Community Business

On 19 October 2010, Community Business will launch the fifth The State of Work-Life Balance in Hong Kong Survey. This article offers a sneak peek into what to expect from this year’s survey results. To learn more about the launch event for The State of Work-Life Balance in Hong Kong Survey, visit the Community Business Web site.

As almost anyone living in Hong Kong knows firsthand, employees in this city work long hours and have little time for their personal life. Surveys commissioned by Community Business on an annual basis repeatedly indicate just that – and that poor work-life balance impacts employees’ health and productivity. Community Business and the Community Business Leadership Team (CBLT), a unique group of business leaders committed to raising awareness of issues relating to corporate social responsibility, have championed the importance of work-life balance as a business issue in Hong Kong since 2006. For five years running, the CBLT has commissioned research into the state of work-life balance in Hong Kong. This annual “State of Work-Life Balance in Hong Kong Survey” (the Survey) has become the authoritative reference source for businesses looking to understand issues relating to work-life balance and to develop appropriate work-life balance policies and strategies for their employees in Hong Kong.

About The State of Work-Life Balance in Hong Kong Survey
The Survey is representative of the working population in Hong Kong and is conducted by the Public Opinion Programme (POP) at the University of Hong Kong. It is designed to assess the overall state of work-life balance in Hong Kong by examining employees’ working and living patterns, employee’s satisfaction with work and life and problems employees face in achieving a healthy work-life balance and their desired solutions to overcome such challenges.

What Does the Research Say?
While the results of the 2010 Survey will be released later this month, highlights of the 2009 Survey include:

Hong Kong employees work long hours – Employees worked an average of 48.4 hours per week in 2009. This is 21% higher than the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) recommendation of no more than 40 hours per week with occasional overtime.
The majority of employees (70.6%) spend less than two hours per day on their personal life.
Nearly one-third of employees would consider leaving their job for better work-life elsewhere.
The majority of employees encounter problems that impact their productivity, family life and health as a result of poor work-life balance. 76.1% of employees said they encountered problems due to poor work-life balance. The top issues include: prolonged fatigue, sleepiness and extreme tiredness (53.4%), not having enough time for their partner and family (40.8%) and insomnia and poor diet as a result of work pressures (31%).
Employees identify a 5-day work week as the best way to help them achieve better work-life balance. 26.9% of employees cited a 5-day work week as the initiative that would most help them achieve better work-life balance, followed by more paid annual leave (18.8%) and flexible working time (10.8%).

In addition to looking at the above issues, this year’s Survey seeks to identify the key trends over the past five years, the role of flexible work arrangements as a way to improve the work-life balance of employees in Hong Kong, as well as the perspectives of Generation Y – often referred to in Hong Kong as the Post 80s generation. As the findings of this year’s Survey become available, Community Business urges companies to use them to engage with their employees to better understand the work-life balance challenges they face – and the potential solutions.

Engaging Employees: Work-Life Balance Day
A key way for companies to engage with their employees and demonstrate support for their employees’ work-life balance is by joining Work-Life Balance Day on 22 October. The aim of Work-Life Balance Day is to raise work-life balance as a business issue and provide a platform for companies to demonstrate their commitment to work-life balance. This year marks Hong Kong’s third Work-Life Balance Day and to date more than 100 employers in Hong Kong have already joined the campaign.

Participating Work-Life Balance Day is free and open to all employers in Hong Kong. Employers simply register on the Work-Life Balance Day web site and commit to providing at least one work-life balance initiative on 22 October 2010. Whether companies already provide work-life balance initiatives to employees or are looking at this issue for the first time, Work-Life Balance Day is an ideal way to demonstrate support for employees’ well-being. Examples of what companies have done to mark Work-Life Balance Day include:

Allen & Overy – Employees participated in time management courses and massage sessions during work time.

Cisco – All employees were encouraged to work from home and join Tai Chi and nutrition seminars via WebEx technology.

CLP Holdings Limited – Staff were encouraged to leave work on time, exercise during the day, and participate in health and well-being seminars.

Crown Worldwide Group – Employees joined massage sessions and lunchtime talks on work-life balance topics.

KPMG – Work-Life Balance Day was promoted throughout the region and Tai Chi sessions were offered to Hong Kong staff.

Text 100 – Employees were given two hours of free time to use as they wished.

To learn more and register for the launch event for The State of Work-Life Balance in Hong Kong 2010 Survey launch, please visit the Community Business web site at: http://www.communitybusiness.org/events/2010/WLB_Survey.html.

For more information about Work-Life Balance Day visit: http://www.communitybusiness.org/WLB/2010/index.htm.