Second, they end up losing a highly trained worker who is intimately familiar with the technology, processes, and culture of their company. Last, when those people leave, they don't leave with good feelings, and are less likely to go out of their way to help their old employer through partnerships or other business opportunities once they're in a new environment. This is a serious opportunity cost, since as we all know, success in today's fast-paced environment requires alliances with multiple partners. We can blame the Industrial Revolution, which created a system that made workers cogs in a system where labor and capital were considered interchangeable inputs to production. Fortunately, workers and managers are beginning to understand that our intense, time-deprived lifestyles require integration of work and family life in order to allow employees in intellectual property jobs to manage stress and be most productive.
Numerous studies point to the link between work-family balance, increased productivity, and profits.
Those higher retention rates, the bank believes, contributed to a 55 percent profit gain over two years. The fact is that, no matter how we try to convince ourselves otherwise, employees bring all of their personal life into the office every day. Human beings are not automatons who can click a switch and suddenly shut down a part of their memory or their personality. For most people, what goes on outside of the workplace is their real life and real job. Work is a means to earn the income needed to support that real life.