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Managing a Diverse Workforce: Managing Work/Life Relationships in Organizations

Managing a Diverse Workforce: Managing Work/Life Relationships in Organizations. Ellen Ernst Kossek, Ph.D. Class One 2009. . . Module Overview. Class 1: Work-Life Policies: A Strategic Lever to Manage Diversity and Workforce Inclusion.

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Managing a Diverse Workforce: Managing Work/Life Relationships in Organizations

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  1. Managing a Diverse Workforce: Managing Work/Life Relationships in Organizations Ellen Ernst Kossek, Ph.D. Class One 2009 .

  2. Module Overview • Class 1: Work-Life Policies: A Strategic Lever to Manage Diversity and Workforce Inclusion. • Class 2: Linking Work-Life Policies to Organizational Culture and Effectiveness. • Class 3: Managing Flexstyles and Work-Life Relationships. © SHRM 2009

  3. Changing Work-Life-Family Relationships Source: www.fathersworkfamilyresearch.co.uk/ © SHRM 2009

  4. Module Learning Objectives Work-life policies: • A strategic lever to manage diversity inclusion (Class 1) • Must fit with organizational culture and business objectives to be implemented effectively (Class 2). • Must consider flexstyles (Class 3). © SHRM 2009

  5. Class 1: Overview of Work-Life as Strategic Issue • Evolution of work-life as an HR concern. • Diversity and inclusion trends. • Varied access for different jobs and employers. • Diversity challenges: gaps between policy adoption and employment laws. • Strategic alignment challenges. © SHRM 2009

  6. Evolution of Work-Life as an HR Concern “Housekeeping may still be the main occupation of American women, but it is no longer the only… source of identity…In the past, a woman’s sense of identity and main source of satisfaction centered on the husband’s job, the home, and the family. Today, there are alternatives opening to increasing numbers of the female population….half of all women between the ages of 18 and 64 are presently in the labor force, Department of Labor studies show that 9 out of 10 of women will work outside of the home at some time in their lives.” Excerpt from Work in America 1973:179, Task Force Report to Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, Cambridge MA: MIT Press. © SHRM 2009

  7. Trends Making Work-Life an HR and Diversity Concern • Transformation of family economic household configuration: • Dual earner model U.S. family (83%). • Increase in care giving demands: • 75% of mothers with children under 18 work. • 50% of children spend some time in single parent home while under 18. • Growth in nontraditional families: • 15% of employees sandwiched (caring for elders and children). Source: Kossek, 2006 © SHRM 2009

  8. Trends Making Work-Life an HR and Diversity Concern 4. Growth in women’s labor market participation: • Women 40% of professionals and managers. 5. Population decline in replacement workers: • Fertility rates are dropping, older workers not being replaced. 6. Work-family intensification: • Increase in work loads, hours, and conflicts. • 2004 OECD report : U.S. workers work longest hours except for Korea. Source: Kossek, 2006 © SHRM 2009

  9. Trends Making Work-Life an HR and Diversity Concern 7.Technology and 24-7 global work blurring work-life boundaries: • 15% of employees telework. • Growing diversity of work-life cultures. 8. Changing gender and care giving roles: • Need for transformed career and job structures. 9. Increased demand for part-time work: • Phased retirement, elder and child care, personal health. Source: Kossek, 2006 © SHRM 2009

  10. Definition: Work and Family as Employment Policy Three-Legged Stool: 1) Formal work-family HR policies and practices (e.g. child care, elder care, health benefits and career systems). 2) Job conditions; the structure of work, namely job design, work schedules, and employment terms (job security, pay). 3) Informal occupational and organizational culture and norms. Source: Kossek, 2006 © SHRM 2009

  11. Work-Family Policies Defined • Work-family policies enhance the ability to engage in paid employment while managing family demands. • Examples: • Flexibility in working time, place or load. • Information and resource and referrals, • Direct or subsidized services for child care, elder care, illness or self care. Source: Kossek and Distelberg, 2009 © SHRM 2009

