Why work-life balance is dead

Tracy Brower, Ph.D., MM, MCR

Tracy Brower, Ph.D., M.M., MCR

Why work-life balance is dead

#LimeadeWorkLife

@Limeade@TracyBrower108

It’s totally possible.

Today’s speaker

Tracy Brower, Ph.D., M.M., MCR

Tracy is the author of Bring Work to Life by Bringing Life to Work and the Global Vice President of Workplace Vitality at Mars Drinks. Before that, she served as the Director of Human Dynamics + Work for Herman Miller.

Tracy focuses on the sociology of work – how humans affect their work-life and how it affects them back

Overview

Welcome

Getting grounded

Work-life supports

A range of alternatives

Making it happen

#LimeadeWorkLife

@Limeade@TracyBrower108

Q&A

Getting grounded

What is work-life integration?

Integration means coordinating, blending and bringing elements of work and life into a unified whole.

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Work-life supports

What are work-life supports?

Benefits, formal policies and information practices that help employees navigate the demands of work and life.

Send a strong message to employees

regarding the extent to which they’re valued

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Poll: What’s your experience with work-life supports?

I’m a work-life ninja: I’ve seen and done it all.

I’m confident: I have a good amount of experience.

I’m not an expert, but I’m trying some new things out.

Work-life supports are new to me: I’m eager to learn.

I’m here to learn as much as I can.

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An abundance of options

Amenities Care-related solutions Hours of work

Insurance/benefits

Job management

Physical work environment Technology Wellness &

mental health

A range of alternatives

Example: Oil & gas company

• Work at home with permission• Option for Friday afternoons off in summer• Special programs for special needs

Highly conservative HR seeking to change the culture

Example: Financial organization

• Core hours• Employee recognition programs• Employee activity programs• Leadership development efforts

Multiple locations nationwide A ‘bulge’ workforce

Example: Packaged goods company

• Employee recognition programs• Community programs• Variety of benefits • Policy-driven flexible work • Leadership development• Employment life cycle for touches and selection

Publically held Multinational HR right-hand to CEO and C-suite Legacy of employee-focused culture

Example: Manufacturing company

• Few policies at all but extensive flexibility• New policies blossoming for where, when

& how people work• Flex time• Flex place

• Rich environment

Legacy culture of employee-centric participation

Example: University

• Office hours & traditional schedules • Emphasis on presence for student support• Benefits focus on university • Onsite childcare• Private offices

Variety of roles Campus and student centric Traditional university environment

Example: Tech company

• Friday work at home option• Extensive use of desktop video• Time-zone-based work hours• Generous parental leave• Dogs in the office• Concierge services

Entrepreneurial company Primarily millennial workforce Three sites Global

Be creative within boundaries

• Rotating hours • Purchase of extra vacation• Pools of employees and hours for emergency

time off• Full time service with part time responsibility

that is employee customer-facing• Cross training• Technology • Training and development planning • Tuition reimbursement • Onsite childcare

Call centers Cable guys IT Help groups Healthcare Machine-tied jobs Desk-tied jobs Customer-tied jobs

Making it happen

When companies provide work-life supports they enhance employee…

Engagement Satisfaction

Retention Health

Poll: Does your company manage change well?

My company is brilliant at managing change.

No one is perfect, but we do it quite well.

It’s spotty: sometimes things go well but we could do better.

Honestly, we can use all the help we can get.

Change management? We call it command and control.

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Making the business case

Background and problem statement

Goals and objectives

Criteria

Options and analysis

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Risks

Outcomes

Action plan

Summary

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Formula for change

Vision | create a clear, compelling and shared vision of the future state

Perceived costs | reduce the costs of the change

Knowledge | communicate the steps necessary to move forward through the change and provide resources to help

Dissatisfaction | generate a healthy sense of dissatisfaction with the status quo

Vision Dissatisfaction Knowledge of practical first steps

Perceived costs

V D k Pcx x ≥

Measuring success

Depending on your company, you can measure using:

• Employee survey data (if you try a pilot version, survey the team before, during and after) • Attendance records• Customer satisfaction• Turnover rates• Exit interviews

Lessons learned

|Everything counts

|Start small

|Focus on leadership

|Align with work

|Count, measure, track & gather feedback

|Continuously improve

|Focus holistically

Remember: work-life supports are more than

just flexibility

Wrapping it all up

Welcome

Getting grounded

Work-life supports

A range of alternatives

Making it happen

#LimeadeWorkLife

@Limeade@TracyBrower108

Q&A

Q&A

TracyBrower.comtbrower108@gmail.com

limeade.commarketingteam@limeade.com