Intracorp/Gallup Study Shows Impact of Corporate Culture on Employee Use of Benefits

A new study released this week by Intracorp directly links company culture with employees' use of work/life benefits, such as flexible work arrangements and resource & referral services.

The public release study of 1,004 employees and managers, conducted for Intracorp by The Gallup Organization, found that employees in work environments perceived as supportive, not only used work/life benefits more, but also were significantly more satisfied with their jobs and experienced lower levels of stress in balancing work, family and personal lives.

The study also revealed that a sizable portion of employees who need work/life benefits the most-those with elder care-giving, or child and elder care-giving responsibilities-are not using them. This, despite the fact that nearly nine in 10 employees ranked work/life benefits at least as important as health care insurance.

"This study helped prove what we knew intuitively: Employees who use work/life benefit-and achieve a balance in their lives-are happier and more productive," says Intracorp's Ken Ross, senior vice president, Life Management Services. "The obvious question then is, 'Why is utilization so low?'"

According to Ross, the study findings suggest that, within companies that offer work/life programs, a non-supportive work environment significantly inhibits usage. Of respondents who chose not to use work/life benefits, nearly three in 10 (28%) cited corporate culture issues such as "confidentiality," a "non-supportive company atmosphere" and a "stigma attached to using work/life benefits," as their reasons.

However, the attitudes and behaviors of managers emerged as the single greatest factor in defining both the corporate culture and employees' use of work/life benefits. When asked about their comfort in giving their employees flexibility to take care of personal issues at work, only one in two managers said they were very comfortable."

This is the first study of its kind to specifically address the utilization and importance of work/life benefits, as well as the impact of corporate culture on utilization. To enable a comparison of manager and nonmanagerial employee perspectives, a total of 350 managers (front-line and executives) and 654 non- managers were randomly called and interviewed by Gallup.

Lack of Flexibility, Support for Work/Life Issues Cited
A significant percentage of employees in the study reported a perceived lack of job flexibility and support for work/life balance within their work environments:

• 30 percent said there was an "unwritten rule" at their companies that they "cannot take care of family needs on company time"
• 31 percent indicated a belief that employees who put family needs ahead of their jobs are not looked upon favorably
• 31 percent said employees have to choose between "advancing their careers and devoting attention to their family or personal lives"
• 41 percent said employees who "rearrange their schedules" for family reasons are less likely to get ahead

Furthermore, four in 10 respondents said their immediate manager does not encourage them to use work/life benefits. When managers did support work/life benefits, employees were significantly more satisfied with their jobs than were employees with non-supportive supervisors (71 percent vs. 47 percent).

Care-giving's Impact on Stress, Utilization
Caregiving duties contribute significantly to employee stress and work/life imbalance, according to the study findings. Managers and non-managers who reported the greatest amount of stress in balancing work, personal life and family life were those who had elder care or both elder and child care responsibilities. Forty-seven percent of employees with elder care responsibility said they experienced high levels of stress in balancing work and personal life. Those providing elder care also experienced greater job/family conflicts and were significantly less satisfied with their jobs than respondents who did not have elder care responsibilities (24 percent v. 15 percent).

Meanwhile, more than half of employees (52%) who provided elder care support and had children under age 18 exhibited high levels of stress.

Although employees with care-giving responsibilities experienced the greatest degree of stress and job dissatisfaction, few reported using benefits like work/life resource & referral services within the last 12 months. In many cases, employers are not offering these benefits. Thirty-seven percent offer child care resource and referral; 35 percent offer the same for elder care. Married employees with children in families where both spouses worked had a usage rate of 6 percent for child care resource & referral services, compared to the total work force of 4 percent. And, respondents who provided elder care support had a usage rate of 3 percent for elder care resource & referral services, compared to the total work force of 2 percent.

"These low utilization rates are particularly disturbing when you consider that 75 percent of the respondents who said they have elder care-giving responsibility, rated work/life benefits as 'very important,'" says Robert Schussel, vice president and managing research director for The Gallup Organization, which helped design the study. "It seems as though employers are sending mixed messages. Companies may offer work/life programs, but they're not making them easy to use. And employees feel that using these benefits might jeopardize their job or advancement opportunities."

Work/Life Benefits Often Unused
Although work/life benefits were rated very important by study respondents, their usage was relatively low. Nearly one-half (43 percent) of all respondents had not used any available work/life benefits in the past 12 months. One-third (33 percent) reported they had used one work/life benefit, and one-quarter (24 percent) had used two or more.

The study showed that companies offering a full range of work/life benefits, while actively supporting and encouraging their use, tend to have employees who are highly satisfied with their jobs, experience the least amount of work/family conflict, and exhibit lower levels of stress and fewer incidents of minor health problems. In addition, the study found that the number of work/life benefits offered also had a direct correlation with employee job satisfaction. In companies offering between six and eight work/life benefits, 71 percent of employees were highly satisfied. In companies offering two or fewer benefits, only 47 percent were highly satisfied.

As the nation's work force becomes increasingly diverse and aging demographics drive a dramatic rise in employees' care-giving responsibilities, Ross says, the study findings should sound an alert to corporate America. "It's not enough to simply offer work/life programs," Ross explains. "Companies need to proactively and continually communicate program features and availability to all employees-and help managers understand the return these programs can have on critical business metrics such as productivity, retention and satisfaction."