WORK-LIFE STALEMATE Three years on from the groundbreaking survey The Great Work/Life Debate...

28 May 2001

* Government initiatives will fail to improve the UK's work/life balance, say over half (57%) of UK managers.

* 70% believe that employers should be responsible for work/life balance initiatives; 33% believe it's up to the individual.

* Demand for flexible working is high: two-thirds (68%) disagree that traditional working patterns remain the best way.

* Managers reclaim weekends, but 73% say that workload pressure has increased in the past three years.

The UK's workforce has reached a work/life balance stalemate, according to research published today (Monday 28 May 2001) by the UK's leading business magazine Management Today and work/life consultancy Ceridian Performance Partners. Work/life balance: Whose move is it next? reveals a nation struggling to move the concept of flexible working forward - with the majority (57%) of UK managers convinced that Government initiatives to tackle work/life issues will fail.

Flexibility - the contradictions
The demand for flexible working is high, with over two-thirds of managers (68%) looking for new ways to work. But surprisingly only three in ten (36%) report that their organisation offers flexible working options - and those that do may not be getting it right. Thirty-six per cent consider flexible working to be career limiting - this number rises to 43% for women - and over half (57%) agree that flexible working doesn't solve workload problems. Others feel frustrated by the constraints set by their employers.
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As one respondent argued: 'My industry offers a version of flexible working, but it isn't really flexible at all. It will be the choice to work 9-3 or 3-9 or 9-12. And once you make your choice, that's your working pattern everyday. After the birth of my son, I wanted to be able to set my own working hours on a day-to-day basis. I might work long days sometimes, but if my son is ill I might decide to work from home a couple of days, and I want to be free to decide that.'

Another explained: 'I still work a 60 hour week and choose extra holidays as part of my benefits package. I'm not a parent, I'm the principle breadwinner in my relationship and I love my job. I prefer to work when I'm working, and completely switch off when I'm not. If I left work early every day I'd feel frustrated at what I hadn't finished and I'd only spend those extra hours off thinking about it. I prefer to compartmentalise my work and my time off. That's the kind of flexibility I want.'

Piling on the pressure
Workload pressure has become a significant problem in the workplace - a massive three-quarters (73%) of managers say that their workload has increased over the past three years. This increases to a whopping 83% for those working in the public sector. Workload pressure is also seen as a prime cause of staff turnover - a rise from 32% in 1998 to 39% in 2001.

Reclaiming the weekend
The good news is that the number of people working a six day week has fallen from one in five (21%) in 1998, to the current figure of just over one in ten (12%). The report also suggests that the long hours culture is bottoming out and even improving. The proportion of managers working more than 50 hours has fallen from over a quarter (26%) in 1998, to a fifth (20%) in 2001. And there has been a significant increase in the proportion working 37 hours or less in an average week - up from 21% in 1998, to 30% in 2001.

Presenteeism - although still seen as a major issue by the majority of managers - appears to be declining. The proportion saying that working long hours is confused with commitment has fallen from 63% in 1998, to 56% in 2001.

Rufus Olins, editor-in-chief at Management Today says: 'Three years since our first survey The Great Work/Life Debate, the findings show that people's expectations have risen. For many people 'balance' is no longer seen as an aspiration but as an entitlement. At the same time fewer people are prepared to make sacrifices - they want it all.'

Them and us
Not surprisingly, 96% of the UK's managers describe themselves as trustworthy and 75% receptive to change. However, only half (51%) feel that their boss is equally receptive to change and a mere three in ten (30%) consider their staff to be. Three-quarters (75%) describe themselves as supportive of flexible working, while less than half see their boss as equally so (46%).

Penny de Valk, managing director of Ceridian Performance Partners says: 'The findings show that the demand for flexible working is high, but the barriers are failing to shift. Flexible working needs to be designed so that it's not seen as a career stopper, so that managers feel they can still manage, and where decisions around flexible working match the individual's circumstances with the needs of the business. We need to help managers and staff work out how to make this happen.'

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Notes to editors

Management Today is Britain's leading business magazine and an award winning campaigner for work-life balance.

Ceridian Performance Partners is the leading international provider of corporate work-life services

The survey was carried out through Management Today - 1,274 managers took partThe Research Report

The research results will be published in summary form in the June edition of Management Today, published on 30 May.

Press review copies are available from Colman Getty PR (contact details below).

Spokespeople

Rufus Olins, editor-in-chief of Management Today, Matthew Gwyther editor of Management Today, and Penny de Valk, managing director of Ceridian Performance Partners are available for interview.

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For further information please contact Nicola Dodd or Rob Cope
Colman Getty PR:
nicola

Out of hours: Nicola Dodd on ; Rob Cope on 07779 100 952