Despite Hong Kong’s ferocious work ethic that account for some of the longest working hours in the world, we know there is an increasing demand for work life balance in this city. According to a Microsoft Asia New World of Work Survey, 75% of Hong Kong respondents indicated that work-life balance was important to their jobs and a survey by the Kelly Global Workforce Index revealed that 46% of Hong Kong residents would forego a pay rise to reduce their workload.

There is also incentive for employers to understand the work-life needs of their employees, including how well existing family friendly measures meet these particular needs. Employees who are satisfied with their work life balance are 33% more likely to stay at their current organisation and work 21% harder.

There have been positive developments among Hong Kong employers to embrace a family friendly workplace and TWF Deputy CEO, Rita Ching, has witnessed this firsthand. Since 2013, she has served on the Organising Committee of the Family Friendly Employers Award Scheme which falls under the work of the Government advisory body, the Family Council. This year, she is also on the judging panel for the Grand Awards and Outstanding Practices Awards.

The Awards are designed to cultivate a family friendly work culture and to give public recognition to employers that embrace and implement innovative practices that support employees with outside responsibilities. For example, Citic Telecom International, a previous award recipient, provides medical benefits that extend to children, elderly dependents and siblings. This shows a nimble response to the increasing complexity of employee’s family unit amplified by changing demographics.

But innovative practices are not limited to large corporates nor do they necessarily need to be resource intensive. Jackeline Beauty Salon allows its employees to bring their children with them to work when needed. Baby-Kingdom.com provides monthly stipends for parents of committed employees as well as paid family and elder care days. For more examples of best practice among SMEs visit this link (Chinese only).

At TWF, we know maximising workplace productivity and maximising employee satisfaction are not mutually exclusive. This is why, in partnership with our HR Advisory Council, we produced a suite of best practice guides that tackle a range of issues affecting the attraction, retention and promotion of women in the workplace. We have also adopted family-friendly practices at TWF and been the proud recipient of “Family-Friendly Employer Award” and a “Special Mention Award” for two consecutive award rounds as well as the recipient of the “Award for Innovation” in 2015/16.

The winners of this year’s Family Friendly Employer Awards will be announced in November / December. We look forward to sharing these new best practices with you then.

In the meanwhile, we would love to hear any innovative best practices that your organisation has in place to encourage work life balance.