So folks have been talking about work/life balance lately. Kris thinks HR being responsible for work/life balance is an outright lie. Our pal Chris Ferdinandi at Renegade HR thinks it's absolutely something HR can influence. Me? I'm in the Jack Welch camp and lean closer to my buddy Kris in that I don't see work/life balance as something that HR necessarily owns or that I influence. I see work/life balance as a choice.
You can choose to be a workhorse
and grind away at all hours of the night because you want to and have
goals you're trying to achieve. Maybe you're trying to prove
something, or maybe you have no life and/or friends. Ha.- You can also choose to ask questions during a job interview about the work environment to see if there is an expectation to grind, grind, grind and work your booty off because it's something that defines the industry or organization's culture.
- That being said, you can also choose to work for an organization where there's a culture that encourages greater work/life balance and has it institutionalized via employee programs and policies. What's valued in the organization and by its leaders? You can choose to ask questions to this effect.
- And, regardless of culture or organization, you can also make choices to find more balance for yourself. You can choose to say no. You can choose to put your foot down and
leave the office at 6pm nightly. And you can choose to put bookmarks around your workday so that you have more balance because that's something that you personally value. Similarly though, your company may make choices too – they may not promote you as quickly, or they may give you smaller raise in comparison to your colleagues who are working harder, or longer hours.
For me, it's all about choices – about the career path/industry you enter into, the culture of the organization you choose to work for, and the work habits you employ. It's up to us as individuals. But that's my personal belief. And as a recruiter… this can be tough. Obviously, work/life balance stirs up all sorts of issues. And of course, I get the question at least once a week from candidates…
What's the work/life balance like here?
So there's my personal belief. But I feel like it's a bit of a tricky
landscape to navigate when answering that question for candidates, especially because I look at the role of a
recruiter as a sales gig. It's not enough to find the right talent – you
have to continually attract talent and then close deals. And for me,
part of getting offer acceptances is ensuring that at every step of the
recruitment process, I’ve portrayed a peachy – but truthful and
realistic – picture of our organization. We have pizza and beer every
Thursday! It’s collegial! Lots of room for growth! Global opportunities!
I’m constantly in sell mode. So having to throw in that… Oh, but yes, a
lot of our people do work 50+ hours per week, are on their Blackberrys
all the time, and would give clients their left foot if asked for it.
Huh? What doesn’t belong in my peachy picture? So just how is one to answer the question of “What’s the work/life
balance like here?”
It's still a bit of a struggle for me whenever I get the work/life question in interviews – but I share my personal opinion first, that it’s
a choice that people make. And then I share that there isn’t a push from our management to
grind away, that it's not necessarily a mandated part of our culture, nor is it an expectation – but it’s a choice that many people make because they are
fully committed to, and truthfully, simply love, what they do. It’s a
choice that’s easy for them to make because the work is meaningful and
interesting, and so maybe yes, you do see people who regularly work 50+
hour work weeks and you can’t be surprised at all to get emails from
colleagues at 9pm in the evening. But again, it's a choice, and at least in our org, people work as they do because they love what
they do.
And for now, this approach to answering that question for candidates seems to be working for me. I feel comfortable with
that answer. But I can’t help but to question myself every so often and re-think if this is the right
approach, how candidates really receive my answer, or how others answer
the question.
So what’s the work/life balance like at your
organization?
Great post, Jessica! I have been following this debate and have been waiting for the best time to comment. As someone who has spent the last 15 developing and implementing business-based work+life flexibility strategies in organizations, here are my thoughts:
First, in response to Kris’ post–He is right in that HR can’t “give” anyone work+life balance. In my experience, however, HR does play a very important role in developing strategies that help individuals flexibly manage their work+life fit in a way that meets their needs and the realities of a particular business. Oftentimes the work+life fit pain points for organizations show up in talent related areas such as recruitment, retention, health and wellness. A powerful solution is a process-based flexibility that’s part of the organization’s operating model,not just a bunch of policies and programs. But the impact of strategic flexibility goes far beyond talent. It can help businesses work smarter and better, service global clients and team without burnout, improve disaster preparedness, etc. In starting the flexibility strategy development process and partnering with the line, HR has an opportunity to lead an important business initiative that will position the organization for success in a global economy. Finally, I do have to agree that even in the most flexible organization, the solution comes back to each one of us. Therefore, we need the skills to know how to manage our work+life fit everyday and a major career and personal transitions.
