Life Stages: A new organizational perspective for the era of diversity and longevity

“We cannot live in the afternoon of life according to the programme of life’s morning […]

The afternoon of human life must also have a significance of its own and cannot be

merely a pitiful appendage to life’s morning. Whoever carries over into the afternoon the

law of the morning […] must pay for so doing with damage to his soul.” – Carl Jung

Thesis submitted by Pınar Kalay Yemez

In Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Executive Master in

Consulting and Coaching For Change Programme Wave 19

INSEAD, Fontainebleau

November 2016

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Abstract

In today’s progressive and fast-paced world, the average life expectancy has markedly

increased due to advances in science and medicine. Individuals no longer plan to work

for a limited number of years of their lives and then retire. In effect, working lives have

evolved to include periods of varying work experiences and transitions at different life

stages. Accordingly, the age make-up and inclusiveness of organizations are changing

significantly to encompass employees in varying life stages from young adulthood to

mature ages, as well as women in the workforce more than any time in history. Current

Human Resources policies and tools are designed with the thinking that ‘one-size-fits-all’

and do not take into account the ever-changing needs, ambitions and expectations of

employees as they advance from one life stage to another. Therefore, this study aims to

examine the varying needs, motivations and expectations of employees at different life

stages. The results of a research conducted in a telecommunication company suggest

that employees at different life stages have a dissimilar experience of the same work

environment and their needs and aspirations vary significantly. The study also

demonstrated that gender and parenthood influence the overall work and life experience

of employees. This exemplifies that, more than ever, today’s complex and diverse

workforce requires an agile and dynamic approach to optimally reform working practices

and environments.

Key words: life stages, age, flexibility, gender, working parents

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Prologue

As a Human Resources practitioner, I learned to utilize my first-hand experience as a

tool to indicate how other employees may experience the organization. For instance,

during my pregnancy, when I was unable to walk the long distance from the parking lot

to the office, I reserved a parking spot for pregnant employees. Subsequently, when I

was raising my young children, I changed the policy to allow half-days for parents on the

first and the last days of school, if their children were in primary school. Currently, I see

my colleagues dealing with their aging parents health issues and understand that I could

soon face similar circumstances. I try to view their circumstances not only as a friend but

also as an HR professional. In doing so, I try to create policies that allow employees the

time to tend to their loved ones while minimizing their worries about their careers.

Nevertheless, a part of me has always wondered: how could I understand the lives,

dreams and challenges of so many people at the same time? Was there a way to feel

like a young graduate who just joined the company, a mother, a manager and a soon-to-

retire employee all at once?

As part of the clinical perspective, using oneself as a tool in an organizational setting

and reflecting on personal experiences at different ages can help an HR professional

better understand the work environment and bring clarity to what is happening

underneath the surface. It can also help address individual cases of employees and find

suitable solutions. However, to be able to make worthwhile changes on an

organizational level, there is a need to understand more about the range of employee

experiences at various life stages.

The aim of this study is to build a deeper understanding to work and life experiences of

employees in a multinational telecommunication company in Turkey. It is my personal

effort as an HR professional to see the work environment through the eyes of many

different employees, and to experience and feel the workplace from their varying

perspectives. Reflecting on my own emotions, spurred by their words, I felt I could live

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the life of a young graduate, a mother, a manager and a soon-to-retire man in his sixties

at the same time.

Introduction

In today’s fast-paced world, advancements in technology and medicine enable people to

live longer and have an improved quality of life. As a result of this significant shift in

society, organizations employ people of different ages—ranging from the early twenties

to the late sixties—bringing several generations together. This new reality creates an

emerging need for organizations to better understand the needs of their employees at

different life stages and create an environment that engages them.

The academic research on the topic includes numerous studies on understanding

generations and how they can work together effectively. However, there is a paucity in

the number of studies related to understanding the needs and motivations of employees

at different life stages or ages in an organizational context. When age and generations

are the topics of interest in an organizational setting, the emphasis was typically on

work-life balance practices and flexible working options.

