Flexible working

I've been reading about work life balance and flexible working. The Sloan Work and Family Research Network has a lot of statistics about working hours and the feasibility having flexible working hours. The research suggests that if employers provide flexible working patterns that:

• At least 50% of employees report high levels of life satisfaction.
• Studies suggest that employees with flexible working patterns suffer less from mental health problems
• Work is less likely to interfere with family life.
• Work is unlikely to be taken home.

The gain for the employer, apart from sane employees is job satisfaction is much higher. Employees are more likely to remain loyal to and stay longer at organizations that have this working practice.

While old adage you can work too hard may be true it is possible to make the workplace more productive and easier to work in. Sloan Work and Family Research Network also give contributing factors in overwork:

• Lack of control over workload or pace of work
• Global 24/7 economy
• Job insecurity
• Blurred boundaries between work and personal life
• Responsibility for two or three jobs
• Reduced administrative support
• Frequent interruptions and the need to multi-task