A recent survey by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in the UK indicated strong support for work-life balance amongst employers and, although this has not always been matched in practice, provision has increased in the last three years (since 2001). The results also support the business case for the provision of work-life balance practices. Despite some concerns about staff shortages, the majority of employers that provided flexible working practices and leave arrangements found them to be cost effective, have a positive impact on labour turnover, motivation and commitment and employee relations.

Employer’s attitudes to work-life balance

Positive attitudes

There was a high level of support for work-life balance amongst employers. The majority (65%) agreed that everyone should be able to balance their work and home lives in the way they want and more than nine out of ten employers were of the view that people work best when they can strike a better balance between work and the rest of their lives. Generally speaking, support for the basic principles and concepts of work-life balance was supported by actions – employers that indicated the strongest levels of support tended to provide a wider range of practices and entitlements that helped their employees with their work-life balance. 

Employers were asked what they thought the benefits were from providing work-life balance practices. These included:

• positive effects on the retention of staff (13%)

• higher levels of staff motivation (10%)

• positive impact upon employee relations (71%)

• increased employee commitment and motivation (69%)

• labour turnover (54%)

• a positive effect upon recruitment (47%), absenteeism (48%) and productivity (49%)

The overriding benefit reported was undoubtedly a ‘happier workforce’

When asked about the disadvantages associated with the provision of work-life balance practices, the most common response was that there were no problems – almost a third of employers reported this.

However……..

….. the majority of employers agreed that trying to accommodate employees with their different patterns of work was not easy; the same survey found just under a third of employers considered that they bore no responsibility towards helping people to balance their work and other aspects of their lives with 17% expressing that business considerations should come before  employees’ wishes to change their pattern of working.

Practical considerations

If your organisation is considering a more flexible approach to work practice, some basic strategies should be implemented.

1. Do your employees want it? Surveying the attitudes and values of staff is an important first step. Another survey, from the Chartered Institute of Marketing and People Management showed that over 80% of employees thought it would be a good idea if they were able to work more flexibly and more than 75% thought that they would be able to complete some if not all of their work commitments from home.

2. What forms of flexible working would suit your organisation. There are many to choose from including; specific flexible practices, leave arrangements, home-working, flexitime, job sharing etc.

3. What are the resource issues? Many instances of flexible working are ‘good for business’, in fact the DTI survey showed that in the UK those organisations that have introduced this have found the following:

• Where a new practice(s) had been introduced 76% said there had been no set-up costs. Only 7% said they were substantial. The cost of administering a scheme was also favourable with 71% reporting no ongoing costs.
• In terms of financial performance, almost two-fifths of workplaces that had four or more of these flexible practices and leave arrangements, reported that performance was better than that of other similar workplaces in the same industry. Workplaces with either one or none of these practices were significantly less likely to perceive financial performance to be above average relative to their competitors.