For the employer

List of topics

How to assess work-life balance in an organization

To comprehensively assess work-life balance in an organization, it is recommended to take the following actions:

  1. Checklist assessment

In order to determine the measures implemented by an organization to ensure work-life balance among its employees, it is recommended to use a checklist to assess the applied measures and quantity thereof. During the assessment, it is necessary to take into account whether the employees have access to all state-guaranteed measures, and whether other measures are offered within the organization at the initiative of the employer. The assessment can be performed by both an external expert and an employee of the organization appointed by the employer. We recommend assessing the situation by also using a description of measures (hyperlink, not yet uploaded to the measures), which lists the possible content thereof.

  1. Data-based analysis of the situation

In order to further analyse the extent to which existing work-life balance measures are actually available to employees, it is recommended to collect depersonalised administrative data on employees who have used these measures.

Because the use of certain measures may be uneven (one group of employees may use a particular measure more often than others), it is important to identify the reasons for such inequalities. Therefore, it is important to collect administrative data by sections – gender, age, family composition, type of work, working time, etc.

Example:

Indicator Gender Age Family composition Type of work Working time
Women Men Up to 35 years of age 35-45 years old 46+ years old With children aged 0-6 years With children aged 7-12 years With children aged 13-18 years Without children Customer service Other Full-time Part-time

 
Persons who used their mother’s/father’s days of during the year
…

Once administrative data is collected, all possible inequalities must be identified, and the extent to which state-guaranteed and employer-initiated measures are available to employees needs to be assessed.

  1. Survey-based analysis of the situation

Administrative data analysis may be supplemented with an employee survey, which helps measure the culture and norms of the organization in terms of balancing work and personal life. Unfavourable culture of an organisation and negative attitudes among the staff can become barriers to the application of work-life balance measures. Administrative data analysis cannot measure the said level, therefore an employee survey is a valuable additional tool to assess the situation.

It is recommended to include questions in the survey that would help reveal the views and attitudes of employees in terms of balancing work and personal life, as well as help reveal the experiences of these employees in trying to balance their work and life, the work-life balance needs of employees, etc.

If there are still “grey areas” and unanswered questions after the data analysis and the survey, it is recommended to organize a focus group – a thematic discussion with 8-10 employees on certain selected aspects, which would help to better understand the root causes of the situation. In order for the focus group’s results to be effective and objective, it should be led by an external expert.