Press Releases

Increased Corporate Productivity Linked to Greater Family Life Attention According to Study by Xerox, Corning and Tandem Computers: Ford Foundation Study Shows That Work and Family Can Be Successfully Integrated

The Ford Foundation today released a study based on collaborative research done at Xerox, Corning and Tandem Computers. Entitled "Relinking Life and Work: Toward a Better Future," it shows that paying attention to employees' personal lives can increase corporate productivity.

The study explores the integration of personal and work life and how changes in work practices might help employees better handle both responsibilities. The resulting research reveals that assumptions about work and the "ideal" worker -- one who can keep a strict boundary between work and private life -- have little connection to reality. These assumptions, moreover, undermine workplace innovation and keep men and women from having the same chances to contribute to their jobs and to take part in the lives of their families and communities.

The study illustrates that it is possible to pursue a dual agenda in the workplace, one that considers both the employer's and employee's needs, and create a work environment that both enhances productivity and acknowledges the realities of employees' lives.

"Even for those of us who have been working on these issues for some time, this report's findings were striking," comments Xerox CEO Paul Allaire. "As the study shows, individual energy and creativity are unleashed when changes in work practices benefit employees' personal lives. At a time when corporate America is being assailed for putting profits above all else, this study has established that the best business strategy recognizes that greater employee satisfaction means greater productivity and, in turn, better business results."

Three teams of researchers, coordinated by Dr. Rhona Rapoport, the co-director of the Institute of Family and Environmental Research in London, England, worked with Xerox, Corning and Tandem Computers for six years. In a unique experimental approach, known as "collaborative action research," the researchers worked together with those companies to bring about a dual agenda of change. Corporate managers with the research teams identified the work practices, assumptions, attitudes and behaviors that make it difficult for employees to combine work with the rest of their lives. They then tied these work practices to relevant business goals, and devised solutions to minimize work/life conflicts and maximize business results.

Throughout the process, the teams viewed work-family issues as concerns that are inherent to the corporate cultures, and thus require corporate-wide solutions. This view is in sharp contrast to typical company practice of regarding work-family issues as separate concerns associated with individual employees requiring individual accommodations.

Among the study's important findings were:

• The separation of work and family undermines both work efficiency and family life.

• Many of the same assumptions and beliefs that make it difficult for workers to mix their professional and personal lives also lead to unproductive work practices, undermining the companies' ability to achieve key business goals.

• The process of challenging old assumptions and cultural beliefs about work and family allows employees to think more creatively about work and companies to achieve a more equitable, productive and innovative workplace.

• Restructuring the way work gets done to address work-family integration can lead to "win-win" results -- a more responsive work environment that takes employees' needs into account and yields significant bottom-line results.

"The Ford Foundation study confirms, for the first time, that disregarding people's lives outside of work causes people to live fragmented lives, and organizations to get half-people," says Peter M. Senge, director of the MIT Center for Organizational Learning. "More importantly, the study suggests ways that the immense waste of human spirit and energy might be reversed."

This report is part of the Foundation's effort to advance understanding of gender and family issues and their impact on important areas of life. Notes Ford Foundation President Susan Berresford: "Ultimately, the Foundation hopes to generate knowledge that will help broaden opportunities for men and women in ways that enhance institutional effectiveness and build healthy and productive communities."

The Ford Foundation, established in 1936, is a private, nonprofit institution that serves as a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide. Its goals are to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. A national and international philanthropy with assets of $8 billion, the Foundation has granted more than $8 billion to some 9,000 institutions and 100,000 individuals worldwide. The Foundation maintains headquarters in New York City and has offices in Russia and in countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

For copies of the report, please call the Ford Foundation, Office of Communications, at (212) 573-5169.

---

The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has been a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide, guided by its goals of strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international cooperation and advancing human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Russia.