In the modern era of technology and convenience, organizations have begin to provide their employees with helpful ways to balance their work and non-work roles through benefits like flexible work hours, telecommuting, and so on. Following are some examples of work- life balance policies or arrangements adopted by large organizations:
1. Organizational culture and working hours in W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. is a global, privately held company headquartered in Newark, Delaware, United States. It employs approximately 8,000 associates (current employees). Gore produces proprietary technologies with versatile polymer polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) used in products in the health care and leisure industries. It is mainly
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There are no set working hours. Associates make commitments which are never imposed and keep to their commitments. Personal and family responsibilities are acceptable according to Gore’s approach; associates have no need to explain if they are not going to be at work. When commitments require staffing for specific hours, the team in that area decides individuals’ hours of work. Some associates choose to work from home by using videoconferencing and conference calls and office attendance is recorded only for fire safety. Gore’s corporate culture encourages a healthy work life balance that drive very high performance from individuals and teams, who are empowered and results-oriented with a strong ‘can-do’ attitude” (Maxwell, 2009). Thus, continuing to advance associates is seen as central to sustaining the corporate culture and principles that foster work-life balance at W.L. Gore. According to the organization as cited in Maxwell (2009):
• Work-life balance is an integral part of a holistic management approach. As employees/associates are part of a clearly defined management style, work-life balance arrangements works without being supported by formal policies and
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Work life arrangements in the Scottish Court Service
The Scottish Court Service (SCS) comprises 52 court sites and employs approximately 1,000 civil servants. The Scottish Court Service system is divided into three operational areas: agency headquarters, the Supreme Courts and the Sheriff Courts. The strategy statement of the SCS is “to help secure ready access to justice for the people of Scotland, delivering a high quality service to all who use the courts.”
As cited in Maxwell (2009), the SCS developed the work-life balance policies and procedures using a participative approach including the involvement of all staff. Work-life balance arrangements at the SCS
There are over 30 Sr. VPs and VPs holding various positions at the San Francisco
Previous generations have a strong belief of keeping work and home life separate; that work is for work and home is for play (Rampell, 2011, para 21). Today’s professionals do not seem to abide by similar beliefs, constantly crossing the borders of one into the other. While many recognize this as an issue that could result in employees being less productive, it has actually resulted in them accepting that their work may run late into the evening or even into the weekend. I agree with this completely in that I grew up being taught that business is business and personal is personal; you leave your home life at the door. But now times have changed, and my weekends are no longer dedicated to my home life, but for work, because I attend classes during the week. Also, in my line of work in the Allied Health industry, it is a requirement to work off hours. Long gone are the days of working nine to five, Monday through Friday; technology and the demand of wanting affairs done and done as soon as possible, has made it so the “work week” is now 24-7. “Jon Della Volpe, the director of polling at Harvard Institute of Politics, said, ‘Some experts also believe that today’s young people are better at quickly switching from one task to another, given their exposure to so many stimuli during their childhood and adolescence’” (Rampbell,
Americans have little to no time off each week. According to the article, “Overworked America: 12 Charts That Will Make Your Blood Boil”,some countries give workers 37-48 hours off each week. Other countries give workers 24-36 hours off each week.Americans in comparison have barely any hours off(Gilson).Even on the weekends , Americans find their lives consumed by work. A survey given to employed email users showed that 50% of them checked their work email on the weekends and 34% check work email while on vacation(Gilson).Americans cannot find a medium between their work lives and their personal lives.
Flextime - a versatile work program - permits individuals to determine on when they work, as long as they place in their total range of hours each week. Counting on the leader could mean complete freedom to style their work schedule, or having the ability to decide on from among many predetermined sets of choices. Two (or a lot of, though not sometimes the case,) workers could share one position, every worker operating some of the specified time. That way, individuals will hold, or still hold, the position they need, and still build time to play with young ones or aging oldsters, carry out of different family
You are required to work a minimum of 50 hours in a week if you are in management and this is done on a tracking system. You are expected to work two night shifts in a week, weekends and every holiday excluding Thanksgiving,
Maximize the interaction with in the group to facilitate unity of the three individual groups (management and workloads)
Biography of Albert Arnold Gore On March 31, 1948 Albert Arnold Gore Jr. was born in Washington D.C. He was born into a highly political family. Albert Gore Sr. was serving his fifth term in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Tennessee's fourth Congressional District. His mother Pauline worked side by side with her husband in the office. Al was
The inability to achieve “work-life balance” has become a major focus for workplace equality activists. When this topic is brought about it is primarily used to describe how woman cannot have a work and home life but instead are forced to choose. Richard Dorment took on this point of interest from a different perspective in his article “Why Men Still Can’t Have It All” published with esquire. Going against the normal trend he describes how women are not the only ones put into the same sacrificial situations, but instead that men and women alike struggle to balance work and home. Dorment opens up by saying “And the truth is as shocking as it is obvious: No one can have it all.” In doing so Richard Dorment throws out the notion that one
This paper takes a look into the organization of W.L. Gore & Associates by examining their unique corporate culture, their associates and teamwork, and their compensation program; as well as determining whether or not I would like to work at W. L. Gore & Associates (Module 5 Lecture Pages, n.d.). I will answer four questions that pertain to the areas above, as I discuss the interesting and unique organization of W.L. Gore & Associates.
A newly added employee is not given specific direction of where to go and what to do. Instead the Gore Company promotes creative thinking and the employee places himself where he thinks he needs to be. If you do not have imagination about your job then you might be sitting at a desk for a month wondering what in the world you should be doing. Sometimes employees cannot understand this and must leave the company.
Flexible working arrangements improve quality and work done (Dudman, 2001). Achieving a balance between work and personal duties can help individuals gain more control over their lives. Often overlooked is the impact telecommuting has on the environment. One great advantage for the environment is the conservation of energy. A great deal of energy is required to produce a vast amount of transportation vehicles such as automobiles, buses and subways.
In line with the continuous improvement initiative to uplift the service delivery system to the public, flexible working hour’s schedule which is also known as Staggered Working Hours (SWH) has been implemented in the Federal Territory of...
In today’s ever changing and ever-quickening business environment, there is constant debate about what type of organizational structure is “best,” and how choice of structure impacts productivity. Companies in the same industry that receive different results may employ contrasting organizational structures. Founded in 1958, W.L. Gore and Associates trademarked Gore-Tex, a breathable, waterproof fabric (Gore, n.d., para. 1). Columbia Sportswear Company, founded in 1938 is a leading innovator in the global outdoor apparel, footwear, accessories and equipment market (Columbia, n.d., para. 2). In this paper we will analyze the connection between organizational structure and productivity by comparing W.L. Gore & Associates’ Gore-Tex, and Columbia.
In Today’s world, the composition and how work is done has massively changed and is still continuing to change. Work is now more complex, more team base, depends greatly on technological and social skills and lastly more mobile and does not depend on geography. Companies are also opting for ways to help their employees perform their duties effectively so that huge profits are realized in the long term .The changes in the workplaces include Reduction in the structure of the hierarchy ,breakdown in the organization boundaries , improved and better management tactics and perspectives and lastly better workplace condition and health to the employees. (Frank Ackerman, Neva R. Goodwin, Laurie Dougherty, Kevin Gallagher, 2001)
The controllers work on shift hours, with one shift consist of two working days, one resting day and one day off. The working days are divided into afternoon shift on the first day, followed by morning and night shifts on the second day. The work of Air Traffic Controllers involves manning a workstation, gathering and interpreting data using computers and radar displays as well as communicating with pilots by the usage of radio equipment.