The work-life balance management continues to be a lever for improvement and constitutes a global value in the company. This is one of the main conclusions drawn by the recent study carried out by Merco, in collaboration with Másfamilia Foundation, presented together with Capital Humano, Campofrío and Cepsa.

The data are born as a result of a process of surveying different groups that determine the ability of companies to attract and retain Talent, considering three key values that affect and determine their job attractiveness: Labor Quality, Employer Brand and Internal Reputation, evaluated in turn from 15 variables linked to this highly valuable intangible.

Specifically, the monitor counts for its preparation with the opinion of 22,570 workers, 7,366 university students from the last two years, 1,041 alumni from business schools, 8,300 citizens, 173 heads of human resources, 71 from unions and 49 headhunters. And additionally, an analysis of the talent management policies from 71 companies is carried out.

Roberto Martínez, director of the Másfamilia Foundation and the efr Initiative, explained during the event that the conciliation and the reputation of a company are closely related: “In such a current reality it is essential that companies bet on flexibility and put people in the center of their strategies so that they remain competitive ”.

Work-life balance valuation continues to grow

Employees' assessment of work-life balance has been increasing year after year, growing a little more than general satisfaction; although it is still below it and it is foreseeable that it will decrease slightly this year as a result of the pandemic.

Regarding the evolution of workers in the Merco Talent variables between 2016 and 2020, work-life balance is the second of the variables that, after equality and diversity, has improved the most within Merco Talento. A fact that shows the efforts of companies in this field and the recognition that this work is taking into account the part of the employees.

In this sense, in the companies that make up the Merco Talent Top 10, reconciliation management continues to be the variable that has experienced the greatest improvement in the last five years.

Conciliation in attracting talent

For his part, José María San Segundo, CEO of Merco, analyzed the correlation between work-life balance and talent loyalty in companies: “Work-life balance is a fundamental variable as a strength in companies. And it works in 2 directions: as a loyalty lever and as an attraction lever. In addition to working in those two directions, it is even stronger as a demand or expectation. It is a demand of the workers to their companies.

The conciliation has advanced but the expectations of conciliation advance much more. And it is a demand for the companies in which one would like to work, to such an extent that conciliation is one of the three great attractions of companies as an employer brand. At the same time, it is the main brake when it comes to excluding companies in which they do not want to work ”.

Work-life balance together with salary and personal development is an important tool to retain talent in organizations. However, the study shows that the perceived deficit in work-life balance constitutes a brake on companies when it comes to attracting talent.

Regarding the role that conciliation plays in the employer brand in some sectors, the report prepared by Merco shows how general distribution, health care, food, banking, electricity and insurance are the sectors with the highest negative balances in this appearance. For this reason, companies in these fields put work-life balance as their main attribute when it comes to attracting talent.

Finally, the study puts on the table that poor work-life balance management constitutes, along with salary and the lack of ethical and professional values, one of the factors that talent takes into account when rejecting a company to work.