This study aims to help narrow this gap by testing if the motivations and needs of

employees change at different life stages. It will focus on life stages described as “young

adulthood” and “middle adulthood” by developmental psychologist Erik Erikson (Erikson,

1950) and test if the motivations and needs of employees change at different life stages.

It will also explore whether employees have a different work life experience according to

their gender or parenthood status, and make a conscious effort to check for unconscious

gender biases for both men and women as they take personal and work decisions for

themselves and others.

The research methodology presented in this paper relies upon both qualitative and

quantitative research methods. Ipsos, a market research company, conducted both of

these researches and reported their findings. The qualitative research included focus

groups with employees as well as in-depth conversations with senior managers in the

organization, to understand their motivations and challenges. This method was chosen

to gather feedback through stimulated discussions among diverse groups of employees

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from all ages, genders, parental statuses and seniority levels in the organization, where

they all share their personal experiences as working individuals.

For the quantitative research, an online survey was created with the input from focus

group discussions and interview notes to identify the driving themes at the organizational

scale. Subsequently, Ipsos ran the online survey with a representative population of

1,183 employees (45 percent of the total population) at various levels of seniority.

This study suggests considering “life stages” as a new focal point while formulating HR

policies, tools and raising awareness in organizations on the differing needs and

expectations of individuals at different life stages. In the study, there is also a particular

focus on women due to their lower representation in the workforce and managerial

positions. Thus, the results of the conducted research are reviewed from a gender lens

to understand the challenges of working women and how their work life experience

differs from men.

The study finally suggests that organizations can play a vital role and support employees

in work life challenges by raising awareness on important life transitions and creating

family-friendly policies. In this context, the study will issue recommendations on how

organizations can support employees during important transitions in their life stages

such as parenthood to maintain a diverse and healthy workforce.

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Literature Review

Life stages

There are several different perspectives and theories on the stages of adulthood. Erik

Erikson, Daniel Levinson and Donald Super’s research on life stages, life-span and life-

space has been widely accepted and used as fundamental theories on adult

development and their relation to work. The following paragraphs briefly outline the

highlights of each expert’s life stage theory as it relates to the focus of this research.

Erikson describes adult stages as “young adulthood”, “middle adulthood” and “late

adulthood” (Erikson, 1950). “Young adulthood” is a time when the person realigns family

relationships, tries to establish his career, is mostly in a relationship and at a stage of

parenthood or is attempting to be in one. “Middle adulthood” comes with a refocus on

spouse and career relationships, negotiating parent-child relationships, and towards the

end of this stage, renegotiating spousal relationship, letting go of children, and coming

into terms with aging and death. Finally, at “late adulthood”, the adult works on

sustaining the spousal relationship, supporting the next generation, tending to elders,

dealing with loss and an aftermath of life (Randel, 2014).

Levinson’s theory focuses on how the individual relates to the self as well as the society

with regards to work, marriage, religion, relationships and community. His theory’s

primary emphasis is on adult male development which has four stable and four

transitional stages during the age of 22 and 65. These in order are “entering the adult

world” (22-28), “age thirty transition” (28-33), “settling down” (33-40), “mid-life transition”

(40-45), “entering middle adulthood” (45-50), “age fifty transition” (50-55), “culmination of

middle adulthood” (55-60), and finally “late adulthood transition” (60-65) (Kopelman,

1979).

Levinson’s work has been an inspiration for many other scholars and author Gail

Sheehy based her best-selling book Passages on his adult life stages. She renamed

them as “pulling up roots”, “the trying twenties”, “catch 30”, “rooting and extending”,

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“deadline decade” and “renewal or resignation” (Sheehy, 1976). She also introduced the

female lens focusing on the gender differences which unfold for women going through

the adult life stages (Wachowiak, 1977).

Lastly, Super’s “life span” and “life-space” theories examines career development

through a multi-dimensional lens including age, roles, life-style factors and

developmental tasks one takes on as he or she progresses in life. It is a progressive

theory that continued to evolve throughout Super’s lifetime and is still a relevant topic of

interest for refinement and further exploration (Herr, 1997).

