Week 4 Discussion

Work-Life Balance—Financial

Offering employees a work-life balance program is yet another way to gain employee engagement and also contain organizational costs related to employee absences and disengaged employees.

The following companies can be analyzed to generate ideas for some work-life balance programs to implement in your organization:

Google

Kaiser Permanente

Johnson and Johnson

Keller Williams Realty

Lockheed Martin

Dell

American Express 

Nike

When employees are fully engaged at work, performance levels increase, which is good for the bottom line. However, “there are consequences, both behavioral and �nancial, to decisions to offer or not to offer one or more work-life programs” (Cascio & Boudreau, 2011, p. 172). When organizations decide against a work-life balance program, it results in the following: burnout, stress, depression, and spurs on other health issues.

Additional factors to consider when stakeholders object to a work-life balance program are as follows: 

In professional-service �rms, over half the employees can expect to experience some kind of work-family stress in a three-month period.

Staff members with work-family con�ict are three times more likely to consider quitting (43 percent versus 14 percent).

Staff members who believe that work is causing problems in their personal lives are much more likely to make mistakes at work (30 percent) than those who have a few job-related personal problems (19 percent).

On the other hand, employees with supportive workplaces and supportive supervisors report greater job satisfaction and more commitment to helping their companies succeed. (Cascio & Boudreau, 2011, pp. 176–177)

Below are some work-life balance options:

Telecommuting

On-site/emergency childcare

Exercise program

Flexible working arrangement

Eldercare 

Employees that feel less stressed and have autonomy over their workday are more committed to the organization. The results can be observed through their behavior, quality of work, lower absenteeism rate, and employee turnover. A cost-bene�ts analysis should be conducted to keep the leaders informed of the total impact the work-life balance program has on the organization. 

Work-Life Balance

From the South University Online Library, read the following:

Reduces burnout

Improves mental clarity

Leads to physical health and overall well-being

Increases the quality of work

Enhances work productivity 

Boosts employee performance

Improves job satisfaction

Re�nes collaboration

Moderated Mediation between Work Life Balance and Employee Job Performance: The Role of Psychological Wellbeing and Satisfaction with Coworkers  (https://www.thecampuscommon.com/library/ezproxy/ticketdemocs.asp? sch=suo&turl=http://search.ebscohost.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/login.aspx? direct=true&db=a9h&AN=129035599&site=eds-live)

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Additional Materials

From your course textbook, Process Metrics and Measurement Complete Self-Assessment Guide, review the following chapters:

Criterion #2: De�ne

Criterion #3: Measure

From the South University Online Library, review the following article:

For Employees' Better Work-Life Balance, Companies Like Citi, Pepsico Upgrading Employee Engagement Measures with Newer Policies (https://www.thecampuscommon.com/library/ezproxy/ticketdemocs.asp? sch=suo&turl=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx? direct=true&db=bth&AN=95880646&site=eds-live)

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