Career Edge 15 (February 2006)

Editorial: The balancing act

The issue of work-life balance, which is the subject of several very timely articles in this edition of Career Edge, is not new. The desire to successfully integrate work within the larger framework of one's values and personal life is one which career practitioners and their clients are very familiar with.

What is new is the combination of factors which have pushed the work-in-life issue into public prominence. A buoyant economy and a very low unemployment rate – the lowest in fact in the OECD – are delivering a plentiful supply of work opportunities. A globally competitive labour market now extends work and life choices for many people beyond our own shores. Increasingly the pressure is on employers to ensure that the work opportunities and conditions they offer are attractive to prospective employees.

At a fundamental level our attitudes towards work itself are changing. As a people, we are living longer and working longer. The participation of women in the paid workforce is now the highest it has ever been, and across a wide range of sectors. Women returning to the workforce are looking for greater flexibility as they seek to integrate work with family responsibilities.

Older workers too are looking for greater flexibility to balance work with the pursuit of other interests. If work is to be the order of the day for many workers well into their 60s and 70s, it will need to be on different terms.

Another factor is the new attitudes to work which characterise generations X and Y. Many of them do not share what they see as their parents' costly commitment to making work the No. 1 priority. Younger generations seem to have a sharper awareness that we work to live, not vice versa.

These trends are not likely to be reversed anytime soon. On the contrary they are set to intensify. The challenge for employers and workplaces is to embrace these changes, not just because they are inevitable but because they represent a healthy advance in our thinking about work and careers.

The growing pressure for greater work-life balance represents another moment of opportunity for our profession. We are well placed to contribute to the public debate, and to challenge people to be honest with themselves about the work arrangements they would like. The more that people articulate their desires, the more likely we are to see flexible work practices widely introduced.

Innovative organisations are already well down the track, offering increasing flexibility in work arrangements and conditions. They know this has a strong bearing on retaining motivated workers, as well as boosting workplace productivity.

There is a strong body of opinion emerging that greater work-life balance leads to greater workplace productivity. Working longer hours, as a matter of course, and wearing those longer hours like a badge of honour, is seldom the key to greater productivity. It is more likely to be the cause of resentment, fatigue and burn-out, and the catalyst for a job change.

We can all, perhaps, take a leaf out of the All Blacks' book. In the multi-million dollar world of professional rugby, there is a recognition that to sustain top performance, you need to cater for the whole person and to carefully manage levels of game time to ensure long-term success. Families are brought into the fold, mentoring is provided in areas beyond immediate sports demands and provision is made for life after rugby. Excellence in elite sport demands that the needs of the whole person are met.

The same principle should apply for the rest of us in our chosen careers.

Lester Oakes
Chief Executive
Career Services