Companies Prefer Employees That Have no Life Outside of Work

Achieving work life balance is one of the most important things in achieving happiness in our modern world. New research reveals however that an increasing number of employers are happy for us to have no life at all outside of work.

Research from WorldatWork found that managers think the perfect staff member is one that will sacrifice out of office activities to complete their work.

Every October since 2003, WorldatWork's Alliance for Work-Life Progress (AWLP) has led a national awareness campaign promoting work-life effectiveness as a key contributor to productivity and success in the modern workplace. This year, the campaign is calling attention to a troubling gap between leaders' beliefs and behaviors at many organizations.

The study found the following prevailing leadership attitudes in developed countries (United States, United Kingdom, Germany):

    More than half of the surveyed managers think the ideal employee is one who is available to meet business needs regardless of business hours.
    40% believe the most productive employees are those without a lot of personal commitments.
    Nearly 1 in 3 think that employees who use flexible work arrangements will not advance very far in the organization.

Kathie Lingle, executive director of WorldatWork's Alliance for Work-Life Progress, said: "The good news is that 80 per cent of employers around the globe avow support for family-friendly workplaces. The bad news is they are simultaneously penalizing those who actively strive to integrate work with their lives."


She added that attention needs to be drawn to the discrepancy between what employers say and what they actually do to support employees.

A recent study of 1,000 people conducted by SMEDiscounts found that 81 per cent of flexible workers are spending more time than they should on projects and tasks.

Read more: http://technorati.com/women/article/companies-prefer-employees-that-have-no/#ixzz1Y53NwSqc

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