Everyone who struggles to meet the demands of work and personal-life responsibilities knows how tough it is to do so. This bold new book shows that it is the deeply engrained separation of work and personal life that has limited our ability to deal effectively with the conflict between them. Beyond Work-Family Balance demonstrates why the image of "balance" is outmoded and why a new approach -- work-personal life integration -- offers greater promise for meaningful change.
Providing many examples from action research projects in more than a dozen organizations of different kinds, the authors show how using their method of integrating rather than separating personal-life considerations from the workplace can achieve positive outcomes, not only for workers but also for the work. The method offers a way of looking deeply into the work culture to find inequitable and ineffective work practices that are so embedded and routine that no one thinks to question them -- they are just the way things get done. Once identified, these work practices can be changed to achieve what the authors call a Dual Agenda: a more equitable workplace where both men and women can achieve their full potential and a more effective workplace where the needs of the work, rather than gendered and outmoded assumptions, determine what gets done and how.
Industry Reviews
A welcome contribution to theory and practice, this volume
describes aprogram developed by the authors (academics and
professionals experienced in the work/family and organizational
behavior fields) to create a more equitable and satisfying
workplace. Their program is different in that it attempts to tie
together two organizational goals usually tackled separately:
improving the bottom line and improving employees' ability to
manage their work and personal lives. The authors' underlying
beliefs that work and family life should be integrated and that
when it is, gender and diversity issues will be addressed and
employees will be more effective contributors to their
organizations. When it is not integrated, management often
experiences costs without productivity gains, while employees often
feel work/family initiatives have not been successful. The authors
detail actions taken in several consulting assignments with various
companies, sharing surveys and meeting agendas. They describe a
process that includes many discussions, frequent feedback, and
reevaluation. Problems andfailures as well as successes are
reported. Clients are assisted inunderstanding assumptions
associated with work needs, personal requirements, communication
methods, outcome measurements, and rewards. The ideas presented in
this volume are provocative and the suggestions realistically
appraised. Recommended for graduate, research, and professional
collections.
-- F. Reitman, Pace University