All Work and No Play Tale True

Work-life balances benefits for both the employee and employer.

My husband has been working twelve hour days, seven day weeks. He's had some big projects, with important deadlines. His employer is fortunate in him because he'll work the hours he must in order to meet deadlines, and produces quality work. His family is fortunate that he's a good worker who provides for us.

Somehow, though, each of us in the family feels unfortunate because we miss him. He misses us.

He feels compelled to work these hours—as do many American workers—because they are not just expected to, but required to.

But these employees, the ones I know...they aren't terribly happy. The delight in their work is diffused by—guilt—not putting enough of themselves into the rest of their life—stress and fatigue—unbalanced life, too much pressure, too much work, not enough downtime, or true downtime (time without worrying about the work not getting done).

So how is this a good situation for employer or employee?

It isn't.

Then, what is it? It’s a mistaken assumption about what constitutes a good, driven worker who produces well for the company...and how much the company needs to retain a well-balanced and happy employee. It is also a mistaken assumption about what makes an employee happy.

I know employees aren't disposable. I know how expensive it is to recruit and train professional employees. Therefore employers can't possibly view employees as disposable.

Still, that attitude is implied in the workplace. Workers are expected to prioritize work first, and devote the highest percentage of their time to the business. Everything else must compromise to the needs of capitalism and industry.

This doesn't generate happy employees, nor does it improve the retention rate.

In 2004, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the average US employee turnover rate had increased from 19.2% to 20.2%. That might not be significant if you simply look at the number, but it is when you consider that's practically 25 out of a 100 people leaving a company each year. And that's the average, which means some industries are higher.

“Work-life balance” continues to resonate as a commercial buzzword. Unfortunately, that's all it seems to be: a trendy phrase that employers feel obligated to say, but not do. Nobscot Corporation, which specializes in retention management and metrics, stated that work-life balancing benefits both the employee and employer:

Many companies have implemented support programs such as flextime, childcare and personal care services. Often these programs are discontinued due to under utilization or lack of support from senior management.

Job performance and commitment is still measured in the minds of both employees and employers based on the long-work-hours culture.

In order for work life initiatives to be successful, the company leaders must set the tone and vision. Managers need to model good balanced behavior. Employees need to take responsibility for their choices regarding diet, exercise, sleep and career development.

Notice how important company leaders are to the success of any program. Consider how infrequently they actually support programs through actions and not just words (although even that can be hard to come by). And ponder how frequently—such as in Nobscot's example—programs designed to improve morale and productivity by supporting an employee's outside obligations are abandoned because senior management gets tired of pretending to enjoy and support the Happy Dance.

The bottom line got this concept: Job performance and commitment is still measured in the minds of both employees and employers based on the long-work-hours culture.

This means leaving at the door any and all outside obligations and nose to the grindstone for an unhealthy number of hours. It's one thing to focus on your job; it's another—and this is where it stops being healthy—to pretend they don't exist, especially to your boss. Who, it seems, rarely understands the pressing needs, and divided loyalties all employees have.

Time and again, employers have asked my husband why he needs to be around to help his wife and children. When I gave birth, they were stunned he wanted more than two days off. When I was hospitalized with pneumonia, they were incredulous he needed to be home to help with the kids (our three year-old and newborn), and care for me. He got little to no time off.

A boss even asked him once, as he left to do something with the kids: “Don't you have a wife for that?” My husband thinks he was only half joking.

It’s not a joke. It’s all too real.

And that sort of attitude is hardly the worst. The worst—and the motivator behind why my husband works as he does—is the time he got fired for being married with a child.

Previously, my husband worked for a company for far too long. There, his bosses had a cultish view of employment.

At one company picnic, two of the partners at the firm cornered me in an open office.

“You're ruining your husband's career,” one partner said. “You put so much pressure on him to come home, spend time with you, and the family.”