For Some, Technology Just Makes Work Obligations Ever-Present
Technology is your friend in the struggle to work well at work and be well when you’re not at work. It is also your enemy, if bosses and employees aren’t careful to tame it.
Human resources experts say that technological advancements such as e-mail, voicemail, beepers and home computers have boosted productivity, made telecommuting possible and increased communication with employees about various work-life programs, according to a report released Thursday by the Conference Board, the New York-based business group.
However, some employees have found that those same innovations have created a never-ending workday, the report said. Many employees say they are expected, though perhaps not by formal policy, to check messages after work, on the weekend and during vacations.
“Devices like beepers and e-mail can make it difficult to escape work and even harder to catch up with missed work,” said Deborah Parkinson, a research associate at the Conference Board and author of the study, called “Technology’s Effect on Work/Life Balance.”
Nearly two-thirds of the sample of 62 members of the Conference Board’s Work-Family Research & Advisory Panel, composed of companies in a variety of industries, said that technology has been positive for employees’ concerns about keeping work and family life in their proper places.
They cited the availability of telecommuting, a reduction of stress associated with being out of touch with the office during business hours, and increased access to information. Most said that their employees are not expected to check their voice mail or e-mail messages after regular business hours.
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But 20% thought technology’s impact was negative on the work-family tug-of-war. As many as 15% said employees are expected, though perhaps not formally, to check their messages during off hours.
Ted Childs, vice president of work force diversity at IBM, recounted the story of an IBM executive who sent a midnight e-mail to an employee and got an immediate response.
“We have been targeted as having the premier work-life policies in the country, and we actually make the equipment that people believe is intended to give them some relief,” Childs was quoted in the report. “But what we hear from our people is that they don’t have access to those policies--that there is so much pressure on them to be available all the time.”
The proliferation of messages--sometimes the same information communicated in several forms, such as a fax and a duplicate e-mail--can make employees feel that they fall behind every time they take vacation, said Kathy Gallo, director of personnel matters at Andersen Consulting. When Gallo asks work-life seminar participants how many listen to voicemail at 10 p.m., at least 30% typically will raise their hands, she said.
“People are positive about technology, but a lot of the expectations that come with this anyplace-any time work have to be managed,” Parkinson said. “People have to know when to cut it off, and employers have to make sure that their workers cut it off, or you can get very burned out.”
Sandy Fazio, manager of employee programs at Gannett Co., suggests that all managers from the chief executive down to line managers get the message that “regardless of when you do your work, you should look for your responses during business hours.”
“If your manager is on vacation and e-mailing people daily, that sets a precedent for other people at the company,” Fazio said.
“Employers can help by not encouraging people to work all the time,” Parkinson said. “It doesn’t have to be a formal policy. It’s a matter of culture” in the corporation.
AT&T; Dials Up Parenting Dollars
AT&T; has given $88,000 to the Studio City-based Center for the Improvement of Child Caring to expand effective parenting programs in California, said Kerby T. Alvy, director of the nonprofit parent education organization.
“When parents are well equipped to raise children, everyone benefits, and especially the children,” said Christopher Soder, vice president of AT&T;’s western region.
CICC operates programs in several languages to teach parents how to do a better job. Many of their seminars are offered through corporations to workers.
A free seminar for Spanish-speaking parents took place Nov. 21, hosted by the Santa Ana Unified School District. More seminars are planned for early next year in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
AT&T; has been one of CICC’s primary corporate sponsors for more than a decade.
Has your company developed an interesting way to help employees balance work life and family life? Write to Balancing Act, Los Angeles Times, Business News, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053. Or send e-mail to nancy.rivera.brooks@latimes.com.
