldIn the “relief world,”

comprised of organizations with employees and

volunteers that provide service and care to

communities in need locally and worldwide, the demands

of an aging population in the coming decade are

increasing the current strong competition for qualified

individuals upon which relief organiza-tions depend. “Not

only will there be fewer young, keen and free-to-

travel individuals who will want to be convinced that

agencies are caring, ‘best-practice’ employers, but more

skills and experience will be pos-sessed by older staff

likely to have families and other commitments and thus

different priorities for their work/life balance.”26

Therefore, organizations that pro-vide relief services may

experience increasing diffi-culty staffing and retaining

employees due to the pull of family commitments at home.

Furthermore, the

challenges of work/life

balance will no doubt impact

recruitment, retention and

willing-ness to serve in

hardship locations. In view of

these factors, voluntary

organizations and aid

agencies whose missions

and services are critical in

many parts of the world may

well have an even greater

need for work/life programs to

attract and retain staff.

Total Life PlanningTotal life planning is

a new and

innovative approach

to work/life benefits

and helps

employees examine

important aspects of

their professional

and personal lives

and understand how

they relate. Their

goal is “to

encourage

employees to look

at their lives as a

whole

26 Swift, L. (2002). Work-life balance important in relief

world, too. Reuters AlertNet. Retrieved January 30, 2003, from http://www

.alertnet/org/thefacts/reliefsources

27 Traynor, J. B. (1999). A new frontier in work-life benefits. Employee Benefits Journal, 24, 4, 29-32.

and assess relationships, emotional and physical well-being, careers, spirituality, and their personal financial situation. From these programs, employees can as-sess their availablechoices to improve balance in their lives and develop an individualized life plan … the most successful programs set a goal-oriented environment with ameaningful and transformational component for each individual.”27

The concept of total life planning represents a para-digm shift in our society. One of the major benefitsis renewed employee energy, enthusiasm for work, and increased productivity. Total life planning programs may be offered in conjunction with benefits such as health, life, and disability insurance, or on astand-alone basis.However, not all organizations maywish to consider total life planning, as it brings topics into the workplacethat have traditionally been considered

private.

Conclusion

Work/life programs have the

potential to significantly improve employee morale,

reduce absenteeism, and retain organizational

knowledge, particularly duringdif-ficult economic times. In

today’s global marketplace, as companies aim to reduce

costs, it falls to the human resource professional to

understand the criti-

cal issues of work/life balance

and champion work/life programs.

Be it employees whose family

members and/or friends are called to

serve their country, single mothers who

are trying to raise their children and

make a living, Generation X and Y

employees who

value their personal

time, couples struggling to

manage dual-careermarriages, or

compa-nies losing critical knowledge

when employees leave for other

opportunities, work/life programs

offer a win-win situation for

employers and

employees. ●

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Work/Life Balance: Challenges and Solutions 9

❶ ❸❹2003 SHRM

®Research Quarterly

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10Work/Lif

e Balance:

Challenges

and Solutions

SHRM Research

ABOUT THE AUTHORNancy R.Lockwood is an HR Content Expert forthe Society for Human Resource Management. Herresponsibilities include identifying topics and focus in needof addi-tiona

l human resourcemanagement research and creating HR products of strategic and practical value forHR target audiences. Ms. Lockwood can bereached by e-mail at nlockwood@shrm.org.

ABOUT THE

SHRM®

RESEARCH DEPARTMENTThe SHRM Research Department researches and synthesizes the thoughts, prac-tices and voices oftoday’s HR professional, business and academic leaders on various HR topics and focus areas, and createsproducts of strategic and practi-cal value forHR target audiences. The Research Department includes the Survey Program, the Workplace Trends and Forecasting Program, and the Diversity Program.These programs provide SHRM members with a wide variety of informa-tion and research pertaining to HR strategy and practices to both serve the HR professional and advance the HR

profession.

ABOUT SHR

M®

The Society for HumanResource Management (SHRM)is the world’s largest association devotedto human resourcemanagement. Representing more than170,000 individual members, the Society’smission is

both to serve human resource management professionals andto advance the profession. Founded in 1948,SHRM currently has more than 500 affiliated chapters within the United States and members in more than 120 countries. Visit SHRM Onlineat www.shrm.org.

This report is published by the Society for HumanResource Management (SHRM). The interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those ofSHRM. All contentis for informationalpurposes only andis not to be construed as a guaranteed outcome.The Society for Human ResourceManagement cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions or any liability resulting from the use or misuse of any such information.

© 2003 Society for Human Resource Management. Allrights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

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For moreinformation, please contact:

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