Reassessing Work/Life Balance

As a result of the recession, employees are re-evaluating what work really means to them, according to new academic research, and the results aren't pretty. But therein lies an opportunity for HR to step up and make a difference, experts say.

By Michael O'Brien

Widespread layoffs and other job changes associated with the latest recession have caused workers to question career-related sacrifices, including time away from family, less leisure time and fewer self-improvement activities, according to new research from Florida State University.

Among the more interesting findings, more than one-third (37 percent) of those surveyed say the recession caused them to think work isn't as important as it once was "in the grand scheme of things," and nearly one-quarter (23 percent) say they became more aware of "an over-commitment to work at the expense of family and recreation."

The research, which polled more than 1,100 full-time U.S. workers in a variety of occupations and career stages, was conducted by Wayne Hochwarter, the Jim Moran Professor of Management at the College of Business at FSU in Tallahassee, Fla.

The research examined the recession's role in changing employees' thoughts about work, commitment to their families and the pursuit of a more balanced lifestyle, according to the university.

"The objective of the study was to see if we could identify shifts in thinking, as well as the causes of these changes," Hochwarter says.

Before the recession hit, work was known as a place where an employee could enjoy some stability, he says.

"People found solace in going to work," he says. "That was the calm place where you could get away from many of life's struggles. Now it seems to be a little different because of the recession.

"Something went on in the environment that caused a jolt in the working world," he says. "For a lot of people, they didn't experience the jolt first-hand, but they saw the effects," including the need to work longer hours and spend less time on recreation and family activities.

As a result, Hochwarter says, it is imperative that business leaders monitor the way the recession is affecting their employees' work/life balance.

"I don't know how you can deny that what goes on away from work is a real influence [on employees' work performance]," he says. "I think that's a real shallow view of things."

Cali Williams Yost, CEO of Flex+Strategy Group/Work+Life Fit Inc., a Madison, N.J.-based organization that helps employers use strategic flexibility to improve productivity and engagement of employees, says she is not surprised by the research.

"The Great Recession severed the last remaining threads connecting us to the reciprocal, employment-for-life contract that hasn't existed for quite some time," she says. "So, I am not surprised that such a high percentage of employees are waking up to the painful reality that making work your primary focus, to the exclusion of everything else, is precarious.

"The foundation of your life needs to include people and experiences outside of work, too," she says.

If HR leaders are going to battle the negative perceptions of work, she says, they must first believe in the bottom-line benefits of work/life balance for both the organization and its employees.

"You need to believe that greater cultural flexibility is a strategic imperative to achieve business objectives and help employees manage their work/life balance," Yost says. "If you think it's a perk or benefit -- which many HR executives do -- then it won't work."

Brad Harrington, executive director of the Center for Work & Family at Boston College's Carroll School of Management in Chestnut Hill, Mass., wonders what the research might have uncovered if a different demographic was surveyed.

"If interviewed 1,100 laid-off people, they might have a different opinion," he says. "For those unemployed, getting a paycheck is probably the first and foremost thing on their minds."

Harrington says he believes that "work/life balance isn't just about reducing scheduling conflict; it's about helping people find meaning in what they do."

And for HR professionals, he says, "if we want people to be committed to their work, we must not only offer flexibility, but also offer ways to show the relevance of their work to their lives."

Hochwarter says that, in these troubled times, there's a real opportunity for HR to reach out and make a difference in the quality of their employees' lives.

"Oftentimes, HR people view the world through an HR lens of policies and procedures," he says, adding that corporate executives often "have a little bit more control over their work time than others, and I think they assume that it's the same way for everyone, and it's not."

Executives may benefit from "shadowing" employees away from their work, with the employee's consent, of course, he says.

"See what they have to do when they're not at work," Hochwarter says. "It's really important for HR people to look beyond what's written in an HR manual and see that there are people struggling out there. HR would be well served to put themselves into people's work shoes as well as non-work shoes.

"Empathy is a pretty good thing," he concludes.