Certainly, in this research, Erikson, Levinson, and Super’s definitions form the

underlying premise for achieving three main tasks: first, identifying the various life stages

of adults; second, explaining how they relate to different aspects of adult professional

and personal lives; and third, understanding how the life stages drive the motivations

and needs of adults as they progress through the course of their work life. These tasks

are essential to the structures of both the qualitative and quantitative sections of this

research as they specifically refine the scope of focus where it relates to the sample of

adults interviewed and the questions they are asked.

Work-life balance considerations and family-friendly policies

Work-life balance is an increasingly germane topic of interest for numerous studies in

organizations and academia. In today’s demanding environment, individuals have

multiple roles in the workplace and at home, even though they have a limited amount of

time and energy in a single day. Inter-role conflicts arise when work and home

responsibilities are not compatible and clash with one another (Anatan, 2013).

There is strong evidence that family-friendly policies help employees balance work and

home responsibilities and increase organizational commitment whereas, when work-

family balance is ignored, employees’ intention to leave the organization increases

(Omran, 2016). The more family responsibilities people have, the more they see

workplace flexibility as a necessity rather than a privilege (Houkes & De Rijk, 2014).

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In today’s workforce, employees are no longer homogenous groups; instead, they are

diverse in many ways including age, gender, race and sexual orientation. Providing a

flexible environment that meets the expectations and needs of employees will become a

competitive advantage sooner than anticipated.

Work flexibility improves health and wellness, increases loyalty and morale, allows for

parents to care for their children, supports gender equity through keeping women on the

workforce and increases the number of older people to remain on the workforce

(Christensen, 2013). Employees who have access to flexible working arrangements

have reported fewer health problems physically and mentally (Hill et. al, 2008).

Work-life balance practices are mostly cost neutral to the organization and hence,

should be thoroughly considered as measures to increase the overall well-being of the

employees (Beauregard & Henry, 2008).

There is an opportunity for organizations to optimize employee satisfaction by offering

family-friendly programs to create win-win solutions through flexible work, reduced hours

and part-time options (Omran, 2016). Furthermore, there are various options that can

provide this flexibility for the employees to help manage and bring a balance to work and

home responsibilities.

Men and women employees’ choice of flexible arrangements differ. In general, women

parents with young children use flexible work arrangements more than men. They have

a higher preference of flexible options such as telecommuting and part time employment

than their male colleagues. Typically, men do not find options that decrease their pay—

such as job-sharing and part-time employment—as attractive.

Flexible working hours, often called flextime, are the most preferred option for all

genders and also, the easiest to apply organizationally (Hill et. al, 2008). Flexible

working hours allow employees to start at a time of their own choice and end the

working day accordingly whilst making it mandatory for all employees to work during

specific hours to allow for the coordination of meetings. When flexible hours are a

voluntary practice, employees seem to reap the most benefit out of it (Houkes & De Rijk,

2014).

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In order for flexible working initiatives to be beneficial, there has to be an organizational

commitment to the well-being of employees as part of an overall organizational strategy.

These initiatives should not be restricted to parents only but similarly extended to all

employees. For example, having flexible working policies for pre-retirement employees

would help retain them in the workforce and preserve organizational loyalty for longer

(Darcy et. al, 2011). It is also important to note that parenthood-related flexibilities

should be available for all. There is a growing trend indicating that men would like to

take on more responsibilities in domestic chores and accordingly, require more flexibility

from their organizations to be able to do so (Lingard & Francis, 2005).

Another key factor to note is that even with the existence of flexible working policies, the

way they are negotiated among peers in the workplace is practically more complex. If

workplace flexibility is not made available to all, jealousy and discomfort arise to create a

culture of suspicion. These feelings impact the willingness of employees to try

alternative working arrangements and create an additional burden on the people who

use these benefits. This can potentially lead to resentment between co-workers, mostly

by childless workers or workers with older children, and thus, shows that there will

always be a question of who will shoulder the burden when new work policies are

introduced. For example, women’s interests in flexible working hours are not uniform

throughout the course of their working lives and therefore, necessitate specific policies

by policy-makers, as opposed to policies being managed by co-workers (Teasdale,

2013).

