1. Matt Grawitch, Ph.D.
Lacie Barber, M.S.
Saint Louis University

2. Discuss common misconceptions regarding the

topic of work-life balance
Learn how to assess the different benefits

associated with key work-life programs and
practices
Re-conceptualize work-life balance programs

as employee resource-allocation programs

3. Part I: Definition of Work-Life Balance

Part II: Who Needs Balance?

Part III: Work-Life Balance in Organizations

Part IV: Work-Life Balance in Your Organization


4. The Work-Life
Balance Quiz

5. Myth #1: Work-life balance means spending

50% of your time at work and 50% of your time
at home
Myth #2: Work-life balance is synonymous

with work-family balance or family support
Myth #3: Having work-life balance means

getting to do everything you want to do in a
given day, week, or month

6. Myth #1: Work-life balance means spending

50% of your time at work and 50% of your time
at home

7. Extent to which one’s perceived allocation of
physical, mental, and emotional resources between
the work and non-work domains matches one’s
expectations.
Essentially, then, work-life balance occurs when
individuals with a finite amount of mental,
physical, and emotional resources allocate those
resources in a way that corresponds to their
personal and/or professional goals.
Carver & Scheier, 1982; Grawitch, Barber, & Bagsby, 2009; Hobfoll, 1989

8. Personal Resource Supply
Intervention
• Time
Points • Energy
• Money
Resource Allocation Demands on our
Resources
• Choice of Allocation to Work
• Choice of Allocation to Non- • Work Demands
Work • Non-Work Demands

9. Conflict: When role Facilitation: When one
 
demands a greater role has a positive
level of resource contribution to
allocation than another role, resulting
desired, resulting in in a state of balance or
a state of imbalance enrichment
Grandey & Cropanzano, 1999; Jansen, Kant, Kristensen, & Nijhuis, 2003; Grawitch, Barber, & Bagsby, 2009

10. Myth #2: Work-life balance is synonymous

with work-family balance or family support

11. Equating work-life balance and family support

as synonymous assumes only those with
families desire balance
Can lead to a backlash against single

employees or employees without children
Research on singles-friendly culture is a

response to this backlash
Casper, Weltman, & Kwesiga, 2007; Parker & Hall, 1992; Voydanoff, 1988; Watkins & Subich, 1995

12. We all have a limited amount of energy,

money, and time (resources) to devote to life
pursuits
Hence, every employee can benefit from more

effective resource allocation
Not all employees will benefit from every WLB

practice

13. Myth #3: Having work-life balance means

getting to do everything you want to do in a
given day, week, or month

14. Number of hours in a day: 24

Number of hours in a work day: 24

Number of hours in a weekend day: 24

Number of hours on bowling day: 24

Number of hours on the day of your child’s

parent-teacher conference: 24
No matter what, the number of hours we have

to spend doing something stays the same

15. Work
Exercise
Demands
Time
Family
Day: 24 hours Sleep
Demands
Week: 7 days
Personal Social
Pursuits Events

16. Myth #4: Women desire more work-life

balance than men
Myth #5: All employees will benefit from

work-life balance programs
Myth #6: Effective work-life balance programs

prevent your work-life from “spilling over”
into your non-work life by reducing your work
demands

17. Myth #4: Women desire more work-life

balance than men

18. Annual Career Builder surveys finds that at

least 1/3 of men would quit their jobs to stay at
home if they could afford it
Many studies have found no sex differences in

the experience of work-life conflict
Men and women are both affected by non-

work and work demands
Findings in relation to sex differences in work

and non-work domains are often weak or
inconsistent
Eagle, Miles, & Icenogle, 1997; Frone, Russell, & Cooper, 1992; Grzywacz & Marks, 2000

19. Myth #5: All employees will benefit from

work-life balance programs

20. Employees with the training required to utilize

work-life balance programs effectively
Employees with the tools (e.g., technology)

required to use work-life balance programs
effectively
Employees with a fair amount of self-control

Employees with supportive friends, family,

supervisors, and co-workers
Hartman, Stoner, Arora, 1991; Marler, Liang, Dulebohn, 2006; Rodgers, 1992

21. Myth #6: Effective work-life balance programs

prevent your work-life from “spilling over”
into your non-work life by reducing your work
demands

22. Spillover can be positive or negative

Spillover can occur from work to home AND

from home to work
The goal of work-life balance programs

Not to decrease employee workload

Permit employees to manage when, where, and how

they complete their work, so as to optimize the
interplay between work and non-work demands
Barnett, 1996; Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985; Grzywacz & Marks, 2000; Small & Riley, 1990

23. Myth #1: Work-life balance means spending

50% of your time at work and 50% of your time
at home
Myth #2: Work-life balance is synonymous

with work-family balance or family support
Myth #3: Having work-life balance means

getting to do everything you want to do in a
given day, week, or month

24. Myth #4: Women desire more work-life balance

than men
Myth #5: All employees will benefit from work-

life balance programs
Myth #6: Effective work-life balance programs

prevent your work-life from “spilling over” into
your non-work life by reducing your work
demands
What are the implications if these myths

are propagated in an organization?

