Work Life Balance and Ethics

Ethics – What’s work-life balance got to do with it?

Deloitte and Touche’s 2007 Ethics and Workplace survey results found a very strong relationship between ethics and work-life balance. 91% of respondents to their annual survey stated that they believe “workers are more likely to behave ethically at work when they have a work-life balance”.

Why is this so?
Chairman of the Board, Sharon Allen, of Deloitte and Touce states,
“When you think about it, if someone invests all of their time and energy into their jobs, it may have the unintended consequence of making them dependent on their jobs for everything – including their sense of personal worth. This makes it eve harder to make a good choice when faced with an ethical dilemma if they believe it will impact their professional success."

The Deloitte and Touche 2007 Ethics and Workplace survey also found that the behavior of management, or at least direct supervisors, set the tone for ethical behavior (77%). At present approximately 30% of full time workers are not satisfied with their current work-life balance. Approximately one-third of full time workers, and nearly one-fifth of part time workers indicated that high stress levels cause conflict between work responsibilities and personal priorities.

So what can we do?

The study found that the top factors which would facilitate an ethical workplace were:
* The behavior of management (42%)
* The behavior of direct supervisors (46%)
Along with positive reinforcement for ethical behavior.

The study also found that compensation, flexible work schedules and benefits were the top three factors which influenced overall job satisfaction.

Download your own executive summary of the 2007 Deloitte and Touche Ethics and Workplace study here.

If work-life balance is a priority for you, I would also invite you to visit my sister blog dedicated to work-life balance – Your Balanced Life! Blog. You will find a treasure chest of work-life balance tips and exercises to support you in work-life balance.

I will be holding a free one-hour call next Monday, June 26th from 8:30 – 9:30 pm (EST) on Balance for the Summer Months. If you would like to join the call please email me at info(at) potentialsrealized (dot)com with Balance for Summer in the subject line. Participants are responsible for their own long distance charges.

I would also invite you to consider joining me for the 90 Day Your Balanced Life! Group Coaching Program which starts on July 17th (Tuesday 7-8pm ET). We will meet twice a month as a group, and once a month you will have an individual coaching session with me. You will also receive bi-weekly work-life balance tips into your email box throughout the 3 months of the program. The cost for the program is $119 US/month or $297 US for the program. Space is limited to 8, so register early (online registration available here)

Have a balanced week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, CPCC, CHRP, CPT
Potentials Realized
Toll Free: 1-866-217-1960
Email: jennifer(at)potentialsrealized(dot)com

How Engaged Is Your Workforce?

I'm reposting a blog post from one of my companion blogs, Your Balanced Life!, which I wrote almost a year ago (November 16 2005). I've been having a lot of discussions lately around employee engagement lately with organizations here in Canada and am sure that you will appreciate this one:

"A recent study of 85,000 workers in 16 countries across four continents found that only one in seven employees are "highly" engaged in their jobs and willing to go that extra step. This study was carried out with people working for large and midsize companies

The Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study found that 14% of workers surveyed around the world are highly engaged, 62% are moderately engaged, and 24% are disengaged. Employee engagement is the measure of people's willingness and ability to give discretionary effort at work.

Here in Canada, 17% of the 5,100 workers surveyd indicated that they were highly engaged, 66% moderately engaged and 17% disengaged. We ranked fifth, with respondences from Mexico indicating the highest levels of engagement (40%) followed by Brazil (31%). The US rakned thrid with 21% of respondents indicating that they are "highly engaged", 63% moderately engaged and 16% disengaged.

The Toronto Star (November 15 2005) indicates that in Canada the most important factor influencing their rating was senior management's interest in employee well-being. Two years ago a similar study found that 21% of employees were highly engaged."

What is the state of engagement in your organization? What is senior management's interest in employee well-being? What is one thing you can do this week to boost the level of engagement for yourself and your team?

I'd be interested in hearing your story and speaking with you if you are looking to boost employee engagement in your organization.

To an "engaged" week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, CPCC, CHRP, CPT
Potentials Realized
Web: www.potentialsrealized.com
Toll Free: 1-866-217-1960
Email: info@potentialsrealized.com