This supports Chris’ point that HR can drive the development of a flexible, nimble operating model that allows individual employees to flexibly manage their unique work+life fit (NOT BALANCE–that phrase is a big part of the problem), while meeting the needs of the business. Any solution must me a win-win for both. There are no one size fits all approaches to flexibility. Each organization–leaders and employees in partnership–must develop its own process-based approach within the business. Each individual needs to understand the “how to” of their role. HR is an important partner in the process.
Finally, Jessica, you make very important points about the best way for recruiters to discuss “work life balance” to recruits. You are right, it is about choices but there is specific information individuals and recruiters can look at to make the best most informed choice:
1) Don’t go on policies, programs and standing on a particular “best of” list to get a sense of an organization’s work+life fit reality.
2) Is there an openness and ability to have an ongoing conversation about how to flexibly manage work and life again in a way that meets the needs of the business and the individual? Company can’t ‘give” solution, but there’s a process in place and individual employees and leaders understand their role in determining and implementing win-win solutions?
3) What are the realities of a particular job and business because that will influence the work+life fit you could have. Is there travel? Is there global client responsibility across time zones? Are there busy times during the year that require extra work? Know these realities going in. That being said, I’ve seen different organizations in the same industry offer varying degrees of flexibility to address the same realities day-to-day and across a career. So don’t eliminate whole industries without first looking at each individual culture and operating model to see how flexible it is.
4) At the end of the day, it does come down to each of us finding not only a fit between our work and life, but finding a fit between what we want and the companies we work for. The employers that step to the plate and understand that it’s not about giving people work/life “balance” but giving them the flexibility to manage their work+life fit will win.
Thank you to all of you for engaging the HR and Recruiting community in this very important discussion. I look forward to continuing it.
Cali Yost
Morning Jessica…..
Work/Life balance is a challenge. One I walk through every day and have done so – from home – for the last 12 years. My 11 year old actually kept a running tally on my hours one week last summer to show that I was clocking in 60+, that I wasn’t checking out at 4 p.m. even though I started my day at 4 a.m. Because disengaging from the home office is a bit tricky. It’s always there.
Now, after that rude awakening, I do set limits. I do take a critical look at my work week and see when I’ve done max hour days and adjust for that. I try not to touch a computer over the weekend or my Blackberry just to make sure I fully disengage. The weekends I’m successful? I’m a much better employee on Monday a.m.
And this work/life balance? It rests fully on my shoulders. I’m the one that has to set the limits and enforce them. My management isn’t in close enough proximity to shoo me off line or out of the office. I have to own it.
I am so glad Cali commented as I immediately thought of her recent blog post about organizations not being able to “give” employees work+life fit.
When someone has asked me a work-life question in an interview, I usually throw it back at them by asking, “What does workplace flexibility or work-life balance look like to you?” The answers I received from candidates ranged from coming in an hour later to being able to take long breaks in middle of the day to working from home if needed.
Once I knew what flexibility looked like to that person, then I could respond more specifically with how the organization may be able to formally support that (if a “program” is in place) or how other employees make it work. Because, as Cali mentioned, there is no one size fits all to workplace flexibility.
I don’t think HR owns this (influence, yes; ownership, no). I’ve spent most of my HR career in hard-charging environments full of driven people, many self-described workaholics. Have you ever tried to get a workaholic to stop working so hard (even when they come to you and ask for such help)? It’s like trying to get any other addict to stop – and the only person that can make that change in their life is them. Not HR. As Jessica (and Jack Welch) have said – it’s a choice.
As a recruiter, I’ve always been brutally honest about the realities of the work environment. This is probably because when I started in recruiting I was an HR generalist with recruiting responsibilities – so if I hired someone and they turned out to be unhappy, they were coming back to haunt me in the form of an employee relations issue. So, I liked to be VERY clear with people so there was no confusion later. And because work-life balance IS a choice, if you’re honest with people, you let them make that choice – they know what they are getting into and can say yes or no. Contrary to popular belief, not everybody wants to leave the office at 5:00 – many people thrive in demanding work environments and would be bored silly with balance. So, it’s up to people to KNOW themselves, what makes them tick, and what they want, and it’s not up to HR to figure that out for them.
I agree with (nearly) all of the above except to add, what IS HR’s responsibility is to create the toolkit and policies that empower teams to work most effectively.
