Think Strategically

STRATEGIC APPROACH

Research suggests that organisations are increasingly adopting a strategic approach to work/life planning and needs assessment. So, strategic planning processes need to be applied to work/life strategic planning.

This may involve such steps as

1. MAPPING THE TERRITORY

  • The external environment – legislative requirement, skill shortages, workforce changes
  • The internal environment – factors relating to employee satisfaction with work/life balance, culture to support work/life balance, talent attraction and retention
  • Threats and opportunities- what competitors are doing, what innovations would make an impact
  • Current state of work/life balance in the organisation.


2. IDENTIFYING KEY BUSINESS DRIVERS

Each organisation will identify priority business drivers, but often quoted as business drivers are:

  • Demographic changes- increasing numbers of women and older workers
  • Skills shortages
  • Attraction and retention
  • Absenteeism
  • Customer service
  • Changing values of workers – Gen ‘X’ AND Gen ‘Y’ attitudes to work and personal life
  • Technology enabling greater flexibility around the time and location of work
  • Reputation
  • Cost saving
  • Environmental considerations – commuting time
  • Legislative changes
  • Staff morale
  • Prevention of stress/ burnout
  • Employer brand


3. COST- BENEFIT OR OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS

Consider the costs and benefits of initiatives, the costs of not adopting a work/life strategy and the opportunities afforded by taking certain actions.

Opportunity Analysis Guide
http://www.workplace.gov.au

Food for thought
Consider the positive impact of the decision at the Australian Catholic University to introduce 12 months paid maternity leave (12 weeks on full pay and a further 40 weeks on 60% full pay.
ACU Maternity Leave.pdf


4. BUSINESS CASE

In using the collected data and analysis to build the business case, the key business objectives and benefits will be articulated.

The initial business case contains:

  • A statement of the purpose of a work/life program, policies and practices, i.e., why work/life balance is required in the organisation. This needs to be very specific to the organisation
  • The costs, benefits and opportunities envisaged, i.e., why a strategy for work/life policies will benefit staff and enhance the functioning of the organisation, and the risks and costs of not addressing work/life balance. Attention needs to be paid to both tangible (cost saving) and intangible benefits (such as reputation).

It is, however, important to remember:

  • that facts and figures will make part of the case and the business case needs to be crafted for the individual organisation;
  • do not rely on isolated facts - the business case will rely on a range of factors
  • Do not put an unreasonable or greater burden of proof in the development of the work/life business case that the case for other workforce initiatives.

Sample Business Case
Business Case Fact Sheet - Queensland Education
Business Fact Sheet.pdf


5. CONSIDER WHERE WORK/LIFE “FITS’ IN THE ORGANISATION

Work/life may “fit” within a number of locations in an organisation e.g Human Resources, Occupational Health and Safety, Corporate Social Responsibility, Diversity and Inclusion. Another strategic consideration is what term to use. Employee Well-being, Work Life Balance, Work, Life Family Balance are possibilities.


TOOLS AND RESOURCES

Action Agenda for Work and Family Balance, Industrial Relations Victoria

Business Victoria
180 action agenda wfb(24pp).pdf

Australian Services Union. Better Work and Family Balance
family & worklife balance - manual 08-2006.pdf

Australian National Work/Life Balance Benchmarking Study Work Life Balance International
mwlb 2007 execsum.pdf

Australian Research Beacon Consulting
http://www.beaton.com.au/PDF/Work-life%20bal%20exec%20summ.pdf

Australian Research McCrindle Work/Life Study
WorkLifeBalance.pdf

Business Case Fact Sheet - Queensland Education
businessfactsheet.pdf

Business Self-Assessment Checklist Ministry of Manpower, Singapore
BizSelfAssessChecklist.pdf

Beyond Reasonable Doubt: Building a Business Case for Flexibility in Canadian Law Firms
Catalyst Canada
canadalaw FINAL.pdf

Calculating the Cost of Paid Parental Leave DOCEP, Western Australia
Making_work_life_bal.pdf. pge 6

Cost Benefit Analysis Childcarenet
www.childcarenet.org analysis.pdf

Cost Benefit Analysis Ministry of Manpower,Singapore
CostBenefitAnalysis.pdf

Demographic Analysis Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
demographic_analysis

Department of Labor, New Zealand

International Literature Review on the Business Case for Work Life Balance
FirmLevelWLB.pdf

Employers’ Checklist
Creating_Flexible_Workplaces_Employers_Checklist.pdf

Employers for Work Life Balance, UK
Benchmarking Tool
www.employersforwork-lifebalance.org.uk

Employers for Work Life Balance, UK
Problem Solver
www.employersforwork-lifebalance.org.uk

Needs Assessment Checklist
State Services Authority, Victoria. Tool #3 Needs Assessment Checklist p 19
MakingFlexibleWork.pdf

Making the business case Employers for work-life Balance, UK
http://www.employersforwork-lifebalance.org.uk

State Services Commission, New Zealand
Work Life Balance: a resources for the State Services
http://www.ssc.govt.nz

The Case for Work Life Balance
Hudson
http://au.hudson.com/documents/emp_au_Hudson_Work-Life_A4_Std.pdf

Worldatwork
The Seven Levers of Change for Work Life Effectiveness
Work-Life_Effectiveness.pdf

Events

Reducing Role Overload in the Health Care Sector

You are invited to attend a special forum on the topic of Reducing Role Overload in the Health Care Sector arranged by the Work/Life Association in conjunction with Monash University's Australian Centre for Research in Employment and Work (ACREW) and Victorian Hospitals’ Industrial Association.

+ More

For presentations from the Right to Request Flexible Work business forum held on 19 May click here.

+ More
+ Previous Events
 

What's News

President Obama and Michelle Obama are taking a keen interest in workplace flexibility

The Obama Administration announced plans to hold a Forum on Workplace Flexibility on March 31st at the White House.

+ MORE

Towards flexibility being the “new normal” in the American workplace

A recently released US report from Workplace Flexibility 2010, a Georgetown Law-based think tank, outlines a comprehensive set of policy solutions to expand Americans’ access to flexible work arrangements (FWAs) such as compressed workweeks, predictable schedules, and telework. The common-ground solutions described in the report can benefit both working families and businesses.

+ MORE

Australian men yearn for work/life balance

This article reports on a growing trend among males in the workforce to be wanting to better match their work and family responsibilities.

+ MORE

Flexibility for men and women and all ages

Perhaps one the key to normalizing flexibility in the workplace is for men to speak up about their desire to have the same flexibility for family time as many women have been expressing and acting on for years.

+ MORE