Is Your Business Doing Enough to Support Worker Commitments?
Juggling the demands of work and personal commitments is never easy. When a new baby comes into the picture, a family member becomes ill or an individual takes on responsibilities within the community, this can make the balance even harder to achieve.
Although many companies have started to address work-life balance concerns, a significant number of employees still struggle to balance these two aspects.
However, with the help of the right HRIS software, you can implement your current programs to ensure that developing families can cope and the entire workforce can attend to personal or family matters.
Australians struggle to make time for personal affairs
In the most recent Australian Work and Life Index, the University of South Australia found that only 68.8 per cent of employees are currently satisfied with their current work-life balance. When it comes to time with family and friends, 25.3 stated that work often gets in the way of this key commitment. A further 18.2 stated that their job commitments interfere with community connections on a significant number of occasions.
Employees who struggle to maintain a balance between personal and work commitments should be a top concern to businesses. Workers who are feeling the strain are less likely to be satisfied in their role and are more likely to show signs of anxiety and depression, according to the University of Michigan.
The New Zealand Department of Labour stated in a report that work-life balance initiatives offer many benefits to employees, which flow on to their organisation. These include reduced absenteeism, higher levels of staff commitment and loyalty, improved productivity and even a stronger company brand.
Measures may be as simple as introducing flexible hours or more complex ventures such as job sharing and the introduction of new policies. Any potential program needs to be catered to the needs of your staff and supported by an effective HRIS solution.
The need for all-inclusive programs
While women traditionally took on sole responsibility of childcare, the role of fathers has become more important over the last few decades. According to research published in Gender, Work & Organisation, this group is often overlooked in workplace initiatives, due to the ongoing stereotypes and ingrained gender roles.
If the father wants to play a significant role in childcare, they may not have their needs met through the company. This is due to a ingrained characterisation of men as employees over fathers. The researcher recommended that firms gain a better understanding into the evolving role of males with children.
Making amendments in company systems, such as HR management software, can help track who has family commitments to attend to.
Even if the male makes the majority of household income, recent research from the University of Leicester and the University of Bern revealed that many men would like to spend more time with their family. In fact, 58 per cent of European males stated they would take a pay cut to have more time at home. Only 15 per cent said they wished to work longer hours.
With this in mind, it is important that work-life initiatives are encouraged for all genders in the workplace. As the University of Michigan pointed out, work-life balance programs can not only benefit parents, but all employees within the organisation. Just as time spent raising children is important to the wider community, so is the opportunity for workers to contribute to volunteer work and socialisation.
Seeking the help of HR consulting can help ensure initiatives offer universal benefits as well as ensuring family commitments are fully addressed.
