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Step 5: Measuring and maintaining progress

Examples

• Annual Survey

The real test of any work-life balance strategy is not how many initiatives are introduced, but how many actually make a difference and are still effective three or four years on. This section focuses on how to:

• measure progress
• maintain the momentum of your work-life balance strategy
• ensure that sensitivity to work-life balance is part of your organisation's culture

Measuring progress

Measuring the impact of your work-life balance policies and practices will help you to:

• identify what is working, what needs modifying or where an alternative approach might be needed
• prioritise initiatives
• target limited resources to where they will be most effective
• convince managers and employees of the value of the organisation's work-life balance strategy.

In some cases, such as the return from parental leave, you will be able to measure the impact directly. Other measures, such as the influence on staff morale, will be more indirect, especially when the work-life balance strategy may be only one of several influences.

The following table lists a range of possible measures. Pick only what is relevant to your organisation and to what you are trying to achieve. Keep it simple. Wherever possible, adapt ways your organisation already collects other information, rather than setting up new collection methods. For example, if you regularly ask staff for information in climate or staff opinion surveys, include questions on work-life balance.

What to measure	How to measure
Recruitment
Is it getting easier to attract a wide range of quality candidates? Is the organisation's approach to work-life balance impacting on why people apply?	Tracking success in filling vacancies Surveying applicants Asking recent appointments during the induction process what attracted them to the position
Retention
Is dissatisfaction with work-life balance a factor in why people leave? Does the organisation's approach to work-life balance have any impact on why people stay?	Changes in retention patterns Exit interviews Attitude or climate surveys Requests for changes in work arrangements, e.g. shifting between full-time and part-time work
Morale, loyalty, commitment
Does the organisation's commitment to work-life balance influence how employees view their employer? Do the organisation's work-life balance policies and practices influence how employees view their work?	Attitude or climate surveys Participating in external benchmarking surveys Checking in performance management discussions Productivity and performance records Anecdotal evidence Focus groups
Absenteeism
Are there any changes in overall absenteeism levels? Has absenteeism been related to specific times of the year or events? Is this changing?	HR information system Anecdotal information
Return from parental leave
What is the return rate from parental leave? Do people return on a full-time or part-time basis? What is the length of parental leave? Are people using parental leave instead of resigning?	HR information system Exit interviews
Return to employment in the organisation
Are people choosing to return to employment in the organisation? Why are they choosing to return?	HR information system Exit interviews
Impact of particular programmes or practices
Take-up of specific practices or enrolment in specific programmes Ongoing use of the practice or programme Whether the programme or practice is having the desired impact	Enrolments Evaluation forms Interviews with participants, managers and colleagues Staff surveys Productivity and performance records
Organisational flexibility
Matching of the organisation's need for flexibility with that of employees	Level of employee response to redesigned work hours Absenteeism levels Use of casual or temporary staff Time and difficulty in filling rosters or shifts Number of applicants for other than standard positions Staff surveys Anecdotal
Public profile
Do customers perceive the organisation as a good employer? Does the community perceive the organisation as a good employer?	Participation in external benchmarking surveys Number of positive media or external references (e.g. conferences, research) to the organisation's approach to work-life balance Customer satisfaction surveys

Maintaining progress

Keep on communicating

Communicating once is not enough. Communicating in one way is not enough. A regular, drip-fed approach with a range of audiences is best. For example, one organisation that wanted to encourage managers to use a guide on managing flexibly used a three-pronged approach;

• they promoted it directly to managers, giving them each a copy
• they primed their HR staff to refer to specific information in the guide whenever the managers raised any related issues with them
• they made staff aware of the guide to remind their managers about it at appropriate times.

Regularly reassess needs

Your organisation's needs, the environment in which you are operating and the needs of your employees will change. Regularly check that your approach to work-life balance reflects those changes.

Celebrate your successes

Celebrating your successes will help you:

• maintain a sense of momentum
• reinforce the positive attitudes and behaviours
• ensure your employees and customers know what a great organisation you are to work for

Strategies used for celebrating success include:

• articles in in-house publications
• internet and intranet
• photographs and displays in the staff cafeteria
• events to launch new initiatives
• inviting key managers to participate in or view activities
• external media coverage.

Making it part of the way you manage

Individual managers are critical to translating work and family policies into action. The best policy statement or the most imaginative programme is easily undermined by managers who expect staff to work long hours at a moment's notice and who penalise those who can't. Holding important discussions at early breakfast meetings or after work will exclude those with dependant-care responsibilities at that time. Managers who snap rather than listen will quickly discourage staff from trying to find practical solutions to work-life balance needs.

There are a number of ways to ensure that current and future managers are proactive about work-life balance;

• ensure management development and leadership programmes address work-life balance issues
• include managers' responsibilities in relation to work-life balance in performance management systems
• link managers who have experience of specific areas, such as flexible working arrangements, with other managers considering that option.
• share the success stories of managers who have found effective ways of tackling difficulties such as redesigning shifts or developing an effective pool of casual employees.
• give managers the chance to openly discuss the difficulties, as well as the benefits, of implementing work-life balance policies and practices

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