Are New Recruits Looking for Work-Life Balance? Anyone who has tried to balance his or her time between a busy job and a fulfiling personal life knows how challenging a work-life balance can be. An indisputable fact is that work and personal lives are interconnected. Companies know this. Potential recruits also know this. It's become more of on issue in recent years due to some important demographic changes that are affecting many workers. For example, companies are experiencing rising demand for the expansion of childcare and elder care programs. This is not surprising given the aging of the U.$. population and that Gen Xers are starting to have families. Thus, many recruits who are members of the "sandwich generation" lie.. they are sandwiched between elderly parents and young children and therefore have. to provide care for both sets of family members) consider as port of their employment decisions the number and type of work-life balance programs that potential employers offer. Other demographic changes that are contributing to this rise in the demand for work-life balance programs include the increase of single parents entering the workforce and on increase of dual-career couples. In both cases, parents who shoulder caregiving responsibilities often seek flexible work arrangements and more flexible career cycles. Flexible career cycles allow individuals to leave their career tracks temporarily to raise a child, care for a sick parent, and so on. These individuals are welcomed back to work and placed back into career-oriented positions. Work-life balance programs such os job sharing, flextime, and telecommuting are designed for both retaining current employees and attracting potential employees to the firm. Customizing Bonus Pay Plans Navigant Consulting Inc., a Chicago-based management consultancy, is the product of more than 25 acquisitions over the last several years. No wonder that, until recently, its short-term incentive pay system was seriously flowed. There was no consistent method of rewarding performance. "It was difficult to manage so many disparate incentive tools," says Julie Howard, vice president and human-capital officer. "It was a mess." Even companies with only one system are struggling to make it more effective. So Navigant redesigned the system. Its short-term cash bonus plan now consists of two basic elements: Incentive pay for Navigant's 400 senior professionals is based largely on the company's performance,CONFIDENTIAL while its 800 consulting and administrative staff are rewarded primarily according to individual performance. It's too soon to tell fully what effect the change has had, though already the company is seeing reduced attrition. The hope & that the incentive plan will help the nearly $704 million (in sales) company recover from years of losses. so far, "people are very excited about it," says Howard, who has been touring the country to explain the program to employees. "Clarity is a big thing." Navigant is one of an increasing number of companies that now offer incentive pay to many nonmanagement personnel, linking pay more closely to performance, as it shifts from fixed to more-variable annual compensation. In a survey of 2.400 companies, consulting firm William M. Mercer found that 56 percent provided incentive pay to employees below the executive level [65 percent when non- profit health care companies were excluded). But companies clearly are struggling to design their incentive programs in on effective way. The soul-searching is aimed of motivating employees up and down the line to help componies meet their overall goals. sources Nancy R. Egldiga (2005). "Opportunity and Balance: Is Your Organization Ready to Provide Both?" Journal of Accountancy, Vol 198, 15. 5, pp. 39-45. Adapted from "Most U.S. Employers Expect to Give Pay Raises in 2011" [August 6, 2010). http://www.shirm.org