Work-Life Balance

Nobody ever said on their death bed, ‘I wish I’d spent more time at the office’.

The CMA, in partnership with Charlotte Gascoigne MBA 1992, provides information and advice on how to achieve better work-life balance and more flexibility at work and puts you in touch with fellow alumni with a common interest.

Charlotte had a career in general management in the publishing industry before moving into the work-life balance field in 2002. She now combines flexible working consultancy with part-time doctoral research at Cranfield and bringing up two boys.

Work-life balance means different things to different people: there is no universal template, but only a personal solution to combining paid work with community or voluntary work, study, travel, children, caring for elderly parents, hobbies, sport or whatever else you want to do with your life. An appropriate working pattern will also change at different life stages: a young single person keen to build a career may be happy with long hours of work, but that might not suit someone else who is studying part-time and has elderly parents to look after. Five years later, the position may be reversed, if the latter is released from caring responsibilities and the former starts a family.

Work-life balance has become a critical business issue because of the organizational benefits: these include reduced absenteeism, enhanced staff recruitment, retention, job satisfaction, organizational commitment and wellbeing – and in some cases improvements in productivity and effectiveness. Some employers’ work-life initiatives offer help with caring responsibilities (on-site childcare or vouchers, or special leave for carers) but the most common employers’ work-life strategy is flexible working. There are many options, both formal and informal, but there are three main categories of flexible working: remote working (from home or from other locations); flexible hours (e.g. annualized hours, flexible start and finish times, compressed working week); and part-time or reduced-load working. The definition of this last option varies: in some organizations, a ‘normal’ full-time job means 60+ hours a week, so someone working 40 hours may be perceived as part-time.

The Work-Life Balance topic presents information and advice on how to achieve better work-life balance and more flexibility at work. The topic is split into 3 areas and also has example case studies and a practical guide on resources to help you get more information.

• The Work/Life Debate
• Personal Development
• Business Development
  
  
• Case Studies
• Resources