Implementing Policies, Practices and Culture to Support
Organizational Effectiveness and Work-Family Relationships
Module 3, Class 2
A Teaching Module Developed by
Ellen Ernst Kossek (Michigan State University),
Mary Secret (Virginia Commonwealth University),
Stephen Sweet (Ithaca College)
and the Curriculum Task Force of the
Sloan Work and Family Research Network
What Happens in the Home Matters at Work
HOME
Child Care Disruption
Adult Care giving Needs
WORK
Marital/Family
Stress
Absenteeism, Tardiness
Family Illness
Intent to Resign
Decreased Job
Performance
Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality

Many firms have cultures
where using work/life
policies is seen as
benefiting the individual
far more than the firm.
Meeting employee’s
personal needs are not
yet seen as meeting
customers’ needs.

Work/life policies are still
largely programmatic
 minimal link to other HR
policies
 nominal focus on
informal cultural issues
 glass ceiling effect
Managerial Concerns




Labor costs
Turnover
Quality and customer service
Absenteeism
How might these vary among employers for
different types of workers?
How might employers in different industries
have different views?
Factors affecting use of work-life
policies/practices
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Corporate culture
Organizational approach to managing change
Supervisor support
Individual characteristics
Job content factors
Work-group factors
Bureau of Labor Statistics distribution of
work-life policies and programs
Families and Work Institute Family-Friendly
Index
Flexible Work Arrangements
Corporate Giving/Community Service
Flextime
25
Part-time work
25
Job sharing
25
Flex-place
Other flexible
arrangements
Subtotal
Management Change
Corporate giving to
community/national
work-family initiatives
25
15
Funds to benefit employees
25
15
Other corporate giving/community
service programs
10
105
Leaves
Subtotal
60
Work-family manager
training
25
Work-family coordinators
15
Work-family handbooks
10
Other management
change
40
Subtotal
Dependent Care Services
90
Child care or family leave
25
Child care resource and referral
20
Work-Family Stress Management
Other leaves
15
Elder care consultation and referral
20
Employee assistance
program
10
On- or near-site child care centers
25
Wellness/health promotion
15
Consortium child care centers
20
Relocation services
10
Sick/emergency child care
programs
15
Work-family seminars
10
After-school programs
15
Work-family support groups
10
Subtotal
40
Financial Assistance
Flexible benefits/flexible
spending accounts
25
Long-term care insurance
10
Adoption assistance
10
Summer camps
15
Work-family newsletters
10
Child care discounts
5
Caregiver fairs
5
Other work-family stress
management programs
15
Vouchers
20
Other dependent care services
25
Other financial assistance
10
Subtotal
80
Subtotal
160
Subtotal
80
Total
615
Stages in Organizational Development on
Work and Family



Stage 1: Employer adopts a few work family policies
on paper, but they are not integrated into the
culture
Stage 2: Many policies and practices exist for
different work–life needs, work-family
professionals hired
Stage 3: Work family issues have strong cultural
acceptance, managerial support, and work is
designed
with consideration for family life
Making the Business Case: Strategies of
Selling

Management philosophies over support of worklife can vary
 Strategic HRM /productivity
 Employer of choice/ diversity views
 Reciprocity
 Trade-off
 Dual agenda
Strategic HRM Views of Business Case





What is economic performance of firms that
provide work-life balance?
Do the firms that provide the best work-life
balance do better in the marketplace?
Are they more profitable?
Are employees of those firms more productive?
Do these policies have a return on investment?
Employer of Choice
Cascio & Young 2003 study:

Stock performance of Working Mother 100 Best
companies consistently higher

Why? 35 % of analyst’s “investment decision” is
determined by non-financial information:


“ability to attract & retain people”
workforce is increasingly diverse; want talent of
all backgrounds to want to work for you
Employer of Choice View



“Best employers” typically receive twice as many job
applications per position as other firms.
Example: Job applications received by Edward Jones
& Company (named by Fortune as the #1 best
employer to work for in 2002, 2003) increased from
40,000 to 400,000 after on list.
Best practice: Marketing work life as best employer
competency,
Tradeoff View



