The need for balance

"Balanced living" isn't just a topic on Oprah anymore. In the past few years, the concept has had serious impact on the business world. Provoked in part by the increasingly clear link between stress and illness over the past decade, more and more people are seeking balance in their lives-to reduce

What does this mean for CA firms? In a tight job market such as the CA profession, firms have to sit up and take notice if they want to attract and retain employees.

Who wants balance?

Janet David, Director with Western Management Consultants in Vancouver, practises in the areas of Executive Search and Organization Development. She's seeing more and more people who are thinking explicitly about balance with regard to their careers: from those just starting out, to those in their forties and fifties (many of whom are saying "I just don't want to do this anymore").

David says that although balance is definitely on people's minds, it isn't necessarily manifesting itself in their real experience, though she admits that things are gradually shifting. Because of this shift, she believes that companies must start facilitating balance if they want to continue attracting and retaining good people. She also adds that employees must have a hand in their own destinies, and sees the pursuit of balance as a shared responsibility between company and employee.

As more people accept the reality of having multiple careers/jobs in their lifetimes, they're making certain that each one offers some kind of substantial benefit. People are no longer willing to defer benefits to some point far down the road, since by that time they could be following a different road entirely.

David says the self-awareness movements of the 1990s have had a definite impact on job search. She believes that amongst her clients there's a prevailing "unstated quest, as much for spiritual meaningfulness as for other things." She says the desire to make a meaningful difference is increasingly common, and that it's crucial for companies to create environments in which people feel safe to make their dreams and aspirations known.

Professional companies may have a harder time facilitating balance than those in industry, according to David, because they've traditionally demonstrated a greater emphasis on "time and value in exchange for revenue." She does acknowledge, however, that the tide is turning, and that CAs have a distinct advantage over workers in many other professional industries because the job market is so tight.

David expresses concern that a recession might bring with it a reversal of proactive initiatives. She hopes that, by proving to be good business, the initiatives designed to attract and retain skilled workers will help sustain a larger commitment to work/life balance.

Recruitment and retention

A survey of senior executives across eight countries, three continents, and ten major industry groups in 2000 1, revealed a common concern about recruitment and retention. 80% of respondents said that "people issues" have become more important in the last five years. 68% said that retention of existing employees was more important than recruitment, in large part because of greater overall cost.

Results indicate that financial measures are not enough to improve retention. Companies need to offer other opportunities, such as flexible work schedules, jobsharing, skills-development, and inclusion in company decision-making.

Approximately 1/3 of survey respondents said that not enough attention was being paid to "people issues" in their companies.

Absentiism and Burnout

Avoiding such issues can also result in much higher rates of preventable absenteeism and burnout, both of which can have a big impact on the bottom line. Short- and longterm absence/disability costs in Canadian organizations have increased by 2-8% since 1997, according to a recent survey cited by CA Magazine2. The average direct cost of absenteeism was quoted at $3,550 per employee per year.

A recent Canadian survey of full-time, white-collar workers revealed that the flexibility afforded by technology has made it harder for people to stop working. From accepting faxes and business calls at home, to checking email and voice-mail after hours, to keeping cell phones on at all times, many people are seeing the boundaries between their work and leisure disappear. 21% of respondents said they actually have to be available "24/7" for their jobs; 46% of respondents found such contact outside of regular work hours to be an imposition; 28% agreed with the statement "Sometimes my family or friends resent the number of hours I spend working"; and 35% found the promise of fewer work hours an appealing component of a job offer.

These results might explain the increasing number of people who see part-time work as an attractive alternative, despite its drawbacks of lesser pay and security (see page 26). In response to such issues, many CA firms are coming up with alternatives for their employees.

Deloitte & Touche's "ART"

Deloitte & Touche launched a national human resources initiative called The Advancement & Retention of Talented People (ART) in 1998 to improve retention and recruitment rates. ART's five prongs include Work/Life Harmony and Equitable Culture. The goal of the Work/Life Harmony branch of ART is to provide flexible, individualized working arrangements for both male and female staff members, enabling them to advance and strive for partnership while working part-time or flexible hours, on a reduced workload, or even taking special leaves of absence.

"We recognize that there is more to life than work," says Claude Rinfret, CA, Office Managing Partner in Vancouver. "We're evolving our culture to allow more flexibility because when and where we do the work isn't as important as our results."

The program's many initiatives include workshops, and mentoring and leadership programs. An initiative to remove gender barriers has led to almost 70 "Men & Women Working Together Workshops" in the past two years. What does Deloitte & Touche get for their trouble? Apparently, "happy, focused, loyal employees."4 A 1999 firm-wide survey of ART's first year showed favourable results: 10% more people said the firm was facilitating work/ life harmony, and 8% more said that the firm had demonstrated its commitment to the retention and advancement of women. Deloitte & Touche ranked #31 on Report on Business's "35 Best Companies to Work For" list for 2000.