  12. Gap Between Work-Family Policy Adoption and Implementation Practices • Employers often find it difficult to implement work-life policies (especially flexibility) because they can disrupt work traditions. • Policy implementation gap: • Use conflicts with culture and work values. • Supervisors are not rewarded to support use. • Work-family policies are not well linked to other policies. Source: Kossek and Distelberg, 2009 © SHRM 2009

  13. Employee Access to Work-Family Policies Overstated in Media • Most surveys measure whether work-family policies simply exist instead of: • The extent of actual use. • Whether all workers can use the policy. • Whether managers see the business value of work-life support. • Employee satisfaction. • Emphasis should be on effective policy implementation rather than mere availability. Source: Kossek, 2006 © SHRM 2009

  14. Varied Access to Work-Life Flexibility Programs • Access to work-life flexibility systematically varies depending on employer and occupation. • Small employers give greater access. • Mid-level workers have more flexibility. • Full-time workers, white collar workers and workers earning more than $15 an hour have greatest flexibility access. Source: Kossek and Distelberg, 2009 © SHRM 2009

  15. Limited Policy Availability • BLS Compensation Survey which includes small employers not always studied by media shows that 85% of workers lack access to any form of child care assistance. • Information is the most common assistance: resource and referral -11%. • On-site/near-site employer-sponsored care-5%. • 4% of all workers have formal telecommuting policies. Source: Kossek and Distelberg, 2009 © SHRM 2009

  16. U.S. Work-Family Laws: Diversity Gaps Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978: • Amendment to Title VII of 1964 Civil Rights Act. • Clarifies how employers should treat pregnant workers, e.g. not firing during pregnancy; viewing pregnancy as temporary disability; discourages arbitrary dates for unpaid leave. • Diversity gaps: Does not protect discrimination against parents, doesn’t enable flexible or part- time hours, barriers to filing suit, career-oriented employees are afraid to use. Source: Kossek, 2006 © SHRM 2009

  17. U.S. Work-Family Laws: Diversity Gaps Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938: • Must pay non-exempt employees 1.5 times wages for overtime. • Diversity gaps: Does not allow workers to control work hours, place a cap on hours they work, or to refuse overtime. • The number of workers exempt from overtime pay is increasing. • Does not require payment for time not worked, such as vacations, sick leave, or holidays (federal or otherwise), or health and family benefits. Source: Kossek, 2006 © SHRM 2009

  18. U.S. Work-Family Laws: Diversity Gaps Employee Income Retirement Security Act (ERISA) of 1974: • Regulates minimum standards for most voluntarily established pension and health plans in private industry. • Diversity gaps: Has a threshold of at least 1,000 hours that prevent part-time employees from receiving pensions. Only 21 percent of part-time workers are included in their employer’s pension plan. Source: Kossek, 2006 © SHRM 2009

  19. U.S. Work-Family Laws: Diversity Gaps Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993: • Amended to allow most individuals at organizations with at least 50 employees to request up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period. • Diversity gaps: • Many workers cannot afford to take unpaid leave; often stigma for use. • Reviewing DOL surveys, Canter et al. (2000) found the most frequent reason for taking a leave during last 18 months was due to one’s own health, not for care giving. Source: Kossek, 2006 © SHRM 2009

  20. HR Strategy: Work-Life Diversity Mismatch • Traditional human resource management (HRM) models assume workforce similarity, an approach that hinders an employer’s ability to respond to workforce changes and fostering greater work-life diversity. Source: Kossek and Lobel, 1996 © SHRM 2009

  21. Work-Life Issues and Strategic HR • Work-life issues must be included early in strategic HR decision making and better linked to culture and varied employee preferences so that work-life diversity can be more effectively integrated with design and implementation of employment policies and strategies. Source: Kossek and Lobel, 1996 © SHRM 2009

  22. Three Main Work-Life Alignment Objectives • Strategic alignment with external environmental trends. • Cultural alignment between formal work-life policy and informal cultural practice . • Stakeholder alignment among employee, employer, customer perspectives and preferences for different ways of working (flexstyles). © SHRM 2009

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