What is the future of employer-sponsored work/life programs? Will there be any major changes in corporate involvement in 2001?
And the answers: The future of these benefits looks good. And, yes, there will be some important changes–particularly on the part of management, which is moving toward the dual approach of improving work life balance and at the same time boosting performance.
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“Business is getting more serious about work/life balance and top executives are looking at it very closely–they’re making the connection between the bottom line and work/life programs,” said Jill Casner-Lotto, vice president of policy studies for Work In America Institute Inc., a non-profit membership research organization based in Scarsdale, N.Y.
Founded in 1975, the Institute has worked with more than 400 organizations to develop strategies that increase productivity and quality of working life.
And Casner-Lotto sees something else becoming more prevalent this year.
“Increasingly, employers are finding out that the company benefits and work/life balance improves when employees themselves are asked to redesign the work flow,” she said.
Asking the people who actually do the work for their input seems an obvious thing to do. But many companies are reluctant, even though it’s counterproductive simply to throw work/life programs at staffing problems without first examining their impact.
“It’s an issue of respect for the whole person, a corporate value that recognizes people understand their work loads and also have needs outside of work,” said Casner-Lotto, who has been at the institute since l981.
When the policy researcher, known for her in-depth research, speaks, people listen. And information from a new study she directed, “Holding a Job, Having a Life: Strategies for Change,” gives valuable insights into what 2001 may hold.
Funded by the Ford Foundation and 15 major corporations and unions, the institute studied outstanding work/life practices at such U.S. businesses as Agilent Technologies Inc., Bank of America, Baxter Healthcare Corp., Eli Lilly & Co., Ernst & Young, First Tennessee Bank, FleetBoston, Hewlett-Packard Co., Kraft Foods Inc. and Merck & Co.
Casner-Lotto says a direct connection between how the work is done and having a life is exemplified by the input of hourly shift workers at a Kraft Food pizza plant in Sussex, Wis., which has 450 employees.
“Schedules had been unpredictable, making it difficult to arrange for child care, personal activities and even transportation,” she said. “But the workers came up with a solution–a compressed work week of four 10 hour days. They also suggested working in teams rather than large crews. Productivity improved and employees gained more flexible and predictable work hours.”
In 2001, more companies also will consider “how organizational changes impact on workers’ family lives,” Casner-Lotto observed.
Fleet Financial in Boston, which had undergone restructuring, asked its underwriters to redesign their jobs. “They streamlined their work flow, which had been heavy, and the result was more time to do their jobs, more time for their families–and less turnover,” the researcher said.
Ernst & Young, the international professional services firm based in New York, established a task force of professional women to find out why so many were leaving the firm. By implementing suggestions for flexibility and mentoring, the company estimates it saved $41.5 million from 1996 through l998 in reduced turnover.
“When work/life balance becomes one of the criteria for success, it energizes people and motivates them to go the extra mile for the organization,” Casner-Lotto concludes.
That sounds to me like the makings of a good New Year’s resolution.