Productivity and Quality of Life

The Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) have revealed a sea-change in the attitudes of corporate high-flyers, with a growing number rejecting long hours and the scramble up the corporate ladder in favour of better quality of life.

Some of their recent findings:

• 53% of those questioned said they have not achieved a satisfactory work-life balance.
• 46% felt that their work-life balance had changed for the worse over the past five years.
• 60% complained that technologies such as the BlackBerry and mobile phone are further eroding the boundaries between work and personal life.
• 56% of the current generation said that they would strongly consider refusing a promotion if it negatively affected their work-life balance.

BOTTOMLINE: "Top senior executives are hard to come by, and this survey suggests that executives are beginning to carefully measure the cost of their personal lives against the value of their professional goals. Employers need to be more creative and nimble in today's market and some negotiating tactics may include being more sensitive to candidate work-life balance needs. If employers do not listen, their competitors surely will."