Employees

OK, OK, we get the message… employees say they want a better balance in their lives between home and work. Meanwhile the price of failing to act escalates, through lost talent, stress and family disruption. So why don't more employers make the move? The answer may lie in Opportunity Now's findings about the widespread lack of costed business cases for diversity action.

The short-term need to meet performance targets is 'crowding out' attention to the long-term damage being done. And this can be huge. For example, research published in May by the US financial services company, Fannie May, estimates lost productivity among staff with elderly relatives is between $11.4 billion and $29 billion a year. The cost of replacing employees who quit due to caring responsibilities is put at $5 billion alone.

So it's good that Opportunity Now is developing a template to help employers cost their business case. The need is not for fewer hours as such, but more flexible working, helping all those with caring responsibilities but especially women. As jobs increasingly cluster in knowledge-based industries, high employee performance will come from those with a positive, productive attitude, engendered by flexible employers who understand there is more to life than work.