Mid-life transitions and mid-life crisis in the organizations

There has also been an interest in understanding mid-life transitions and mid-life crises

in relation to work and how organizations can be a resource for the individual.

Mid-life potentially brings many unanticipated problems such as paying for children’s

schools, tending to elderly parents, children leaving home, dying parents, divorce and

the loss of youthful fantasies and the inevitable confrontation of mortality. This at times

causes the individual to feel trapped and reassess their values, lives and choices.

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In that context, there may be some gender differences in mid-life transitions and crises.

For example, women may experience external and internal changes differently than men

and feel the urge to explore the world, which was postponed or denied to them while

raising the family. As a result, they can become more ambitious and outward-looking as

their husbands become more introverted and pessimistic about their futures (Morgan,

Patton & Baker, 1985).

To mitigate these issues, organizations can support individuals going through mid-life

transitions by providing avenues for continuing education, opportunities for retraining,

developing mentoring programs, allowing more autonomy and independence, organizing

support groups, professional counseling and sabbaticals for a selected group of

employees.

Organizations can also make changes to the benefits they provide and make them more

flexible by requesting employees to choose the appropriate benefits for themselves. For

instance, older employees can have the choice to accept lesser job responsibilities at

reduced compensation to stay in the workforce longer (Golembiewski, 1978). Mid-life

change counseling can also provide support at this delicate time but should be handled

carefully as people experience this period in distinct ways and should not be classified

into one category (Wachoviak, 1977).

There is also an opportunity for organizations to bring back experienced senior leaders

during challenging periods or tasks and thereby utilize a wealth of experience.

Additionally, at this stage of seniority, the leaders are less likely to become embroiled in

organizational politics, which could have possibly preoccupied them in their earlier

years; instead, they are more likely to immediately address the assigned challenge or

task (Bennis, 2004).

Multi-generational workforce

There is also extensive research on generations and what each generation demands

from the work environment. There is even a new capability for human resources

professionals called ‘generational competence’ (Jimenez, 2009). This is the first time in

history where there are four generations in the workplace. Therefore, misunderstandings

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as well as lack of tolerance can easily take place. Differences, however, should be

accepted for what they are, and today’s managers must be akin to “orchestral

conductors” (Saunderson, 2009).

In order to engage the multi-generational workforce’s diverse perspectives and needs,

there has to be more awareness raising and effective HR programs. The organization

should exert efforts to understand and consider the current and evolving age make-up of

its employees. As the workforce evolves, so do the values and preferences accepted by

the employees. For example millennials—born between 1980 and 2000—seem to give

precedence to good income and developmental opportunities, while older employees lay

emphasis on having a caring manager, access to information and work that can utilize

their capabilities. The current programs were mostly created by older generations which

may not necessarily yield to young generations. Different generations also differ on their

preferred work arrangements: millennials prefer to work remotely without designated

borders and Generation X—born between mid-1960 to 1980—show interest in

telecommuting (Crawford & Raines, 2009).

Unconscious Gender Bias

Throughout history, women and men have assumed separate roles in the family. In most

of the cultures, it has been the norm for men to assume the financial responsibility for

the family whereas the women raised the children and took care of the household. Due

to the industrialization, civil rights and increased access to education, women have

started to actively participate in the workforce during the past century. However, the

responsibility of childcare and the household mainly stayed with women, making it more

difficult for them to be both competitive and ambitious at work. Today, in most

geographies, women participate in the workforce in similar conditions to men. However,

the historical gender roles still play a role in decisions pertaining to hiring, pay, and

promotions at a conscious or unconscious level, for both men and women.

This is also partly due to how the human brain functions. As a trait to increase efficiency,

our brains are trained to rapidly recognize patterns, which helps us learn without the

need to experience everything for the first time. Therefore, our unconscious mind looks

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for patterns all the time and allows us to categorize things. According to psychologists,

we are hardwired to categorize things positively if they look, sound and act familiar to us.

