In the competitive business world today, we often have many Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that measure business success, namely:
- Revenue improvement
- Cost reduction
- Process cycle-time improvement
- Increased customer satisfaction
However, very often we neglect the 'people' at the heart of these strategies. Yes, we often neglect ourselves. The key dilemma for HR professionals is 'Work-life balance - a policy or a strategy?' Subscribing to a Work-life balance as a strategy has not been widely practised as yet, and requires a fundamental shift from the view that Work-life initiatives are a "business cost". According to some HR professionals there may be some short term truth in that. Changes of this nature can disrupt work processes that are already in place and often breeds an air of unfamiliarity which may be unsettling. The longer term view however, is that investing in the lives of the employee and employer, and caring for their well-being, will only have the effect of reducing business costs such as the loss of man-hours due to absenteeism, sick leave, labour turnover, etc.
As HR professionals, it is crucial to make sure that the implementation processes are linked to the overall organisational culture, as we often realise line managers may have differing opinions on how these policies could promote workplace inclusion. Ultimately, we have to be aware of employee perception of such policies in order to achieve the desired outcomes of increased productivity, engagement and satisfaction.
Here are some pointers on working out an effective work-life action plan that promotes a culture of inclusiveness;
- Value individual and intergroup differences in the primacy of work
- Support variation in domestic backgrounds and the processes of blending work and non-work demands
- Don’t view differing non-work or caregiving identities as barriers to an individual fully contributing and fulfilling their potential at work
- Work hard to encourage participation of employees at all levels of seniority. (Adapted from ‘Work-Life Policy Implementation: Breaking Down Or Creating Barriers To Inclusiveness?’ by Ann Marie Ryan and Ellen Ernst Kossek(n.d) In Press Human Resource Management Journal, Michigan State University.)
Work life initiatives have their root in the Diversity & Inclusion function, for example, to enable working mums to fulfil their role as the primary caregiver. Its ability to be responsive to individual needs has made it to be one of the most challenging policies in HR to implement, as variations could be seen as unfair treatment by employees. Implementing Work-life policies require a fundamental cultural change in the assumed hegemony of work and non-work that is typically not required from implementing other more straightforward HR policies (e.g. changing dental insurance benefits, changing a performance evaluation system or adopting a new pay system.) This is a radical assumption for many workplaces, since most have been designed based on the assumption that work identities are the central identity in an individuals life, hence Work-life policy implementation can have a greater effect than other HR policies on whether a culture is transformed to be inclusive. Variation in its implementation across various sub-groups presents the greatest challenge for HR Professionals.
It should be noted that adopting Work-life strategies in your business does not equate to becoming a welfare organisation, rather it relates to having the flexibility to respond to the needs of your employees just as you would want your staff to display commitment to their work. It is a Win-Win strategy.
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