Months of extensive surveys have resulted in a surprising finding, only seven-percent of executives and administrators were happy with the balance between their home and work situations and felt no need of any change.
When the question was asked, "In order to achieve more happiness in work and life, what do you most need to learn?", 63-percent of respondents replied that they were battling stress and did not have enough time during the day to accomplish everything and that their work/home life was out of balance.
Commenting on the findings of his company's survey, Kirk Burness, President of Breakthrough Performance said, "This is precisely why we decided to launch the "Learning for Performance" Executive Course. Without learning to better evaluate life and work priorities, handle stressful situations and get in better control over their lives and work in general, many important high performers and achievers will leave their current employment for "greener pastures", and most unnecessarily. Both individuals and organizations need to learn to work and live differently - for high sustained performance, as well as highly satisfactory lives." The company specializes in programs to reduce work and life barriers and increase individual and enterprise productivity.
An Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) study done in May 2006 reinforces the data. Nearly half of the over 1300 executives in the nine-day study reported work-life balance has become worse in the last five years. Moreover, 87-percent of executives feel that work-life balance considerations are critical in their career decisions making process. These numbers suggest that executives are starting to carefully weigh the cost of their personal lives against the value of their professional goals. In over twenty years, this is the first time executives seem prepared to lower both their work prospects with large corporations and salaries in favor of quality of life.
In June, a poll by market research company Ipsos-Reid showed that 66 percent of participating CEOs reported that "stress burnout or other physical and mental health issues" are negatively impacting workforce productivity.
Employers everywhere should see this data as a call for action. Attention must be paid to this vital organizational issue or the result could lead to a scramble to fill managerial vacancies. This could prove a difficult task considering the time and training that is invested in many top executives who already possess the skills and knowledge of their positions. If not addressed, the problem could end up being a very costly one.
