In recent years, with advancements in technology, the lines between different aspects of people lives have become increasingly blurred, to the point that work-life balance is not possible for most modern workers. Through the analysis of the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ Fortune 500 companies to work for, this US study argues that ‘work–life flexibility’ is what is important to modern workers, and that the best companies are already recognizing and supporting this through time benefits offered to employees and governance structures used to support these benefits.
Key Topics: Work-life balance; Work-life flexibility; Time Benefits 
In the ever-competitive arena of recruiting top talent, companies are increasingly looking at different avenues that can give them a competitive advantage in attracting high caliber employees. A Canadian study examined the effect of innovative perks, training opportunities, and company ethics on the attractiveness of companies to prospective employees and found that all three of these elements increased company attractiveness. Some interesting relationships between these three elements were also found.
Key Topics: Innovative perks; Training; Company ethics; Employee attraction; Organizational attractiveness. 
In many sectors, particularly those with primarily low-skilled jobs, the use of temporary and often migrant workers is on the rise. While there are certain benefits to companies in using temporary migrant workers, their use may come at a cost. A study of the UK food manufacturing sector examined employee absence rates and the tools companies use to reduce absence issues. The results showed that companies were predominantly using punishment rather than reward techniques to combat absence. This study also found that settled migrant workers had similar absence behaviour to native workers, while newer transitory type migrant workers had less job commitment and were more likely to be absent from work.
Key Topics: Absence management; Temporary workers; Migration 
Balancing home and work life is a constant challenge for many employees and as such the prevalence of family-friendly company benefits programs, such as childcare and employee assistance programs, has increased as companies seek further avenues to competitive advantage. A study examining the relationship between employee satisfaction, family-friendly benefits programs and employee turnover in U.S. federal agencies found that satisfaction with family-friendly programs reduced turnover levels, although the turnover effect differed by benefit program.
Key Topics: Benefits; Family-friendly programs; Employee turnover; Employee satisfaction 
Presenteeism is a phenomenon that has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years due to it numerous detrimental effects. A Belgian study sought to examine the relationship between various job content and psychosocial work factors and presenteeism. Both psychosocial work factors and job content related factors were found to be significantly related to presenteeism. The results found that high effort, high job demands, low rewards, and low support were all linked to presenteeism. Additionally, a significant relationship was found between presenteeism and both bullying and work-to-home conflict.
Key Topics: Job stress; Presenteeism; Psychosocial risk factors; Bullying; Work-family conflict; Reward 
An effective recruitment strategy is crucial to organizational success and central to this is the employment proposal to prospective employees. A study at the University of Massachusetts looked at the various aspects of the HR offering, including work life balance, reward, and performance policies, as they relate to prospective employees’ job choice decisions. The results suggest that work life balance has a stronger incentive effect than reward and performance policies, and this was found to be the case across both men and women, although it was a greater incentive to women.
Key Topics: Pay mix policies; Incentives; Work–life balance |
Popular Reward Chronicle Searches
Compensation. Pay for performance Benefits Millennials Exec compensation Motivation Gender 
Topics
All
Join The Reward Chronicle Team
Are you passionate about reward? We’d love to hear from you. Click here for more details on how to contact us. |
