Author: Sharon Lobel, Seattle University- Albers School of Business and Economics

Date: 05/12/03

Introduction

The documentation of the organizational outcomes associated with workplace-based policies and programs continues to be important to employers and researchers alike.

The following summary is based on an article written by Sharon Lobel and Leslie Faught (1996), "Four Methods for Proving the Value of Work/Life Initiatives," Compensation and Benefits Review, 28 (6), p. 50-57.

Basic Concepts and Definitions

Organizational outcomes, such as absenteeism and Morale, can be distinguished from individual and family outcomes, such as mental health or marital satisfaction. Although workplace policies and programs may have broad impacts outside of work, in this section we will focus primarily on organizational outcomes.

As conceptualized by Lobel and Faught (1996), there are four basic approaches to measuring organizational outcomes.

	1.	The human-cost approach, adoped by authors such as Konrad & Mangel, 2000 and Kossek & Grace, 1990, focuses on the savings associated with reduced labor costs (for example, as indicated by: absenteeism, turnover, productivity) that result from employer-supports.
	2.	The human-investment approach, outlined by Cohen, 1999, attempts to document the long-term financial benefits that are related to employer-supports (for example, as indicated by: recruitment, retention, morale, productivity).
	3.	The stakeholder approach to measurement, described by authors including Litchfield, 1999 and Mirvis, 1999, considers the different types of benefits that are gained by members of stakeholders groups including not only employees and employers, but also other firm stakeholders such as customers (for example, as indicated by: attitudes, reputation, commitment to company or project satisfaction).
	4.	Finally, the strategy approach assesses the extent to which work/life initiatives facilitate the company's ability to make progress on key business strategies (for example, as indicated by the congruence of work/life objectives and globalization, growth, etc.). This approach has been discussed by Lambert, 1999 and others.

It is important to understand that the research has measured both positive as well as negative outcomes associated (directly and/or indirectly) with employees' work/life experiences and with the establishment of work/life initiatives.

Importance of Topic to Work-Family Studies

An employee's work/life challenges affect workplace performance and experiences. Similarly, organizational policies can have an impact on employees in and out of the workplace. Organizational impacts are more likely to be beneficial when the policies aim to support employees in meeting their work/life goals.

State of the Body of Knowledge

As work/life policy makers know, some organizational decision-makers are reluctant to invest in developing policies and programs until clear benefits to the organization can be demonstrated. Many studies have been conducted that document some organizational benefits. Research has measured the impact of programs, such as on-site child care, flextime, parental leave, work-family workshops, and other work/life supports on: employee attitudes, individual and team performance, human resource management indicators (e.g., absenteeism, turnover, etc.), and organizational strategic goals (see discussion in Lobel, 1999). For example, Catalyst (1998) found that use of flexible work arrangements was associated with improved individual performance. Grover and Crooker (1995) found that the availablity of family responsive practices was associated with increased attachment to the organization.

It should be noted that some studies have noted neutral or negative outcomes associated with particular work/life supports. For instance, Kossek and Nichol (1992) found that the use of on-site child care was not related to absenteeism.

As the bibliography for this section demonstrates, research methods have improved to the extent that we no longer need to rely on anecdotal evidence or a small sample of case studies.

Implications for Practice and Research

Employers often confront significant obstacles as they attempt to measure organizational outcomes of work/life porgrams, policies, and strategies.

	1.	It is a challenge to separate and isolate the effects of particular dimensions of work/life initiatives (e.g., distinguishing improvements in workplace climate from the utilization of a specific benefit).
	2.	Although there has been some effort to apply different types of social accounting techniques to the measurement of organizational outcomes (see Cohen, 1999), the clarification of costs/benefits has with regard to work/life initiatives has remained somewhat elusive. In part, the difficulties are associated with the complexities associated with quantifying some of the outcomes as well as the processes/policies, such as flexibility, that are central to many work/life initiatives.
	3.	It is difficult to gather data about many of the informal arrangements and relationships that play a role in an employer's response to employees' work/life situation.
	4.	From a methodological perspective, it is difficult to measure the contribution that work/life initiatives make to employees' performance, much less to organizational productivity since a number of other factors also affect these outcomes.

Researchers and practitioners need establish creative collaborations that can adapt diverse measurement approaches -- ranging from balanced scorecards to breakeven calculations to benchmarking -- to employer-sponsored work/life initiatives (see Pitt-Catsouphes, 1999).