Janice Roper, CA, a partner with Deloitte & Touche LLP in Vancouver, says she's personally benefited from the initiatives. She was able to work part-time for a year after her second child was born without fearing the move would jeopardize a later bid for partnership. After a return to full-time hours and becoming partner, she is now working a 70% schedule that gives her greater work flexibility and more time with her family. Roper says that clients have been very supportive of the firm's initiatives, many of them wishing they could have similar arrangements. She also believes the firm's gender workshops have resulted in noticeable changes in corporate culture by exploding gender myths and opening up communication.

Levelling the Playing Field

These gender workshops aren't just for show-they're a matter of company survival. A recent Globe and Mail article on the issue of female partnerships in professional organizations5 cited "unacceptable work culture" as a main reason for high rates of attrition amongst female staff. The authors discuss initiatives at the "Big Five," noting that their efforts seem to be paying off-albeit slowly-as four of them made Working Mother Magazine's list of the Top 100 employers in 2000.

PricewaterhouseCoopers was one of them, having created national policies to provide workplace support and flexibility, enabling part-time or "reduced hours" women and men to become partners. In 1999, the firm established a Work/life Quality Council (WLQ) at the national level, in large part to address issues of retention and recruitment.

The council is made up of partners from the different lines of service and different provinces. The WLQ's mandate is to link work, lifestyle, and diversity issues.

The firm communicates information about WLQ programs and success stories to its employees via its Intranet site. There's also a separate database for staff that details HR policies and specific arrangements. These arrangements include part-time work, reduced hours, job-sharing, and a "working from home" program called pwc@home.

Jackie Ord, HR Manager for Tax Services at PwC's Vancouver office, says these initiatives involve a corporate mindshift from looking for "face-time" to looking for outcomes. This corporate mindshift coincides with an increasingly confident workforce. Ord, who works with WLQ council representative lain Morris, CA, says the new generation of CAs is very clear about what it wants.

In part to make sure initiatives are working, the firm conducts surveys for all of the different lines of service, Ord says a minisurvey of the Tax Services department in 2000 showed positive feedback to WLQ programs. The firm also uses upward feedback to let junior staff give management their input on a variety of issues, including work/life programs. And the firm conducts departure surveys to check for patterns affecting retention.

Ernst & Young's "Center for theNew Workforce"

In March 2001, Ernst & Young announced expansion of its own workforce initiatives6,, renaming its "Office for Retention" as the "Center for the New Workforce." The Center was set up to enhance firm culture, and to attract and retain top talent Established in 1996, the Office for Retention created mentoring initiatives and women's networking opportunities, and reinforced a firm-wide commitment to making "work/ fife integration" part of the firm's culture. Initiatives like flexible work arrangements and work re-design have already enabled more women to move into leadership ranks, and have provided more real workarrangements for both genders. As a result, the firm was recognized by Fortune and Working Mother magazines as being a "best company" to work for.

D&H Group Chartered Accountants

Smaller firms are also offering work/life initiatives. Local firm D&H Group Chartered Accountants (formerly Dyke & Howard) have been offering incentives for some time.

Implemented more than a decade ago, incentives at the partner level include rotating extended summer holidays. Each summer, two partners take advantage of the extended vacation, and partner Mike Nakanishi, CA, says the extended holiday allows them to recharge their batteries. It seems like a good idea---he says the partners are happier, and their clients appreciate their level of energy. To help accommodate for these extended absences, each client is assigned a second partner so that they're never left without an informed contact.

Nakanishi says these holidays allow for more time with family. Last year he took his whole family to Japan for a month, and he says he's already planning for his next extended vacation, even though it's two years away.

The extended vacation also serves as an incentive for prospective partners (though non-partner CAs currently receive up to six weeks of vacation depending on seniority). At the junior level, staff members are offered an extended leave of seven weeks after they pass the UFE. The offer is partly a strategic move, designed to reduce burnout. Nakanishi says that only one or two junior staff members haven't taken the firm up on the extended vacation in the past six years.

So far, the firm hasn't promoted its vacation perks for recruitment purposes, but the initiatives have clearly factored into a high retention of existing employees. Nakanishi says the firm's low turnover rate is also due to compensation, training, and the firm's relaxed environment. A sense of team spirit is fostered amongst the staff of less than fifty members. The firm sponsors a Sun Run Fun Team and encourages staff to run after work 2-3 times a week. Nakanishi says the company treats the team to lunch after the event, adding, "but only if they complete the run!"

Balance isn't a new concept. Various industries have tied to implement progressive work/life initiatives in the past, but many have failed, perhaps because their efforts were so anomalous. It's hard for one or two companies to stand alone on the cutting edge. Janet David believes that as the search for balanced living becomes a more collective quest, these progressive initiatives will stand a better chance of long-term survival.

The issue of balance is enormous in scope. This article covers a few public accounting firms and does not include initiatives within industry or the public sector. If you work for a company in any arena that offers progressive initiatives and you'd like us to know about it, please contact me at mcrae@ica.bc.ca, as a series of articles on the changing workplace is planned for the future.