25. Myth #7: The ultimate goal of work-life balance

programs should be to give employees “a break”
from their hectic work environment
Myth #8: When work-life balance programs fail, it

is because the organization failed to properly “sell”
their benefits to the employees
Myth #9: Work-life balance programs with more

components are more effective than work-life
balance programs with few components
Myth #10: The best way to adopt potential work-

life balance programs in your organization is to
borrow from programs used in other “successful”
organizations

26. Myth #7: The ultimate goal of work-life

balance programs should be to give employees
“a break” from their hectic work environment

27. Work-life balance practices perform one of two

functions
Promote flexibility in performing work (work flexibility)

Provide employees with sufficient non-work-related

resources (e.g., time, money) to assist them in managing
non-work demands (non-work support).
Work flexibility should not reduce the allocation of

resources toward performance
Non-work support either provides additional non-

work resources (e.g., time, money) or permits
employees to temporarily suspend their allocation
of resources to the work domain (e.g., vacation,
leave)
Grawitch, Barber, & Bagsby, 2009; Grzywacz, Casey, & Jones, 2007; Kelly et al., 2008

28. Flexible scheduling/flextime: Allows employees to

schedule around non-work demands
Telecommuting: Allows employees to reduce

commuting time and schedule around non-work
demands
Compressed work weeks: Allows employees to reduce

commuting time, spend fewer total days in the office
Part-time options: Allows employees to reduce the

number of hours they regularly put into their work in
exchange for less pay and benefits

29. Vacation time, sick time, or personal time off: Allows

employees to temporarily cease working to manage non-
work demands/interests
Maternity/paternity/adoption leaves: Allows employees

paid or unpaid time off to manage a specific parental
demand
Life management services: Provides employees with perks

to assist them in managing non-work demands (e.g., gym
memberships, dry cleaning services, concierge services)
Childcare/eldercare benefits: Provides employees with

discounts/access to specific childcare /eldercare facilities to
reduce the financial burden related to childcare/eldercare
issues

30. Personal Resource Supply
Intervention
•Non-Work Support (i.e., life
Points management services,
childcare/eldercare benefits)
Resource Allocation Demands on our Resources
•Work Flexibility Practices •Non-Work Support (i.e.,
(flextime, telecommuting, Vacation, PTO, leaves, life
compressed work weeks) management services)
•Work Flexibility (job sharing)

31. Myth #8: When work-life balance programs

fail, it is because the organization failed to
properly “sell” their benefits to the employees

32. Most programs that fail do so because they

were poorly designed
Too much driven by top management

Too little driven by employee involvement

Hence, context is important

Grawitch, Gottschalk, & Munz, 2006; Parchman & Miller, 2003; Pfeffer, 1994

33. Specific work flexibility and non-work support

benefits come with upsides and downsides
Not all practices or benefits will be a fit with

every organization
Need to consider:

Employee needs

Organizational context (e.g., technology, financial

resources, culture)
Find a way to optimize the interplay between

the two
Brache, 2001; Fitz-enz, 1993; Grawitch, Gottschalk, & Munz, 2006; Pfeffer, 1994

34. Myth #9: Work-life balance programs with

more components are more effective than
work-life balance programs with few
components

35. Having more options does not guarantee better

results
Having a few high-quality practices is more

effective than having many low-quality
practices
Capitalize on the strengths of the organization

and the expressed needs of employees
Offering a benefit and then taking it away is

worse for morale than never having offered the
benefit in the first place
Grawitch, Barber, & Bagsby, 2009; Kelly et al., 2008

36. Myth #10: The best way to adopt potential

work-life balance programs in your
organization is to borrow from programs used
in other “successful” organizations (i.e.,
benchmarking)

37. What works in one organization is not likely to

work exactly the same way in your
organization
Trying to copy the programs in another

organization fails to consider your
organization’s unique context and employees
Law of equifinality plays a key role in success

Delery & Doty, 1996; Grawitch, Gottschalk, & Munz, 2006; Fitz-enz, 1993; Pfeffer, 1994

38. Myth #7: The ultimate goal of work-life balance

programs should be to give employees “a break” from
their hectic work environment
Myth #8: When work-life balance programs fail, it is

because the organization failed to properly “sell” their
benefits to the employees
Myth #9: Work-life balance programs with more

components are more effective than work-life balance
programs with few components
Myth #10: The best way to adopt potential work-life

balance programs in your organization is to borrow
from programs used in other “successful” organizations
What are the implications if these myths are

propagated in an organization?

39. Work-Life Balance Checklist

Allows you to think through the types of practices

Allows you to think through barriers to and

facilitators of those practices
Process

Half of the audience will consider Part I of the Work-

Life Balance Checklist
Half of the audience will consider Part II of the

Work-Life Balance Checklist
Debrief as a large group


40. Final Questions or Comments