Managers, staff view benefits differently

Bosses say firms support life balance; workers disagree.

Employers and workers aren’t on the same page about juggling personal and professional priorities, new research from staffing firm OfficeTeam shows. More than six in 10 senior managers (63 percent) interviewed said their company is very supportive of its employees’ efforts to achieve work-life balance, yet only 34 percent of staff agreed.

Compared to attitudes about workplace flexibility and other balance issues 10 years ago, bosses today seem more fully bought in — while employees have grown more jaded than ever. In 2006, a similar survey found that only 45 percent of executives said their company supported efforts to help employees balance work and home life, a view shared at the time by 53 percent of workers.

The survey found that time is the most valued work-life balance commodity.

Other work-life perks employees value most, according to the survey, include:

■ Flexible work schedules: 44 percent

■ Generous vacation time or sabbaticals: 33 percent

■ Telecommuting or workfrom-home options: 12 percent

■ Health and wellness tools or programs: 8 percent

■ On-site services (day care, meals, dry cleaning, gym): 2 percent

■ Paid parental leave: 1 percent

The survey found that time is the most valued work-life balance commodity.