This way of categorization leads us to see patterns where none may exist. For example,

as the historical perception of a successful person in business is men, and a caretaker

at home is women, it is easy to unconsciously fall into the trap of making the “erroneous

assumption” that men are more suited to perform difficult tasks at work and can perform

higher than women. The assumptions and related judgments on gender roles are called

unconscious gender bias (Nichols, 2013). These biases result in gender disparity in pay,

unequal rights and access to employment and hence, have been on the agenda for

private and public institutions at national and international scale. Though there is a

significant effort to deal with gender bias, it has not been a simple task to confront, as

most of it occurs at an unconscious level.

Conclusion

The existing body of research on work-life balance, mid-life transitions and mid-life

crises, multi-generational workforces and unconscious gender bias is notable and

relevant to the several components that comprise this study. However, it has been the

primary focus of organizational research up until this point, making the exploration of life

stages and the effects they have on work life a field that is still in relative development.

To narrow this gap, this research aims to create more awareness on the various life

stages, their specific challenges and disparities according to gender and parenthood

status.

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Proposition

According to Erikson’s theory, individuals’ experiences, responsibilities and challenges

in life are shaped by the life stage they are in. Utilizing the afore-mentioned premise, this

study will explore white collar employees’ values, motivations and needs in relation to

work in a multinational telecommunications company in Turkey. First, it will focus on

Erikson’s two specific life stages, ‘early adulthood’ and ‘middle adulthood’; and second,

attempt to identify if there are also differences between men and women’s values,

motivations and needs in relation to work due to the roles they take in the family and

society. This research will explore three propositions:

Proposition 1: Employee’s values, motivations and needs in relation to work vary

according to the different life stages.

Proposition 2a: Male and female employees’ motivations and needs in relation to work

are different, even at the same life stage. This is especially true when they become

parents due to the additional responsibilities women take at home, which include raising

children and taking care of the household.

Proposition 2b: Women’s motivation towards work increases as they get older. This

could be because their children are older and they feel they have more freedom to

pursue their careers.

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Methodology

The research was conducted in a multinational telecommunication company’s Turkish

subsidiary. It is the second largest mobile communication company in the country with

22 million customers. The company operates in 81 cities with 3,450 employees, 1,215

stores, over 23 thousand points of sale and an ecosystem of 53 thousand people. The

company is a successful organization with double-digit growth in revenue and a

dynamic, demanding culture. The office hours are eight to five and there is limited

flexibility to change working hours or to work from home. The majority of the

respondents reside and work in large cities such as Istanbul and Ankara and a smaller

distribution of about 15 percent work in different cities and offices throughout Turkey.

As the author of this paper, I am the Human Resources Director for the organization and

I have an interest in understanding about the life stages of employees in an

organizational context as well as an aspiration for creating awareness, flexibility and

programs to suit the needs and expectations of a diverse group of employees.

This research has been driven with the support of the Human Resources department

and the research has been administered by Ipsos ensuring anonymity and objectivity.

Ipsos was given the objective to discover and understand the needs and expectations of

white collar employees in different stages of life. The initial phase of the research was

designed with this objective through focus group meetings and in-depth interviews.

There were 11 focus group meetings and eight interviews conducted with different

employee groups. The focus groups ranged from three to five individuals each, all at

various life stages, gender, marital and parental status. These studies took place in the

course of December 2015 in the Istanbul-based headquarters of the organization. The

findings of the focus groups and interviews helped structure the online survey questions

to best identify the themes for life stages within the organization.

For the second phase, an online survey was sent to 2,633 white collar employees in

February 2016 and over the course of two weeks, a total of 1,181 employees responded

to the survey. The questions focused on values, overall satisfaction with work and life,

challenges and motivations as a working individual and work-life balance.

