Jane Coleman, Assistant Director of Personnel Services

Work-Life Balance

Definition

Work-life balance (WLB) 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, business and society.[Employers and work-life balance – the Work Foundation]

Positive Benefits

• Reduced sickness absence and stress

• Greater commitment and motivation

• Increased productivity – individual and organisation

• Improved recruitment and retention of talent

• Enhanced customer service/reputation

Work preferences• Workers spend on average equivalent of 32 days a

year travelling to and from work & 1/3 of employees would take pay cut if could work from home [YouGov & WebEx survey 2006]

• 1 in 3 would prefer flexible working hours to £1k pay rise & right to work flexibly valued more highly than any other perk, including company car [DTI survey]

• 7.4 million part-time workers in UK [ONS, 2004] – 78% of whom are women

Attitudes towards WLB

• Treadmill athletes

• Success-seekers

• Home heroes

• Free spirits

• Balance masters

Which one are you?!

Legal Framework

• Working Time Regulations• Maternity and Parental Leave Regulations• Paternity and Adoption Leave Regulations• Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less

Favourable Treatment) Regulations• Flexible Working Regulations

- Forthcoming in April 2007– amendment to include carers

WLB Framework

(1) Policies and practices

(2) Support for individual employee & capability (equipping them with skills to manage own WLB)

(3) Culture change

Individual Capability• Understand various demands on your time &

your emotional/mental energy• Be clear about your priorities• Spend reflective time to find ways to work

smarter and play smarter• Manage expectations and accept

consequences of choices• Build resilience and ability to stick to choices[D Clutterbuck, “Managing Work-life Balance” 2003]

Barriers to Effective WLB

• Organisational level

• Individual level

What does Warwick offer?

• Flexible Working Policies/Guidelines – options available include Unpaid Leave; Part-time (reduced hours); Term-time only; Staggered Hours; Flexi-time; Job Share; Compressed Hours.

• Nursery provision & childcare vouchers etc• Springboard programme• Enhanced maternity & paternity leave etc• Sports facilities on campus• Occupational Health and Counselling services• Mentoring scheme

Other Options

• Teleworking• Career breaks for carers/other staff• Study leave for non-academic staff• Flexible benefits package – eg additional

holiday in lieu of pay or other benefits• Personal development plans• Phased retirement• Time off for community work/duties

Group Discussion

• Group 1:

Consider ways in which you can improve your own WLB and/or that of your team

• Group 2:

What can the University do to improve the WLB of its employees?

Questions