Commitment to work-life balance
Creating support for work-life balance
Communicate commitment to work-life balance
Before turning your attention to educate staff and management about the available work-life balance policies and how to properly implement them, work-life balance needs to be understood and recognised as being important by the whole of the organisation , including the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), management and staff. If people don’t really see the value in work-life balance initiatives, no matter how hard you try to promote them, they won’t be used. Creating support for work-life balance in the workplace, and sending out the message to everyone that it is considered important by your organisation are essential steps towards increasing the uptake of work-life balance policies.
Creating support for work-life balance
Work-life balance policies can only be successful if their use is supported by the entire work place, including employees, management and the CEO.
CEO support
Support from the CEO sends a strong message to all others in the organisation about the actual importance of work-life balance for the organisation.
For some CEOs work-life balance is still a “soft” issue which mainly is about ‘doing the nice thing’ for their employees. Assisting employees with their work-life balance is, however, much more than a nice thing to do. With labour market projections indicating a decline in the number of young people available for employment and the increasing number of employees nearing retirement age, there is an increasing pressure on employers to become an employer of choice as competition for staff intensifies. Work-life balance policies offer employers a relatively cheap but efficient way of becoming an attractive employer, assisting in attraction and retention of employees.
CEOs may be concerned about the impact certain work-life balance policies, particularly flexible work arrangements, may have on service delivery. An employee’s request for flexible work arrangements should always take into account the impact and consequences on the team as a whole instead of just the impact on the individual employee’s work. This is of particular relevance when there are multiple requests for flexible work in a team. In many cases flexible work arrangements, specifically flexible hours, have the potential to extend the hours of service delivery.
CEO acknowledgement that work-life balance policies are a valuable means to attract and retain employees and his/her active support for employees to use these policies makes an important statement about work-life balance as a key value of the organisation.
To convince your CEO of the importance of work-life balance policies for your organisation in the current tightening labour market, it is important to give him/her an insight into the potential problems your organisation might face in terms of loss of knowledge and capacity associated with retirement of older employees, and its capacity to counteract such trends by attracting younger employees.
- Gather data for
your organisation
on:
- The proportion of people in your organisation who are nearing retirement (aged 50+), and their classification levels.
- Proportion of managerial staff in your organisation who are over 50 years.
- Proportion of employees under 30 years.
High proportions of people over 50, particularly high proportions of managers over 50, and low proportions of young workers can cause problems for your agency’s future capacity for service delivery.
To convince your CEO that work-life balance policies can assist the organisation in achieving its business objectives, its benefits should be highlighted.
- Provide information on the benefits work-life balance policies can deliver for the organisation.
- Provide examples of successful, high-profile organisations which have embraced work-life balance as a significant means to improve their bottom line. Examples of such businesses are awarded every year in the National Work and Family Awards
- Provide case
studies of employees
in your organisation
which demonstrate
that attention
to work-life balance
can provide real
benefits for all
parties involved,
including in relation
to attraction and
retention.
To convince your CEO that work-life balance policies do not need to interfere with, but can in fact improve service delivery, the following examples may be useful to present:
- Having employees start and finish work at different times (e.g. 7am to 3pm; 8am to 4pm; and 9am to 5pm) instead of all employees working from 9am to 5pm, means you have an extra two hours in the morning during which customers can be serviced.
- Employees who work compressed hours (e.g. a 9 day fortnight) work longer hours during the days they are present at work, thereby extending service delivery hours. Proper rostering can ensure that staff is available on all days, which means services can be delivered every day at extended hours.
- Job sharing arrangements can be used if there are multiple requests for part-time work. A job share arrangement allows employees to work part-time, while the job they share is still performed on a full-time basis (just by 2 or more people instead of one). Job sharing often requires and allows employees to work more efficiently and can bring a wider variety of skills to a job than if performed by only one person.
Manager support
Middle and line managers play an important role in the success of work-life balance policies. They are in direct contact with employees and generally decide whether employees can use or can not use available policies. Managerial discretion in the application of policies requires that managers are properly educated about the importance of work-life balance. Managers are more likely to be convinced of the need to implement policies when they can understand why the policies have been introduced, and how they are expected to improve organisational performance.
