Most CEOs know that a satisfied workforce means higher productivity. They also know that it is better and less costly to keep current employees than to deal with such turnover issues as finding new people and training them.
Julie BaumgardnerHowever, many employees, both men and women, find themselves conflicted when it comes to the number of hours they spend at work versus family.
When a national survey by the Families and Work Institute asked what factors were very important in taking a job, 60 percent of respondents cited "effect on personal/family life."
Yet the big question still looms: "If we become more family friendly, will it hurt the bottom line?" Perhaps the correct question to ask is: "How does not being family friendly affect the bottom line?"
If you are the CEO or a member of upper-level management, you might want to take note of the latest findings from a survey of close to 1,000 working fathers. An update on the 2013 study called Organization Man: An Examination of Involved Fathering in the Workplace found that the more time fathers spend with their children on a typical day, the more satisfied they are with their jobs and the less likely they are to want to leave their organizations. These men also experience less work-family conflict and greater work-family enrichment.
The update, which will be published next month in the Academy of Management Perspectives, also revealed that the more hours men devote to their children, the less central their careers are to their identities, which might create some anxiety for management. However, authors of the study found that involved fathering is good not only for workers, but for the companies through its positive association with father's job satisfaction, commitment to their work and lowered intentions to quit.
Previous studies in the area of work/life balance have shown that the more time women devote to their children, the more conflict they experience on the job. Examining why spending time with their children equates with good job results for men but increased conflict for women, the authors surmise that, while working fathers experience ambiguity around their fathering identity, they do not seem to experience a threat to their work identities in the same way women as mothers do. Perhaps men don't experience the same level of guilt that working mothers feel and don't view caring for children as a source of stress.
Additionally, when participants of the study were asked what were the most important aspects of being a good father:
Providing love and emotional support received an average rating of 4.6 on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being not important and 5 extremely important.
Providing discipline and financial security each received a 4.0.
Doing your part in day-to-day childcare tasks received an average rating of 3.9.
The authors of the study call upon employers to recognize that many of today's fathers want to be more than the traditional organization men. As men transition from a narrow definition of fatherhood to one that embraces work and family, they must find a happy medium between doing meaningful work and living meaningful lives so they can be effective both as workers and caregivers.
This study offers encouragement that men are truly recognizing the benefits of being an involved father. If a company's bottom line is strengthened, imagine the positive impact this has on his family.
Julie Baumgardner is the president and CEO of First Things First. Contact her at julieb@firstthings.org.