Maintaining Work-life Balance in Turbulent Times

Balancing work and personal commitments has always been a challenge for the UK workforce. Now, the tough economic climate is asking for even greater sacrifices from our country’s employees.

Many of those who face redundancy are working overtime to prove they’re indispensable, while those who have survived jobs cuts are struggling to cope with increased workloads due to the resulting staff shortages.

When people find their futures in jeopardy, finding a balance between life and work seems to take a back seat.

Fewer people move jobs during an economic downturn

The findings of CIPD’s Recruitment, retention and turnover survey suggest that British employees are more likely to choose job security over job satisfaction during a recession.

According to the report, 15.7 percent of employees left their jobs this year, compared with 24 percent in 2008 and 20 percent in 2007.

The highest staff turnover levels (16.8 percent) are found in the private sector, with voluntary services coming second (16.4 percent) and the public sector third (12.6 percent).

The levels also varied from region to region, with stats suggesting that more people sit tight in locations where unemployment is the highest and where there are less alternative employment opportunities available.

This year’s relatively low staff turnover levels suggest that more people are putting their career plans on hold, which does make sense given the current economic climate.

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that unemployment hit a 14-year high of 2.44 million earlier this year. This means that people leaving their jobs to seek new opportunities face tougher competition than ever.

Keeping motivation up when business is down

During a challenging economic climate, companies tend to focus on their bottom line instead of the wellbeing of their employees.

Salaries are frozen, promotions are often out of the question, and companies can’t afford training and development programmes. All these factors contribute to a lack of motivation among staff, which could translate into lacklustre levels of performance.

The Bank of England recently disclosed that the recession is affecting Britain’s productivity. The bank estimated that output per hour plunged by nearly four percent in the second quarter of 2009 as workers' willingness to take pay cuts persuaded firms to keep them on despite not really needing them, reports the Daily Mail.

The current climate is affecting those in managerial roles too. A recent survey by Top Talent found that 73 percent of managers felt "demoralised” because staff cuts caused their workloads to increase and they didn’t feel like they could ask for time off.

One way for companies to keep their employees motivated is to give them more control over their destinies.

Tough times call for more flexibility

Over the past decade, the UK has seen flexible working move to the forefront of the economic and social agenda.

A recent study by the Department for Trade and Industry found that close to 66 percent of companies now have employees who have switched from full-time to part-time hours, compared with only 46 percent in 1998, reports the Guardian.

The government has called this "a sweeping change in the way employees balance work and family responsibilities”. It’s also a way for employers to reduce costs without losing skilled staff.

In January 2009, KPMG was the first of the “big four” accountancy firms to ask employees to cut back their hours, in the hope of avoiding redundancies.

KPMG’s ‘Flexible Futures’ programme presented 11,000 employees in the UK with the following options: a four-day workweek and a 20 percent reduction in base pay; a four- to twelve-week sabbatical at 30 percent base pay; a combination of the two options; or a chance to stick with their current contracts.

Rachel Campbell, head of people for KPMG Europe, told People Management Magazine that the scheme was introduced to ensure “maximum flexibility to respond proactively and positively to any change in the market”.

She added that the firm was “trying to deal with reality but also give employees some control over their own destiny.”

Time out of the office isn’t always time out

Flexible working arrangements don’t suit everyone. Some employees may feel pressured to work harder when they’re at work to justify the extra time off, which increases their stress levels.

And with recent developments in mobile technology giving people more freedom to work from home, time away from the office isn’t necessarily time away from work.

A recent survey of more than 600 UK employees revealed that many were turning into workaholics because technology enabled them to check their office emails and carry on working at home, reports the Guardian.

All of this considered, 85 percent of KPMG's UK-based employees have signed up for the flexible working options.

It seems as if the majority of people choose flexi-time over full-time, despite the decrease in pay, provided there are other benefits such as more leave or a secure future with the company.

In May, staff at Honda’s Swindon plant chose to accept a 3 percent pay cut for workers and a 5 percent pay cut for managers over 10 months. In return, employees got an additional six days’ leave, reports the Telegraph.

And British Airways pilots recently voted in favour of a 2.6 percent pay cut as part of a scheme to save the airline £26m. In return, the pilots received shares in the company worth £13m in total.

Companies are flexing this trend to their advantage

According to People Management Magazine, Flexible Futures could save KPMG up to 15 percent of its payroll costs. At the same time, the firm will retain skilled staff so that it can prosper when the economy recovers.

KPMG’s success story has inspired a number of employers to adopt a similar approach.

One example is BT, who recently asked staff to take a 75 percent pay cut in return for a long-term holiday. Alternatively, they could take a one-off payment of £1,000 for going part-time, with the option of working their hours around school term times so they could spend more time with their children.

A recent CBI survey discovered that 74 percent of UK companies now offer their staff some form of flexible working. Almost two-thirds (65 percent) of these firms have said that their employees feel more motivated as a result and 50 percent said productivity had improved.

A silver lining in the clouds of retrenchment

The economic downturn has seen a rise in flexible working and both employers and employees could use this to their advantage.

Choosing flexible working as a way to manage costs while retaining skilled, experienced workers will put businesses in a good position when the economy turns the corner; and workers could view flexi-time as a way to strike a beneficial work-life balance.