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Description of the research setting

Ipsos conducted the focus group meetings and in-depth interviews through their own

researchers. To ensure anonymity and confidentiality, none of the human resources

employees, including myself, attended these meetings as observers. However, some of

them participated as employees sharing their personal thoughts and experiences. In the

focus groups, there were eight groups of women employees and four groups of men with

an aim to understand gender differences and themes at varying life stages. As the

women employee number is lower in the organization where the research took place (41

percent of the total population) and decreases by age (women constitute 38 percent of

the population between 36 and 40 years of age and only 18 percent of the population

between 41 and 45 years of age), the women focus groups were higher in number to

understand specific challenges related to working women at different life stages. The

sample groups varied in regard to age, marital and parental status (Table 1).

Table 1

Group Gender Age Marital status Parental Status

1 Women 25 and below Single None

2 Women 26-39 Single None

3 Women 26-39 Married None

4 Women 26-39 Married 1 child

5 Women 26-39 Married 2 children or more

6 Women 26-39 Single/Married/Divor

ced

Mix

7 Women 40+ Married 1 child or more

8 Men 25 and below Single None

9 Men 26-39 Married Mix

10 Men 26-39 Married/Divorced 1 child or more

11 Men 40+ Married 1 child or more

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The eight in depth interviews lasted approximately an hour and a half to two hours each

and Ipsos researchers interviewed eight employees; four men and four women who

were diverse in age, marital and parental status (Table 2).

Table 2

Employee Groups

Gender Age Marital status Parental Status

1 Women 30-39 Single None

2 Women 30-39 Married None

3 Women 30-39 Divorced 2 children

4 Women 40+ Married 2 children

5 Men Below 30 Single None

6 Men 30-39 Married 1 child

7 Men 30-39 Married 2 children

8 Men 40+ Married 2 children

During the focus groups and the interviews, participants were inquired on:

a. how they define themselves;

b. the most important values for them;

c. the primary reason for working;

d. challenges of being a working individual; and

e. how they managed their time at work and at home.

The findings of the focus group meetings and in-depth interviews shaped the questions

for the subsequent online survey. The purpose of the online survey was to find the

similarities and differences between employee groups and identify themes in the larger

organizational context.

The online employee survey examined eight areas:

a. personal values;

b. satisfaction with life;

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c. satisfaction with work life;

d. satisfaction with their own work;

e. primary reason for working;

f. challenges as a working individual;

g. satisfaction with work hours; and

h. need for flexibility at work.

Regarding personal values, the respondents were given a list of 32 values and asked

to identify their five most important values in life and rank them in accordance to their

importance. These values were identified as potential choices following the focus group

discussions and in-depth interviews with diverse employee groups (Question A).

Satisfaction-related questions were:

a. “Can you please state how satisfied you generally are with your life?”

b. “Can you please state how satisfied you are with being employed?”

c. “Can you please state how satisfied you are with your work?”

d. “Can you please state your level of satisfaction with your working hours?”

Question A What are your most important values in life? Please rank your top 5 values in terms of their importance, starting with the 1st one. Please make sure to read all 32 values covered in the following two tables. Appreciation Perfection Awareness Power Belonging Respect Benevolence Responsibility Discipline Risk-taking Empathy Sharing Ethics Sincerity Family Social status Forgiveness Success Friendship Thankfulness Happiness Trust Health Perfection Honesty Power Indulgence Respect Justice Responsibility Risk-taking

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The respondents were requested to answer on a scale from one to seven, where one

meant “very dissatisfied”, and seven meant “very satisfied”.

To understand motivations for work, respondents were asked:

“What are your motivations as a working individual?” They were given a list of 15

different possible motivational factors and requested to rank their top five according to

their degree of importance (Question B). The identified motivations were all compiled

after the qualitative research findings.

Question B What are your motivations as a working individual? Please rank your top 5 motivations in terms of degree of importance.

