Balancing the Demands of Work and
Home: Opportunities for Employee
Engagement
Caryn Medved, Phd.
Baruch College – City University of New
York
• To understand employee engagement in the
workplace, you must also understand its
connections to engagement to life outside of
work.
Understanding Engagement(s)
Work
Engagement
Family/Life
Engagement
3 Aspects of Employee
Engagement1
1. Enjoyment of Work
2. Belief in Contribution
3. **Value = employees recognized and
rewarded as a ‘whole person,’ including
relationship and needs outside of work.
1Development Dimensions
International, Inc. Employee Engagement: The Key to Realizing Competitive Advantage.
Work-Life Conflict
Vs.
Work-Life Synergy
Work-Life Business Case
1.
Recruiting the Best
2.
Retention of Talent
3.
Health Care Costs and Employee Wellness
4.
Reduction of work-life conflict  Productivity
Critical Issues Today
1. Life Stages and Work-Life Needs
2. Generational/Cohort Differences
3. Changing Family Demographics
Life Stages
• Varying employee work-life needs depending on
life-cycle stages:
Caring for Young Children
Caring for Older Children
Caring for Elderly Parents
• Work-Life policies must include a range of options
**Don’t assume . . .
Cohort/Generational Differences
Robert Half poll of 1,800 HR and finance
professionals in 11 countries found:
1. Recent graduates were “particularly driven”
by the desire for work-life balance.
2. Want flexible work hours and clear career
development programs; didn’t grow up with
lifetime employment.
Changing “Family” Demographics
1. ‘Traditional’ two parent, dual career only 24%
•
•
Only 1 in 4 ‘fits’ traditional family image
Increasing single parent households (both mother-child &
father-child)
2. Changing definitions of ‘family’ vs. ‘life’
•
•
Partner Benefits
Unmarried or Childfree Employees
3. Challenging breadwinner/homemaking norms
•
•
24% of dual-career, women are primary earners
142 thousand Stay-at-Home Fathers; 200% increase since
1994.
Closing Up
• Employee engagement must consider
employees varying needs and stages of lifefamily engagement;
• Business Case =
– recruiting top talent,
– retaining high performers,
– reducing related work-life conflicts and the
absenteeism, stress, and decreased productivity.