Work/life balance

Numerous studies have confirmed the importance of work/life issues in employee retention. Simply stated, the inability to achieve work/life balance drives employees to seek opportunities outside the company. In fact, work/life balance is often more important to retention than compensation and benefits. Nevertheless, work/life balance is one of the hardest things to achieve. Managers play a key role in allowing employees to take advantage of the full range of company work/life programs. Specifically, you should:

Allow employees to take advantage of flexible working hours. As a manager, you can encourage your employees to vary their working hours so that they can better meet their personal needs, even in the absence of a formal corporate policy on flexible work schedules. Research has shown that employees are more successful when they feel that they have more control over their schedule. Flexible work arrangements can be accomplished by varying the start and end time each day, by compressing the two work weeks into 9 days, by compressing one work week into 3 or 4 longer days, or by allowing employees time off during the work day. Some employees will seek a permanent flexible work arrangement, while others will only need to use them from time to time. All employees will appreciate knowing that you are open to meeting their need for flexibility.

Allow employees to work at home if possible. This arrangement is commonly referred to as telecommuting. Many employees do not need to be in the office to get their job done. With as little as a computer and a phone line, employees often can be more effective at home, away from corporate distractions and interruptions. They only need to come into the office to participate in important meetings. While not every employee can be accommodated with a full-time telecommuting arrangement, many employees will benefit from telecommuting part-time or on an as-needed basis. Your flexibility in allowing employees to work from home will help increase their loyalty to the company.

Allow two employees to share one job. Although less common, often you can retain two good employees by allowing them to share one job. In this way, each employee is able to work part-time. As a manager, it may be more difficult to manage two employees instead of one. However, the benefit of retaining two valuable employees should outweigh the inconvenience.

Identify positions that could be done on a permanent part-time basis or positions that could be separated into two or more part-time positions. Some employees, especially working mothers, would like to stay in the workforce but are unable to work a full-time job. You may be able to retain key employees by redefining their position so that it can be accomplished on a part-time basis.

This toolkit is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended to replace legal, compliance, or other professional advice. TWP assumes no liability for the use of this toolkit.
Web-based Leaders' Toolkit, © Copyright, 2002. Technology Workforce Partners. All Rights Reserved. Technology Workforce Partners was a consortium of high technology companies that worked collaboratively on diversity issues in the workplace from 1995-2005.