Corporate cost-cutting over the past year generally has not affected the most popular work/life benefits, according to a Hewitt Associates survey of 945 employers. Child care assistance programs – typically referral services or dependent care spending accounts – are most common, at 94 percent of companies; half offer elder care programs. Nearly 75 percent of firms said they offered alternative work arrangements, with flextime the most common option (59 percent), followed by work-at-home arrangements (30 percent). 

Employees say work/life initiatives are a priority, yet don’t take advantage of them. Why? Maybe it’s the way they’re presented. Like the products or services you provide external customers, those you provide internal customers must be properly marketed. Workers represent different genders, sexual orientations, ethnic groups, religions, education and socioeconomic levels, cultural identities, and lifestyles. They also fall into different work categories – exempt, nonexempt, management, non-management, traditional, shift, and flex. You must create different messages to reach the diverse market segments in your workplace. Start by assembling focus groups representative of your company’s population. They can help you decide what programs to offer – and how to sell them.

-Adapted from "Increasing use of worklife programs," by Susan Seitel, on the Work & Family Connection Web site.

A lot of companies are searching for creative ways to find and retain talented employees, but one Ohio company has found a clever way to keep its house in order: It helps employees keep house. The high-tech firm Quick Solutions Inc. provides free monthly housekeeping for employees who’ve been with the company three years. Workers also receive a $1,200 annual voucher for personal travel. The voucher must be used as a lump sum once a year. The goal of the program is to inspire loyalty by showing workers the company cares for them in their private time, as well as when they’re on the job.

-Adapted from "Firm offers free housekeeping plan," by Tim Puet of the Associated Press 

The restaurant business has long known that its nontraditional working hours are not always every employee’s cup of tea.

When people leave the industry, it’s often because they want a regular job with weekends and evenings free. But work/life balance hasn’t ever quite made it to the top of the list of restaurants’ priorities.

No wonder, then, that the percentage of male managers leaving the industry for quality-of-life issues jumped 12 points from 2000 to 2001, and rose 9 points for female managers leaving for the same reason, according to research by People Report, a Dallas-based human resources research and consulting firm.

At The Cheesecake Factory Inc. in Calabasas Hills, Calif., those trends couldn’t be ignored any longer.

"It’s quality of life," says Heidi Martin Gilanfar, vice president of recruiting. "If we lose somebody, it’s because they want to leave the industry. They want a 9-to-5 job, Monday through Friday, so they can see their family."

As a result, the company put more emphasis on work/life balance and quality of life for its general managers. Specifically, it changed the workweek, which is now limited to five days with two consecutive days off and a 10- to 12-hour shift.

The schedule change is working, Gilanfar says. The Cheesecake Factory’s management turnover rate is an enviable 13 percent so far this year.

Source: "Chain ‘Report Card’ Positive for Manager Retention, Diversity" by Dina Berta, Nation’s Restaurant News, June 3, 2002