A vice president today can spend up to 10 days in the month travelling. In this time he or she will possibly spend at least 2 - 3 days on a different continent and at the very least 2 days in transit. Much of this time will be spent in and out of meetings with customers, employees, suppliers, distributors and potential clients. Of the time that he spends in his home base he will work up to 10 hours in the office and remain connected via his BlackBerrys for the remaining 6 – 8 waking hours at the very minimum responding to emails. The sheer physical, mental and emotional toll that this amount of travel on a regular basis will take on the human body is enough for companies to take a long hard look at their regulations on travel requirements and work hours. But whose responsibility it is to monitor how people choose to work. Should organizations be responsible for regulating travel and time spent at work? Or does an organization’s remit end at ensuring that it achieves it end goal – one of making profit.
In his article 24/7 workplace connectivity: A hidden ethical dilemma Charles Piazza equates an organization’s responsibility towards maintaining an appropriate balance at the same level as Health and Safety. He purports that having standards and monitoring systems around the way the work gets done in an organization is as important as regulating WHAT work gets done.
Over the years the meaning of work-life balance for employers has evolved from being a government policy driven issue mainly for working mothers in the 60’s and 70’s1 to a “vital issue for everyone-- women, men, parents and non-parents, singles, and couples” with the responsibility resting firmly with the employing organization. Most organizations today have policies that sanction paid or unpaid time off from work in order to meet the needs of the family. However research2 shows that although these systems exist and have existed in organizations since the mid 80’s the use of these systems by managers and employees is still far from desirable. Jim Bird, CEO of Worklifebalance.com asserts that the job of organizations transitioned from one of policy making to one of educating the workforce on the importance of using these policies and structures effectively. This he insists, is not only in the best interest of the employees, but in the long run will ensure that you achieve better profits and exponentially better customer satisfaction.
Another factor that has transformed work practices over the past decade is the technology that makes 24/7 connectivity not just a possibility, but the norm. Highly paid executives are expected and often required to be available at any time to be aware of, and to be in a position to mitigate and solve crises on a real time basis. Turnaround times on critical communications have reduced to minutes and the penalty for non-response can be high. The impact on sleep patterns and the family is intensified in a global market place where organizations may have significant parts of its operations spread across the globe, literally requiring an individual to be available and connected around the clock.
In this environment of cut-throat competition and high unemployment, where employees are willing to do practically anything to get ahead and ensure that their jobs are secure, the onus of ensuring that people do not burn out falls squarely back to the organization. This is not just out of a desire to ensure that employees have a better quality of life. This is a sound business practice that will ensure that you not only have a motivated workforce, but one that is physically and mentally alert and capable of producing to their highest capacity. Studies have also shown a direct correlation between organizations ensuring a healthy work – life balance and reduced turnover. In the end, aside its ethical responsibility to create systems for a healthy work – life balance this is an excellent business strategy for organizations to adopt – one that has a direct impact on the top and bottom line.
Works Cited
Bird, J. (2006). Retrieved from http://www.worklifebalance.com/assets/pdfs/article3.pdf
Piazza, C. F. (2007, January 23). Retrieved from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/business/connectivity.pdf
