Work life balance

Why should the University care?

Work-life balance 'business' benefits include:

• Increased productivity
• Improved recruitment and retention
• Lower rates of absenteeism
• Reduced overheads
• An improved customer experience
• A more motivated, satisfied and equitable workforce.

To put it in bottom line terms, employee costs are often at least 50 percent of a organisations expenditure the University is no different in this respect, with replacement costing anything from £3,000 to £10,000 depending on seniority and level of technical skill.

A number of real examples of an impact on productivity can be cited:

• A DTI study in 2003 revealed that 49% of companies saw a positive increase in productivity
• Flexible working over the last 2 years has helped retain 1000 people at BT who have also saved £52m in overheads in the year to March 2003 by increasing its number of home workers
• The London Borough of Camden experienced a 2.5% reduction in the cost of sickness absence in the first year it introduced a work-life balance strategy

Take a look a this very useful leaflet for managers produced by the Equal Opportunities Commission that outlines a number of other direct business benefits associated with flexible working.