Why Should an Employer Offer Family Friendly Programs?

Why Should an Employer Offer Family Friendly Programs? Team One Group Project Group Members: Cassie Amundson, Sara Benda, Chrissy Boeckmann, Holly Emigh, Shannon Felty, and Michelle Stewart

Work Life Balance Programs What is a work life balance program? Work-life balance is a broad concept including proper prioritizing between "work" (career and ambition) on one hand and "life" (pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual development) on the other. Related, though broader, terms include "lifestyle balance" and "life balance" (Work-life Balance, 2010)

Work Life Statistics “I work with wonderful people who support me. And, my beliefs are that the business needs to serve the family rather than the family serve the business.” Kathy Ireland (Ireland)

Creating Work Life Balance • Flextime - Changing one or more elements of the workday • Compressed work week - Completing a week’s worth of work hours in fewer than five days. • Telecommuting - Performing your job at home on a regular basis. • Job-sharing - Two part-time staffers sharing one fulltime job.

Creating Work Life Balance • Additional weeks beyond FMLA • Paid paternity weeks • Before / After school care and Back-up and sick child care • Lactation rooms • On site health and fitness center (Lee & Palagano, 2005)

Work Life Balance Benefits • Creating Family Friendly Programs makes good business sense. • Employers can expect specific benefits from investing in these programs. • Employers can expect positive differences in: • Absences • Employee Turnover • Organizational Commitment • Job Satisfaction • And more….. Text

Job Satisfaction is Decreasing

Consequences of Dissatisfaction • Employees will look for other jobs • Stability and organizational success are threatened • Lose a sense of teamwork • Repress innovation and hurt America's competitiveness and productivity • Could make older workers less inclined to share their skills and knowledge

Changes in Absenteeism • Many people are absent from work due to family issues • Absenteeism puts pressure on other employees to handle our responsibilities • When we think about family related issues most people think children • Most recently family elderly care is becoming more popular

Reasons for Absences Reasons for Unscheduled Absences (Causer, 2002) • Work life programs can help combat these issues

Additional Reasons for Absenteeism • 72% of absenteeism is due to child care related issues • 40% of people caring for elders also have child care responsibilities • More than 22 million families provide some kind of unpaid, informal elder care and 64% of caregivers in these families are employed full-or part-time (Work Life Statistics)

Absenteeism's Effect on a Company • Loss of Profit average per-employee cost of absenteeism rose sharply from $610 per year in 2000 to $755 in 2001 (Causer, 2002) • Loss of Productivity Companies must put projects on hold, delay customer interactions etc. Remaining employees are stressed covering for missing workers TEXT

Work Life Impact on Absences (Rouse, 2010)

Family Friendly Programs can Decrease Absenteeism • The leading factor in employees’ commitment and loyalty to their employer is whether they believe that management recognizes the importance of their personal and family lives. • Workers rate the ability to manage work and family as the most important aspect they look for in a job.

Family Friendly Programs can Increase Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment • Employees will be more productive • Employees will get more accomplished • Employees are better able to meet personal obligations and goals • Employees will feel more satisfied • Employees will feel more rested and energized

How will these changes benefit my company? Creating a work life balance program will provide the following benefits to your company. • Promote diversity • Draw in more talent • Help employees focus on work related tasks • Retain valuable employees • Decrease absenteeism • Increase job satisfaction • Increase organizational commitment (Hansen, 2002)

Bibliography Causer, C. (2002, April 15). Absence rate still high: Work life programs combat absenteeism. Retrieved June 7, 2010, from The Free Library: http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Absence+rate+still+high:+Work-life+programs+combat+absenteeism....-a085590912 Hansen, F. (2002, December). Workforce Management. Retrieved May 23, 2010, from Truth and Myths of Work/Life Balance: http://www.workforce.com/section/02/feature/23/36/99/ Ireland, K. (n.d.). Quotes: Woopidoo Quotations. Retrieved May 6, 2010, from Woopidoo Quotations: http://www.woopidoo.com/businessquotes/authors/kathy-ireland/index.htm Lee, K., & Palagano, T. (October, 2005). Working Mother's 100 Best Companies. Retrieved May 2010, from Working Mother: http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/careers/docs/working_mother.pdf Press, A. (2010, January 5). Careers. Retrieved May 2010, from MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34691428/ Rouse, C. (2010, March 31). The Economics of Workplace Flexibility. Retrieved June 7, 2010, from Council of Economic Advisors: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/03/31/economics-workplace-flexibility

Bibliography Tortorici, F. (2010, January 5). U.S. Job Satisfaction at Lowest Level in Two Decades. Retrieved May 2010, from Conference-Board: http://www.conference-board.org/utilities/pressdetail.cfm?press_id=3820 Work-life Balance. (2010, May 29). Retrieved June 1, 2010, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work%E2%80%93life_balance Work-Life Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved May 8, 2010, from Google.com: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:5T_37gq_qkAJ:www.e-dependentcare.net/images/Work-Life_Statistics.doc+statistics+workplace+family+life&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a Work-Life Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved May 20, 2010, from Google: http://www.google.com/search?q=Work+Life+statistics&hl=en&source=hp&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=CILpw92EOTIylDp-yMZX6pcIKAAAAqgQFT9D21QI

Why Should an Employer Offer Family Friendly Programs?