Incorporation of women into the labor market has meant a change in the family structure that sooner or later will also have to be reflected in the work environment. There are many women who are forced to leave their jobs to be able to take care of their children, since in many cases, hiring a good nanny is not profitable. In this way, companies see how they are losing their qualified personnel for being incapable of proposing reconciliation measures.
Conciliation measures
If we talk about reconciliation, we have to refer to the basic problem that is that society that has not yet overcome macho values, where inequality is present both in the distribution of family responsibilities and in the workplace, which is oriented towards men as the head of family. Therefore, a change of mentality is necessary to adapt to the current situation where women have to work and do not want to give up motherhood.
Also taking advantage of the crisis situation that we are going through, perhaps it is time for companies to begin to see things more objectively, leaving behind myths such as the one that establishes that more hours work, more productivity. Because it is precisely this idea that has led Spain to work 232 hours more than the European average, and the results are plain to see. Luckily some companies are beginning to realize that productivity depends mainly on a good working environment.
And a good work environment is not achieved by having workers locked up for long hours in an office, but by letting they develop their skills and facilitating the reconciliation of family and professional life. Measures such as teleworking, flexible hours or the adaptation of the work environment are still viewed with suspicion, but the companies that have already applied them are more than satisfied with the results.
The more reconciliation, the greater productivity
It has been shown that flexible hours increase productivity by 60%, not to mention the degree of commitment that the worker acquires with the company when he finds himself in a situation in which he can perfectly reconcile his work and his family. The difference between an employees who goes to his job overwhelmed and stressed because he does not have time for anything and another who has dominated both spheres of his life is in a higher performance. And that is something that companies are interested in.
But as long as they continue to consider work -life balance policies as a resource to work less, companies will have to continue assuming the costs of having unmotivated employees, loss of qualified personnel, absenteeism and, ultimately, lower productivity. Perhaps one of the reasons our economy is dying is a wrong work mentality. So it’s time to change it, because both workers and companies need it.
