Can You Work and Still Have a Life? Two Out of Five Employees Say, "NO!"

By Bruce L. Katcher, Ph.D.

THE PROBLEM

Why do employees have so much trouble achieving work/life balance?

Here are some of the reasons:

Long Work Hours
According to the Employment Policy Foundation, one out of seven American employees works more than 40 hours a week—an average of eight additional hours on the job.

Changing Demographics
According to U.S. Census Data, in 1940, 67% of working households consisted of a married couple with a single wage earner, usually the husband. This situation decreased to only 25% of working households in 2000 and is projected to drop to 17% by 2030. One result is that in most households today there is no one home during the day to run errands and conduct routine tasks.

More Time in the Car
Suburban sprawl has resulted in longer commuting times. Furthermore, many of our children can no longer walk to and from school or to their after-school activities.

Deterioration of Boundaries Between Work and Home
Voice mail, e-mail, cell phones, lap tops and palm pilots have allowed the office to become omnipresent. We just can't get away.

Increased Work Pressure
Job security is now an oxymoron. Employees feel that they must work longer hours to impress their bosses and keep their jobs.

Employer Responses Have Been Inadequate
Some progressive employers have made the problem worse by providing after-hours meals and services such as dry clearing and oil changes. Although well-intentioned, these efforts have only made it easier for employees to work more, not fewer, hours.

HOW DAILY FLEX TIME COULD HELP SOLVE THE PROBLEM

What the Research Says:
According to research studies conducted by The Boston College Center for Work and Family (www.bc.edu/cwf), the most effective strategy for increasing productivity and life satisfaction is something called “daily flex time.” Most employers can implement such a policy for most employees without any down side.

Daily flex time is not the same as traditional flex time or telecommuting. It permits employees to vary their work hours on a daily basis. This is different from traditional flex time, in which there is a certain set of core hours and the employee can vary only their start and end times.

Why Daily Flextime Is Effective:
There is a psychological concept called “perception of control,” which plays a large role in the level of anxiety of employees. Psychological studies have shown that anxiety is greatly reduced if we perceive that we have control of our situation. Surprisingly, this is true even if we don't actually use the control.

For example, in WWII, post-traumatic anxiety was found to be highest among bomber crews, less among bomber pilots and least among fighter pilots. Bomber pilots had more control than their crews, but bombers were restricted to flying in a level formation. Even though fighter pilots had more flexibility to engage in evasive maneuvers, their actual casualty rate was the highest of the three groups. Thus it was the perceived control—not the actual control—that determined their level of anxiety.

Providing employees with daily flextime enables them to feel in more control of their time and their space. This not only reduces their general anxiety, but also provides them with the opportunity to achieve better balance by attending special family events, visiting a doctor during the day or even going home to take a nap.

Author Bio: Dr. Bruce Katcher, aka “The Survey Doctor,” is president of The Discovery Group, a Massachusetts-based firm that specializes in conducting employee opinion and customer satisfaction surveys. He can be reached at BKatcher@DiscoverySurveys.com or 781-784-4367.