Work-family issues and their impact on productivity

Work and family concerns have emerged as key factors for competitive businesses in the United States.¹ More and more employers are aware and concerned regarding the link between family issues and job performance. According to the Family and Work Institute, a nonprofit research and planning organization committed to developing new approaches for balancing the changing needs of family and workplace productivity, "An interest in work-family issues is multidimensional: clearly, more CEOs today understand that the notion of keeping one's personal problems at home is no longer possible or even advisable. They now see that attention to family related issues is a necessity of good business, an investment from which they have come to expect a healthy return."²

 

Attention to the link between family and work performance includes an awareness of how mental well being can enhance or negatively impact productivity. Employers are realizing that mental health issues are intricately linked with family and job stressors which are often precursors to mental health problems such as depression. Consequently, work and family accommodations are being made with the full intention that they will yield a return on investment because that is what motivates companies to address these types of issues.³

Research conducted by the Family and Work Institute on 188 companies analyzed work-family programs in major corporations, among other issues. The study also identified "Four Friendliest Companies" using a family-friendly index rating. The companies were Johnson & Johnson (pharmaceuticals and consumer products), IBM Corporation (computers and information processing equipment), Aetna Life & Casualty Company (insurance and financial services), and Corning Incorporated (glass, building materials, and consumer products).

These companies had the following in common:⁴

* Good economic health; though in some cases their work-family policies were developed in reaction to a threat to their economic health.

* Long-term strategic thinking and planning went into their work-family agenda and is typical of the way they conduct business.

* Well-respected employee champions envisioned work-family initiatives as part of a business strategy that will result in a desirable work culture.

* Each company examined what its employees needed and wanted and which community resources could help address the problems identified.