- The proportion of people in your organisation who are nearing retirement (aged 50+), and their classification levels.
- Proportion of managerial staff in your organisation who are over 50 years.
- Proportion of employees under 30 years.
If a significant proportion of employees, including those in managerial positions is close to retirement and there seems to be only a small influx of younger people into the organisation, as indicated by a small proportion of younger employees, then this should be raised as a concern for potential staff shortages. Work-life balance policies should be promoted in light of these concerns as they have the potential to play a significant role in the attraction and retention of staff.
- Theoretical information on the benefits work-life balance policies can deliver for the organisation
- Case studies of employees in the organisation which demonstrate that attention to work-life balance can provide real benefits for all parties involved, including in relation to attraction and retention.
Employee support
The meaning of work-life balance, how it can be achieved and who it is relevant to may be unclear to some, or a lot, of employees. Employees can have the idea, particularly when terms like ‘family-friendly’ and ‘work and family’ are used, that work-life balance is only of relevance to people with children. This is not true. It applies to all sorts of employees, ranging from young single workers who want to go back to university to mature-aged workers who want to spend more time with their grandchildren, on the golf course or traveling. If employees are aware of the opportunities work-life balance policies can provide for them they are likely to be more supportive of these policies for themselves and others.
Educate employees about:
- The meaning of work-life balance (PDF, 18KB)
- How it could potentially benefit them by providing case studies of employees at different stages of their lives and careers who are successfully using work-life balance policies.
Communicate commitment to work-life balance
It is important for an organisation to communicate its commitment to work-life balance at all points of interactions with future and existing employees.
Future employees
Communicating the organisation’s commitment to work-life balance starts at the recruitment phase. This way, work-life balance can be used as an attraction tool.
Include a commitment to work life balance in job descriptions
Job descriptions or role statements can provide a framework for cultural expectations on employees as well as outlining specific job requirements. An agency’s commitment to work-life balance could be communicated by adding support for work-life balance policies into job descriptions of all employees, including managers and supervisors within the organisation.
Advertise jobs, where appropriate, as available on a flexible basis
The attraction and retention of skilled employees in your organisation may be hampered by a lack of flexibility in the jobs on offer. While certain flexible work arrangements might not be suitable for certain jobs, like telecommuting for nurses, there are often other arrangements that can be offered. A review of jobs and their tasks to determine what flexible work arrangements would be suitable might shed light on the jobs that could be advertised as available on a flexible basis. Advertising flexible work arrangements as available as part of a job will highlight the organisation’s genuine commitment to work life balance and widen the pool of potential employees.
Training for panel chairs on work-life balance policies
If jobs are advertised as available on a flexible basis, at least those who are chairing the interview panel should be able to discuss the possible options available to employees. Panel chairs should receive training enabling them to have discussions on the use of work-life balance policies in advertised jobs at the interview.
Existing employees
Incorporate work life balance into performance management
An employee’s working arrangements could be included as a standard topic for discussion at performance and personal development review sessions. This would provide all employees with a formal way to discuss current work arrangements and potential changes to improve flexibility.
Include work-life balance statement in organisation’s Value Statements
Include a statement on the agency’s commitment to work and life balance in the organisation’s Value Statements, which outlines the core values, as this may help reinforce work-life balance as a key value of the organisation.
Role modelling by CEO and senior management
CEOs can support work-life balance initiatives through active participation. Some CEOs encourage their direct staff to take up work-life balance policies such as part-time work, job sharing or telecommuting. With a positive role model at the highest level in an organisation, positive reinforcement is more likely to be reflected through the workplace culture. For example, if a CEO’s Executive Officer’s position is filled successfully through a job sharing arrangement, other senior managers in the organisation are more likely to be open to approving similar arrangements for their staff.
Allowing senior managers to use work-life balance policies is also a crucial means by which the CEO and the organisation show commitment to work-life balance, as it indicates that the policies are there for everyone. Senior management positions are often only available on a standard full-time basis with no opportunity to enjoy flexible arrangements such as time off in lieu, job sharing or part-time work. This reinforces the perception that these positions are not suitable to be worked on a flexible basis, which is contradicted by some senior managers who have been able to successfully use flexible arrangements
Last updated 29 September 2009
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