Productivity pitted against leisure
Outdated traditional paradigms: Worker time for
money; Work vs. family
Best practice: How to redesign jobs for mutual
benefits for managing work- life
Reciprocity Managerial View



Workers will give more discretionary performance
when the employer is supportive.
Example: Employees who rated work life benefits as
useful were significantly more likely to make
voluntary workplace improvement suggestions
(Lambert, 2000).
Best practice: Implementing work-family benefits
that workers value.
Collaborative Interactive Action Research
(CIAR)*:Three Pronged Approach Dual Agenda



Engagement at the workplace level

Employers, employees
Engagement at the associational level
Unions, Professional organizations, trade
associations, community groups
Engagement at the state level

Government officials
*Bailyn, L., Bookman, A., Harrington, M. & Kochan, T. (2006). Work-family
interventions and experiments: Workplaces, communities, and society. In M.
Pitt-Catsouphes, E. E. Kossek, & S. Sweet (Eds.), The work and family
handbook: Multi-disciplinary perspectives, methods and approaches (pp. 7399). Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers
Guiding assumption of CIAR:
Life difficulties negatively affect work performance:
Redesign for Dual Agenda

Strategy
 Challenge assumptions that
impede gender equity and
work-life integration (microinterventions)
 Redesign work practices to
integrate work with family
lives and enhance work
effectiveness
 Couple research with
workplace redesign

Approach

Collaborate - engage
workers and managers in
the research process
 Fluid expertise
 Honoring resistance
 Feminist methodology

Focus individuals on the dual
agenda
Develop institutionalized
mechanisms for dissemination

Supplemental Exercises for Additional Classes

Work Life Policy Business Case Exercise


Goal: Students Learn to make business case for
adopting policies at their college and learn the
challenges of doing so
Work-Life Strategy Game

Goal: Students work in teams to develop a work life
strategy that fits their industry and workforce, and
answer questions in a game to gain familiarity with
policies, and managing work-life issues, and can buy
policies that fit with their strategy
Business Case Assignment

Identify a work-family policy that could have an impact on
business practices at your college/university


Make a business case for its implementation




Identify two articles on this policy as it was implemented at
other workplaces.
Outline the shape of the policy
Who could be eligible (and who can’t be)
Costs and implications (returns on investments)
Outline how you would go about creating the organizational
change….or if a business case can not be made your
thoughts on how this issue should be addressed.
ROI: Returns on Investments


Cost estimates – what should be considered?
Outcomes benefits – what should be considered?


Does the company need loyal workers (all workers or
just some? Does that influence how the policy is
constructed)
How is productivity measured? Hours vs quantity
and quality of production
Work Groups

Members in each group pose the policy he/she
wants to advance and then all collectively consider

The types of information needed to make a business
case



Which of these items are “knowable” in advance?
The best avenue for making a business case and
selling the policy to the organization
The feasibility of making this available to all workers or
contingents of workers at the college.
Paid Family Leaves for New Parents:
Comparison between US and Europe
Leave w/
Basic Pay
Available to
Available to
Additional
Incentives for
Wage
Provisions
Mothers
Fathers
Unpaid or Low
Fathers’ Use:
Only
Only
Benefit
Weeks Lost if
Leave
Father
Replace
(weeks)
(% wages)
(weeks)
(weeks)
(weeks)
Doesn’t Use
Nordic Countries
Norway
52
80%
9
4
-
4
Sweden
52
80%
0
2
13
4
Denmark
30
100%
18
2
52
26
Finland
44
66%
18
3
108
-
France
18
100%
16
2
156
-
Luxembourg
16
100%
16
2 days
52
26
Netherlands
16
100%
16
2 days
26
13
Germany
14
100%
14
0
156
-
Belgium
15
75%
15
3-4 days
26
13
Austria
16
100%
16
104
-
Italy
26
80%
26
0
24
-
Canada
50
55%
15
0
-
-
U.K.
26
90%
26
0
26
13
U.S.*
0
-
0
0
24
12
Continental Countries
English-Speaking Countries