Top 5 motivations

Producing something Achieving something Making money Being financially independent Social status as a working individual Sense of belonging to a place Feeling that I’m useful Attaining self-confidence Attaining competence Acting as a role model for the next generation / my child

Doing the job that I like Being valued/ appreciated Socializing Securing a good future for my family Securing my future

To understand the challenges of working, respondents were asked “what are the

challenges you face as a working individual?” They were given a list of 13 potential

work-related challenges and asked to rank their top five areas according to their

importance (Question C). This list of challenges was inspired by focus group discussions

and in-depth interviews with employees. They were themes revealed through

discussions between the employees and researchers.

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Question C What are the challenges you face as a working individual? Please rank your top 5 areas of challenge in terms of degree of importance, starting with the the 1st one.

Top 5 challenges

Failure to spare time for my spouse / partner Failure to spare time for my parents and other family members

Failure to spare time for my child Failure to spare time for friends Failure to do the household chores (cleaning, shopping, maintenance-repair, etc)

Tiredness / failure to rest Sleeplessness Failure to spare time for my hobbies / personal areas of interest

Physical health problems Emotional / psychological health problems Failure to spare time for my social life (eating out, going on vacation, etc)

Striving to be well-groomed everyday Failure to spare time for master’s / doctorate degrees / training and development programs

Finally, the need for flexibility was measured by asking “can you please state how

much you agree with the statement of “I want flexibility during certain periods of my life?”

The respondents were requested to answer on a seven point scale where one meant “I

strongly disagree” and seven meant “I strongly agree”. For those who rated between

four and seven, an additional inquiry was made by asking, “can you please state at

which stages of your life you need this flexibility?” The intention of the questions was to

understand whether the need and desire for flexibility vary according to the respondents’

life stages in the organization.

The on-line survey was sent to 2,633 employees of whom 884 (34 percent) were female

and 1,743 (66 percent) were male. A total of 1,181 employees completed the survey,

which was 44 percent of the population. Of those respondents, 443 were female (50

percent response rate) and 738 were male (42 percent response rate). A higher

percentage of women in comparison to the overall population of survey recipients

responded to the survey. The difference between the response rate of men and women

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could be due to the female employees’ curiosity and interest in life stages and

anticipation of flexible working practices. It could also explained by the focus given to

women during group discussions, which raised expectations for flexible working

practices in the organization.

Age distribution:

23 percent of the respondents were between ages 22 and 30, 28 percent were between

31 and 35, 28 percent were between 36 and 40, and 21 percent of the respondents

were over 40. Therefore, the average respondent was 35 years old.

Among the respondents, men were generally older than women. 30 percent of the

female respondents were below 30 and 12 percent were over 40 in comparison to 15

percent of the male respondents were below 30 and 28 percent were over 40.

Marital status:

75 percent of the male respondents were married in comparison to 54 percent of the

female respondents.

Parental status:

46 percent had no children, 32 percent had one child and 22 percent of the respondents

had more than one child. Breaking it by gender, there were more fathers than mothers

who responded to the survey. 38 percent of the male respondents had no children, 33

percent had one child and 29 percent had more than one child. 60 percent of the female

respondents had no children, 29 percent had one child and 11 percent had more than

one child.

Total work experience:

The average work experience of the respondents was 12.6 years with 11 years of work

experience for female and 13.5 years for male respondents.

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Educational status:

69 percent of the respondents had a university degree, 22 percent had graduate and

Ph.D. degrees and 9 percent graduated from high school.

Work Status of the Spouse:

52 percent of the male respondents’ spouses worked full-time and 93 percent of the

female respondents spouses worked full-time. 71 percent of the male respondents’

spouses had previous work experience.

Household size:

The household size of respondents was 2.9 with 11 percent one person, 23 percent two

people, 35 percent three people, 24 percent four people and seven percent five or more

people.

Main breadwinner for the family:

53 percent of the total population were the breadwinner for the family and 34 percent

shared the responsibility with their spouse. Of the male respondents, 65 percent of the

total population were the breadwinner and 28 percent responded that they shared the

responsibility with their spouse.

Of the female respondents, 33 percent of the total population were the breadwinner for

the family and 46 percent shared the responsibility with their spouse.

