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_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies                 Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations          Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor                  Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016                      Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

Report to U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau
Win-Win Workplace Practices: Improved Organizational Results and Improved Quality of Life (September 2004)
Patricia S. Reed, Shirley M. Clark
http://www.choose2lead.org/Publications/Study%20on%20Win-Win%20Workplace%20Practices.pdf
[full-text, 40 pages]

This paper seeks to provide to the public
an understanding of the type of workplace
that improves the employer's bottom line
and the employee's quality of life. This
study was conducted by identifying and
synthesizing existing information on
family-friendly practices in the United
States in a variety of sectors of the
economy, including large corporations,
small and medium businesses,
government, nonprofit and
nongovernmental organizations, and
academic institutions. Supplemental
interviews gave clear perspective to many
of the issues and concerns in the
workplace.

Finding the solutions that create a winwin
for employer and employee is
challenging. Given the diverse nature of
the workforce, there is not a one-size-fits all
solution. How does an employer
develop successful programs and benefits
when there are so many factors to
consider? While answers to this question
remain at the heart of this report, the
following is a summary of findings:

Summary of Findings
1) Workplace practices that include support for "family-friendly" benefits produce solid economic results, including higher profits, higher productivity, and lower attrition.
2) The key barriers to successful implementation and utilization of "family friendly" policies are management and staff resistance, lack of training, and the employee's (often justified) fear of being marginalized. Conversely, there is a strong correlation between organizations that embrace a culture of family friendly policies, and the overall productivity and loyalty of its employees.
3) The organizations that produce the greatest results in meeting the needs of the changing workforce tend to recognize and treat their human resources as capital investments and demonstrate an employee-focused philosophy through strong leadership, vision, strategic planning, and communication.
4) There is a direct correlation between employees that have access to and take advantage of benefits deemed to be "family-friendly," and their reported quality of life and job satisfaction.
5) There is an alarming disparity in the types of benefits offered to employees, depending upon their position and the size and function of their organization.

These findings demonstrate that--despite the challenges-- corporations of all sizes, academia, and governmental and non-profit entities can adopt win-win solutions that deliver improved organizational results as well as enhanced quality of life for employees.

Table of Contents Page
Executive Summary
Section 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Purpose of Paper 1
1.2 Methodology 1
1.3 Background 1
1.4 Exploring "Family-Friendly" Benefits 2
1.5 Employee Benefits and Job Satisfaction 5
1.6 The Business Case 6
Section 2 Case Studies 11
Section 3 Analysis and Recommendations 26
3.1 Summary of Findings 26
3.2 The Equilibrium Benchmark 33
3.3 Recommendations 35
Tables and Figures
Figure 1: Job Satisfaction and Employee Retention 6
Figure 2: Turnover at Best Places to Work vs. Industry Averages 9
Figure 3: Employer Benefits from Best Practices 28
Figure 4: Employee Benefits from Best Practices 32
Figure 5: A Benchmark to Meet Needs of Organizations
and Employees 34


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Director, IWS News Bureau               *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School                      *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor            *
New York, NY 10016                      *
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# posted by SBasefsky : 12:27 PM