Work-Life Balance Programs for Orange County Businesses
Work-Life Balance Programs (WLBP) support a balance between the demands of work and personal life responsibilities for all employees in the workplace. In these difficult economic times, WLBP are one way to provide benefits and meet the needs of today’s employee with little or no cost to the employer.
How do businesses benefit? WLBP can produce better morale, increased productivity, higher retention rates and lower absenteeism which all can lead to increased profitability. For example, a study of MBNA’s credit card business shows a 99.9% annual attendance rate that the company believes is a result of its leave and flexible workplace policies. Sears found that every 5% improvement in employee attitudes caused a .3% improvement in customer satisfaction and a .5% growth in store revenues.
How do employees benefit? They have less stress, increased job satisfaction, more loyalty to the company and greater sense of well-being. Whole Foods Market, a natural and organic market with about 300 employees in Chapel Hill offers Flexible Spending Account dollars. Employees may purchase their benefits from a range of medical and dependent care options. Their Human Resource Director commented, “The cost of employees would really be the same or close to it if we only offered one choice.”
The absence of WLBP causes problems. Employees with a less supportive workplace can harm the bottom line. When employees have problems in balancing work and family responsibilities, the experience more stress, poor coping skill and less energy on the job. Personal and family well-being are jeopardized which, in turn, spill over into work and diminish their work performance.
Companies large and small, here in Orange County and nationwide have reported positive results from implementing WLBP. Research findings are available.
Every workplace is unique and must determine which WLBP are appropriate for its circumstances. Recommended options with little or no cost include: Flexibility (both scheduled and informal), referral information for childcare and elder care, leave without pay for dependent care, government tax credit for dependent care and movement from fulltime to part-time and back.
Options that may require some investment include: job-sharing, flex-place, time off for school/childcare functions, childcare and elder-care subsidies and paid leave for childbirth, adoptions and other dependent care needs.
Work-Life Balance Programs are no longer viewed as just altruism but rather sound business practice. It is a win-win-win situation for the employees, the community and the bottom line of the employer. The organization that responds to the realities of employees’ day-to-day lives will be ahead of the curve. The company that continues to operate as if its employees had no outside lives – will be history.
The Friends of the Orange County Commission for Women has chosen to focus on Work-Life Balance Programs to show businesses one way that they can provide benefits to their employees without threatening their profitability in this uncertain marketplace of today. They stand ready to work with you to provide research support and assistance in implementing the Work-Life Balance Programs that are most appropriate for your workplace. Contact them at elseb@nc.rr.com or 919 967-8586.