In a time of high unemployment and widespread cost cutting, a large number of companies, are raising the bar in developing effective and flexible work/life benefits to attract, retain and promote talented employees.
Reconciliation of Work and Family Life is not a luxury in times of crisis.
We know from a number of studies, that good work life balance leads to more loyal and engaged workforce, that it boosts productivity, and is simply a more socially responsible way of doing business.
Overall, employees who have a high work-life fit fare much better than employees who have moderate or low levels of work-life fit. At the same time, the employers could achieve the following results:
• Increasing employee engagement and satisfaction
• Unlocking innovation and creativity
• Increasing the skills and educational qualifications of employees
• Reducing business costs
• Enhancing productivity
• Increasing employee recruitment and retention and reducing turnover
• Aligning staff coverage to meet business needs
• Reducing absenteeism and sick days (lower levels of stress)
When work “works” for all, it is possible for all to benefit! [1]
Some examples:
Companies such as Deloitte, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Ernst & Young, Kraft Foods, Colgate-Palmolive, and Procter & Gamble highlight the value of flexible workplaces.
Deloitte – Deloitte enables employees to “dial up or dial down” their careers to fit various stages of their lives. The company provides a structured approach for organizations and their people to identify options, make choices, and agree on engagements to ensure that value is created for the business and for the individual. See Deloitte’s Mass Career Customization programme
IBM – Describing itself as “the world’s most forward-looking company,” IBM offers a number of work/life benefits, including part-time and compressed work weeks, job sharing, leaves of absence and the ability to work from home.
Johnson & Johnson – J&J offers an exhaustive list of work/life benefits for its employees including onsite childcare, the ability to work at home and/or telecommute, adoption assistance, flexible hours and job sharing, and paternity leave. The company offers alternative career tracks for parents or other employees with long-term family-care issues as well as access to eldercare services, childcare discount programs and resources for parents raising special-needs children, access to teen driving resources and college counseling and educational services. Employees may also request paid work, personal and family time off for planned and unplanned events including marriage, personal emergencies, eldercare, adoption, custody matters, childcare and even pet care…
Reconciling Work and Family Life 
At least this might influence the EU Commission to adopt a measure that would get rid of the soft laws relating to flexible working hours which gives rise to internal non mandatory policies in certain sectors.
Thank you very much, Isla!
A dedication to work life balance brings so much value to the workplace. I like your assessment that in a time when it’s important to ensure the staff you have are highly skilled and engaged, there are more than just health benefits that can attract and retain people. Nurturing your present workforce is a lower cost measure than hiring and training new staff, which can be the price of losing good people in an uncertain economy.
Thank you very much, Lyndsay!