One-quarter of workers at firms with poor work-life balance planning on leaving in next 2 years
More than one-quarter (27 per cent) of employees at organizations around the world that are not perceived to support work-life balance plan to leave their companies within the next two years, according to new research from Hay Group.
That’s compared to only 17 per cent of those at companies that ranked among the top quartile for support of employees in achieving a reasonable balance between work and personal life. For an organization with 10,000 employees, a 10 percentage point reduction in turnover over two years would result in savings of $17.5 million (assuming an average salary of $35,000 and an average replacement cost of 50 per cent of salary), said Hay Group.
At the same time, work-life balance concerns across the globe are on the rise, with 39 per cent of employees in indicating that they did not have a “good balance” between work and personal life, compared to only 32 per cent who reported the same in 2011, according to Hay Group's data.
Concerns also persist about the number of workers available to complete the work required, with the majority of employees (52 per cent) reporting that there are not enough people to do the work in their area.
“Organizations across the globe continue to ask their employees to ‘do more with less’, leading to increasing dissatisfaction with work-life balance,” said Mark Royal, senior principal at Hay Group. “Tactical solutions like telecommuting options or flexible work schedules will not be enough to successfully address these mounting concerns.”
Organizations must also focus on long-term solutions to work-life balance issues by helping employees work more productively and identifying opportunities to begin rebuilding their workforces, he said.
“By providing enabling work environments and additional people resources organizations can help employees accomplish work tasks as efficiently as possible, leaving more time to attend to personal responsibilities and garnering higher levels of organizational loyalty.”
Employees who perceived work-life balance support from their organizations reported greater confidence in their companies’ ability to recruit top talent. Nearly three-quarters (71 per cent) of those from leading organizations for work-life balance provided ratings of “good” or “very good,” compared to only 45 percent of employees in laggard organizations for work-life balance.
They also reported more satisfaction with their compensation. Among leading organizations for work-life balance, 58 per cent of employees agreed with the statement “I believe I am paid fairly for the work I do.” That’s compared to only 36 per cent of employees in organizations ranked in the bottom quartile for work-life balance.