References

Cohen, J. (1999). Measuring impact on the bottom line: Applying accounting measures to work/life initiatives. In Pitt-Catsouphes, M. (Ed.) Metrics Manual: Ten Approaches to Measuring Work/Life Initiatives. (pgs. 143-171). Chestnut Hill, MA: Boston College Center for Work & Family.

Galinsky, E. and Bond, T. (1998). The Business Work-Life Study: A Sourcebook. New York, NY: The Families and Work Institute.

Kossek, Ellen E. & Grace, Paulette. (1990). Taking a strategic view of employee child care assistance: A cost-benefit model. Human Resource Planning,13(3). 189-202.

Lambert, S. (1999). Establishing the link with business strategies: The value-added approach. In Pitt-Catsouphes, M. (Ed.), Metrics Manual: Ten Approaches to Measuring Work/Life Initiatives. (pgs.117-1410). Chestnut Hill, MA: Boston College Center for Work & Family.

Litchfield, L. (1999). Examining impact on supervisors and co-workers: Assessing the ripple effect. In Pitt-Catsouphes, M. (Ed.), Metrics Manual: Ten Approaches to Measuring Work/Life Initiatives. (pgs.199-226). Chestnut Hill, MA: Boston College Center for Work & Family.

Lobel, S. and Faught, F. (1996), Four methods for proving the value of work/life initiatives. Compensation and Benefits Review, 28(6), 50-57.

Mirvis, P. (1999). Measuring impact on external stakeholder relationships. In Pitt-Catsouphes, M. (Ed.), Metrics Manual: Ten Approaches to Measuring Work/Life Initiatives. (pgs. 227-249). Chestnut Hill, MA: Boston College Center for Work & Family.

Pitt-Catsouphes, M. (Ed.). (1999). Metrics Manual: Ten Approaches to Measuring Work/Life Initiatives. Chestnut Hill, MA: Boston College Center for Work & Family.

Other Recommended Readings on this Topic:

(Click on titles to link to citations/annotations in the Literature Database.)

Bailyn, L., Fletcher, J., & Kolb, D. (1997). Unexpected connections: Considering employees' personal lives can revitalize your business. Sloan Management Review, 38(4), 11-19.

Bond, J., Galinsky, E., & Swanberg, J. (1998). The 1997 national study of the changing workforce. New York, NY: The Families and Work Institute.

Galinsky, E., & Johnson, A. (1998). Reframing the business case for work-life initiatives. New York, NY: Families and Work Institute.

Glass, J., & Estes, S. (1997). Family responsive workplace. Annual Review of Sociology, 23, 289-313.

Gonyea, J. (1993). Family responsibilities and family-oriented policies: Assessing their impacts on the workplace. Employee Assistance Quarterly, 9(1), 1-29.

Konrad, A., & Mangel, R. (2000). The impact of work-life programs on firm productivity. Strategic Management Journal, 21, 1225-1237.

Lobel, S. (1999). Impacts of diversity and work-life in organizations. In G. Powell (Ed.), Handbook of Gender and Work (pgs. 453-474). Newbury Park, NJ: Sage.

Lobel, S., & Faught, L. (1996). Four methods for proving the value of work/life interventions. Compensation & Benefits Review, 28(6), 50-57.

Met Life & National Alliance for Caregiving. (1997). The Met Life study of employer costs for working caregivers. Westport, C: MetLife Mature Market Group & Bethesda, MD: National Alliance for Caregiving.

Minnesota Center for Corporate Responsibility. (1997). Creating high performance organizations: The bottom line value of work/life strategies. Minneapolis, MN: Minnesota Center for Corporate Responsibility.

Pitt-Catsouphes, M. (Ed.) (1999). Metrics manual: Ten approaches to measuring work/life initiatives. Chestnut Hill, MA: Boston College Center for Work & Family.

Locations in the Matrix of Information Domains of the Work-Family Area of Studies

The Editorial Board of the Teaching Resources section of the Sloan Work and Family Research Network has prepared a Matrix as a way to locate important work-family topics in the broad area of work-family studies. (More about the Matrix…)

To download the matrix, click here:

http://wfnetwork.bc.edu/downloads/Measurement_Org_Outcomes.pdf