How Important is Work-Life in Recruitment?

I spent a little time perusing several of the larger job boards recently and noticed that, no matter the job, there’s an increasing trend to offer a statement about the employer’s dedication to work-life and work-family support of its employees.

This statement sometimes comes in the job description, or is often included in the “about the company” section of the posting, but generally reads like this:

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Ethics and Work-Life Balance

According to a survey released yesterday by Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, there is a strong correlation between work-life balance offered and supported by companies and the ethical (or non-ethical) behavior of employees at those companies.

The survey found that:

* 91 percent of all employed adults agreed that workers are more likely to behave ethically at work when they have a good work-life balance.

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Family Friendly Workplaces for Fathers

Fact: When we talk about “family friendly” companies, we’re usually thinking about working mothers, not working fathers.

Family friendly workplaces are usually characterized by discussions surrounding flexible hours, telecommuting, time off and leaves, child care support and assistance, and company culture – and company culture involves all of the aforementioned.

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Does Top Management Understand Work-Life Balance?

I’ve made several posts to this blog opining about the work-life discussion as it relates to corporations and employees. The way the debate is being shaped today, there are two conflicting formulas at work here:

For the company, Work-Life Balance boils down to this: Company = Good, Family = Bad For the employee, it looks like this: Family and Personal Time = Good, Company = Bad.

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Work-Life Balance Distractions “Bill Of Rights”

I came across this E-tool Bill of Rights at FastCompany.com and wanted to share it with you:

Article 1: There shall be no assumption of unlimited e-access simply because the tools allow it. Excessive messaging shall be considered electronic littering.

Article 2: The right of the people to be secure from unwarranted electronic work intrusions at home shall not be violated. Nights and weekends shall be considered unplugged zones.

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Work-Life Balance? Not Bloody Likely!

Tom Peters, management ‘guru’ and author of In Search of Excellence has this message for us:

“Life-work balance is pretty much an illusion if you want to make an impact in today’s economy.”

Speaking on a panel at a Leadership Forum at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut, Peters pointed out that executives at General Electric “arrive at the office every day at 6:15 a.m.”

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Work-Life Balance Considerations Critical to Executives

According to a recent survey of worldwide senior executives conducted by the Association of Executive Search Consultants, “87 percent felt that work-life balance considerations were critical in their decision whether to join, or remain with, an employer.”

Aileen Taylor, AESC member and Managing Director of Eric Salmon & Partners Limited, observed: “For the first time in twenty plus years in the personal care market place, I am seeing candidates prepared to down-size both their salaries and their prospects within large organizations in favor of quality of life.”

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VAs (Virtual Assistants) Offer Work-Life Balance Assistance

Check out Gillian Hood-Gabrielson’s Fit for Business blog. Gillian features a Q & A with Sharon Williams, Chairperson of the Alliance for Virtual Businesses.

Ms. Williams supports what I’ve discussed with some of you when it comes to work-life balance:

“A benefit I haven’t covered is the ability to improve work/life balance. By hiring a VA, clients can systemize the business and automate its processes.

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Work-Life Considerations for Job Seekers

Work-life balance ranks high on our lists of deciding factors when looking for companies to work for.

What should you look for in a company when Work-Life Balance is at or near the top of your list?

Determine if work-life balance is supported by attitudes and corporate culture at all levels of the organization or is simply a Human Resources department directive.

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Do Corporations Really Support Work-Life Balance?

The Work-Life discussion rages hot-and-heavy. From National associations to corporate HR departments to non-profit organizations to think tanks to university work-life centers and foundations – everyone is getting involved in advancing the work-life debate.

But are all interested in achieving the true goal of work-life balance? That is,are all parties dedicated to, as the Third Path Institute rightly defines it, “assisting individuals, families, and organizations in finding new ways to redesign work to create more time for family, community and other life passions?”

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UPDATE: Wireless Devices Blur Lines Between Personal Life and Work Life

According to a survey of office professionals by Yahoo! Hotjobs, the line between our personal time and professional time is being all but erased as more of us use laptops, mobile phones, and smart phones to stay connected.

This observation comes as no surprise to us.

The survey’s data reveal that “75 percent of respondents say that they use their wireless device equally for both work and personal purposes. In fact, only 8 percent report that they are completely offline when away from the office and 27 percent admit to being so attached to their wireless device, they only leave it alone when they’re sleeping.”

While we can all agree that technology is a wonderful thing, our never-ending tightrope walk is to make use of this technology without becoming a slave to it.

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PDAs and Private Time

Separation of work life from our home and personal lives is becoming harder and harder. We are constantly being interrupted by ringing cell phones and PDAs beeping with new email messages waiting for our attention.

When we think we’ve escaped the microscope of our working lives, the lights are tuned up brightly and the wonders of technology pull us back – they often divert our attention from achieving what’s most important to us.

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relinquishment and addiction
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