A manager leaves it up to the individuals to work it out. A visionary leader gets engaged through setting clear deliverables, open communication about team needs, maximizing productivity and walking their talk.
HR, bless your hearts, you can run but you can’t hide from this one. Creating the environment and culture that enables strategic leverage, profits, accountability and productivity for companies is partly and firmly in your court. And for successful companies of the future, that has to include pieces that enable flexible places. The data is simply overwhelming.
And WHO EVER said balance was leaving the office at 5:00pm? It’s about choices – about control, options, and living life.
@erika – i love that approach of asking the question back of what does flexibility look like to them… i’m going to do that from now on and see how that works for me
@chrysula – not to shirk responsibilities… but i still dunno if HR can own this! yes, we can create toolkits and policies, sure… but it’s up to an org’s leadership and management to set the tone for the org, define the culture – and if the culture is one where flexibility and work/life is valued, then at that point, HR can do a thing or two. but i dunno if all orgs value or can realistically/logistically offer work/life balance and flexibility like some may want. you know?
@laurie – agree with you! personally, i’m far too obsessed with my work to have “balance” or “integration” of my work/life. it’s why i blog, you know? and the demanding environment is something i thrive on… so that makes it even harder for me personally to advocate for balance, lol.
@kelly – and i respect you for how you go about making those choices. thank you for being a good example and role model of a working mom. i admire you everyday for all of what you do and how you seemingly balance it all.
@cali – WOW – all at that and before 8am! i especially like the 4 tips you give for how a recruiter can/should talk about the work/life issue. you should do a guest post for us on that!
Jessica, I think on many levels we’re singing from the same song sheet but from different angles. I agree, HR can’t “own” it. But they sure have a powerful driving and influencing voice. And one I personally think they could exercise that power in a more substantial way.
As for all orgs valuing or being able to realistically implement flex, it’s their choice to sit out this revolution or define what it means for their companies. Innovate or die, isn’t that how the phrase goes?
Thanks for continued thought provocation and commercial analysis. One of the few HR blogs I really enjoy!
It’s nowhere near an HR issue. HR only come into it when we’re talking compliance, but they’re not the ones that set the pace.
I think the first thing to establish is this: there’s no such thing as work/live balance. It’s all life. Work can become the dominating force, especially if the team leader is driving short term performance over a long term, sustainable environment. It’s a real problem when the average time on the job gets to exceeding 50 hr/week, and leaders should recognize that and let their direct reports know exactly what they’re driving for and over what period.
Because if you’re not the leader, your choices are limited. Your only choice may be to do the time or get off the team. New hires need a clear understanding before they start just how much is expected out of them. HR can help with that and recruiters should be able to explain it accurately to their clients.
Until ROWE becomes the norm (and I’m not expecting that), leaders are going to continue drivin their teams beyond the breaking point.
Studies have shown that companies that have strong work/life balance policies as part of their cultures have a competitive edge. These types of policies have actually increased market value of public companies. Other notable studies are shown below.
Watson Wyatt Human Capital Index
Workplace flexibility
Companies that support flexible work arrangements had 3.5% higher market value than companies without.**
Hewlett Packard
Compressed workweek
200% increase in the number of transactions conducted on a daily basis
50% reduction in overtime
Nearly doubled productivity*
London School of Economics and Policy Studies Institute
Job autonomy
Research of 2,100 employees found that the amount of pressure, stress, motivation and enjoyment of the job is more influenced by how much control employees feel they have over their time rather than by long hours worked.**
IBM
Workplace Flexibility
Workers who believe they have flexibility are able to work eight hours more a week and still feel they have work-life balance. **
UPS
Flexible Work Schedules
Reduction in turnover from 50% to 6%**
Illinois Bell
Telecommuting
40% increase in productivity*
Some of you people need to take a serious hard look at your selves, really listen to what you are saying to others then turn yourself around, walk out the door, turn your (iphone, blackbery,OFF then go for a stroll in the nearby park and resolve to go and get yourself a LIFE!
If companies would start to equate excessive overtime with incompetence (“good employees are able to finish their work during business hours”), it would help reduce the occurrence of people working into late evenings and weekends. However, given that the employer likely benefits from unclaimed/unpaid overtime, it would be pretty difficult for profit-minded organizations to adopt such a mindset.