Tipping the Scale Back
The search for balance in today’s workplace
By Anjana Dooling
Since the introduction of labour standards legislation in 1965 the idea of work-life balance has been part of our workplace lexicon, but what it means for both employers and employees has changed dramatically.
For many people, a good job is simply not attractive enough when other lifestyle compromises are considered. Murray Rowe, Major Gifts Officer at Family Service Association, is representative of a shift in attitudes among today’s workers. “Thanks to a healthy job market I have always had the benefit of restricting my employment search options to organizations within a 15 to 20 minute walk from my downtown home,” he says. “While at first my choice was for purely selfish reasons―I hate driving in the city and transit can often be a challenge―now my decision is also influenced by the global challenges facing our planet.”
In the past, being a good employer meant providing competitive wages, decent benefits and job stability. As evidenced by Rowe, the requirements for attracting and retaining employees today are very different and employers have become well aware of it.
This year’s list of Top 50 Employers in the Greater Toronto Area includes many programs and policies to give employees that extra balance and satisfaction at work. Here are some examples:
Flexibility
- Maternity top-up and flexible work arrangements for employees juggling life and work responsibilities
- Job-sharing arrangements
- On-site daycare centre
Education
- Tuition subsidies of up to $5,000 for courses related to employee’s position
- Scholarship program for employees' children pursuing post-secondary studies
Social and environmental responsibility
- Paid time off — up to three months at a time — to volunteer at a favourite charity
- Green Partnership program that includes waste management, resource conservation and habitat protection
- Raising money for community projects in developing countries
Health and Fitness
- Free breakfast, lunches and dinners at a cafeteria which serves healthy menu items
- Free memberships to on-site fitness facilities, instructor-led classes and personal trainers
Financial
- Annual contributions to a pension plan to 8.9 per cent of salary
- Matching RSP contributions up to 6 per cent of salary
Other
- Comfortable couches and a fireplace in the employee lounge
- Paid day off on birthdays
A longer work day and time spent commuting obviously mean less time at home enjoying the other things in our lives. “Work-life balance is more of an issue these days because people’s eyes are more open to what is important in their lives,” says Debbi Gordon, a workplace consultant with Family Services Employee Assistance Programs (FSEAP). FSEAP helps corporations create strategies and initiatives to tip the scale back to towards the right balance.
“It’s not just work-family balance anymore, but a work-life balance that addresses people’s values and ideals,” says Gordon. “Employers need to respond to what people value and see their employees as whole people in the workplace.” FSEAP helps employers do this by delivering consulting expertise in many areas including: healthy workplace; management of behavioural health/mental health issues; conflict resolution and work-life balance. The strategies help make the workplace a better environment for employees, which in turn helps them at work and in other aspects of their lives.
An Evolving Workforce
Part of the reason for the shift in attitudes toward work is a shift in
workplace demographics over the past 40 years. In 1965, only one
quarter of mothers with children under the age of six were in the labour
force; now that proportion is 70 per cent. A recent paper from
the Institute for Research on Public Policy finds all Canadians―and in particular
working parents―have seen their workloads increase significantly. In the
past seven years alone, time spent at work by mothers has increased by as
much as five hours per week and that has a significant impact on other aspects
of family life.
One of the ways organizations have responded to the new workforce
is providing more flexible parental leave options. Today, two-thirds of
the companies in Canada’s Top 100 offer maternity top-ups, with some supplementing
maternity benefits to 93 per cent of regular pay for the full year of a
mother’s leave. Twenty of this year's top employers also offer paternal
leave payments.
But improvements like this may still not be enough. Work-life imbalance and the resulting consequences of increased stress, fatigue, poor diet and a general strain on personal life are all too common realities for many employees.
“People call FSEAP and we ask how much is work an underlying contributor to these personal issues and how much are these personal issues affecting the person’s ability to concentrate, work effectively and get along with other people? They are usually very closely interrelated and employers need to understand that relationship,” say Gordon.
Today’s “sandwich generation”―people who are torn between caring for both their children and their aging parents―are among the most stretched. Employers are discovering that alleviating the stress felt by employees and providing training in how to cope with conflicting demands is not only the right thing to do, but also in their best interests as it leads to a more healthy, happy and productive workforce.
Canada’s best employers are applying more creativity in the way they address workplace and personal needs of employees. Initiatives include more flexibility in work hours, health and fitness centres, social and environmental consciousness, resiliency training and other benefits that make employees feel that their company reflects their values and meets their needs.
“Companies are hoping that happy employees will stay longer with the company, so they try to look after their people” says Rose Tan, a workplace consultant with FSEAP. “Ultimately, they are hoping that a happy employee will be more productive and that the company will therefore be more successful. That is why they buy our programs.”
Benefiting the Whole Person
Although many organizations are motivated by the business benefits, Keith Harding, president of FSEAP, notes that the real bonus of looking after people at their workplace is that it strengthens them at home as well. “It’s every bit as important as community counselling -- the work the [FSEAP] workplace consultants do and the strategies they create for corporations. When they sit and talk about creating a healthy workplace they are also talking about creating a healthy home life. [People] sometimes forget that but it’s really important. And having a healthy employee who has a stable home life will make them a better company. Companies are recognizing that more.”
The scale has started tipping back towards greater work-life balance but FSEAP recognizes that many employers still have a long way to go. “In my conversations with senior executives, if nothing else they are saying the right words,” says Harding. “The challenge is seeing it trickle down and the commitment to live it in the workplace, because that has a financial implication.”
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