Findings

Focus group discussions and interviews

Characteristics:

Regardless of the gender or life stage, employees described themselves as

perfectionist, hardworking, energetic, trustworthy, reliable and disciplined in work life.

Outside the work environment, single and younger employees who are under 30

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described themselves as energetic, funny, social and fun, while employees who are

older and married with children said they were calm, honest and organized.

One of the unexpected findings was for women with children to mention ‘maternity’ as a

characteristic they have adopted after having children. This characteristic stayed with

them long after they gave birth to their children as mothers who were over 40 also

defined themselves similarly.

Values:

When inquired on values that are most important for them, higher values such as

respect, justice, equality, honesty, sincerity, modesty and kindness were mentioned very

often. Respecting others and making them feel that their ideas are important was

valuable for all of the groups. They also mentioned that they wanted to be treated fairly

and avoided ‘being favored’ for any reasons. They also wanted transparent and open

communication, authenticity and sincerity in relationships. Modesty and kindness were

mentioned as sub-values that supported the higher values.

Some values differed between younger and older employees and parents and non-

parents. For example, ‘family’ was mentioned as a value with high importance for most

groups but it meant something different for each one. For men, family life was important

for a life of “comfort” and “order” to be able to focus on work. For mothers, it came out as

sense of love and responsibility for their children and parents who are getting older. And

for the graduates and younger employees, family did not shine out as a spontaneous

value. They mentioned friendship as a source for belonging and peacefulness.

Pleasure emerged as an invaluable concept which is sought after by all groups and was

directly related to time. Activities that were mentioned on pleasure were small daily

activities such as morning coffee, chatting with friends, going to a hair stylist or playing

PlayStation at home without worrying about time. Some also mentioned their longing to

do nothing, just sleeping or watching TV to relax. It was noted that the ‘pleasure gap’

increased over time with age and additional responsibilities at home and work, reaching

a peak when children are young, and then narrowing when the children eventually left

home, leaving their parents with a sudden increase in free time.

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For all of the groups, success was an important value and a big source of pride and

satisfaction. Younger employees wanted to become a well-known and sought-after

name in their respective fields and older employees valued the specialization that comes

with years of experience.

A value declared by a smaller group of employees was about preserving nature and

protecting animals. This value was especially important by single employees under the

age of 30.

Challenges of being a working individual:

As for the challenges of being a working individual, not having enough time for oneself

emerged as the most significant pressure felt by women and men in all life stages. The

reasons for not having time were similar and could be summarized as long working

hours, time spent in traffic, working outside work hours through emails, phone calls and

WhatsApp messages, responsibilities at home, family obligations, cooking for the family,

time spent on caring for children and their school responsibilities.

The majority of respondents mentioned starting work on the way to the office by

checking emails and planning their schedules. Several employees complained about

“never being able to live the moment”, “always organizing their schedule in order to

manage time” and “becoming more impatient and intolerant at the end of the day”.

As a solution, they enumerated the “tactics” they have developed in order to calm down

the daily business by saving time on routine tasks. To take care of the essential needs at

home, they mentioned shopping online for groceries, clothes and cosmetics as well as

taking care of errands such as scheduling hospital appointments, taking care of home-

related bills through making calls or managing them online through the internet at the

office. To take care of themselves and have time for themselves, they mentioned putting

on make-up, exercising, and taking a shower in the office as well as reading books on

the way from work and eating dinner at the office.

Even though lack of time was a common problem for all, its consequences varied

according to the age, gender and parenthood status of employees.

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For the graduates under 25 years old, the biggest impact of not having time was that life

became more monotonous and boring. They complained about “not being able to do

something for themselves”, “lack of energy due to working long hours” and “not having

enough time for their hobbies and interests outside work”. They worried about not being

able to socialize with friends and being alone. They talked about their time in school

starting their sentences with “like it used to be […]” very often. They compared their lives

to the time they were students and believed they were more comfortable and their

responsibilities much less than now, where they could be “careless” and “free of

worries”.

Women felt they shoulder additional responsibilities, raising the family and taking care of

children. They believed they simultaneously worked two jobs which were in their

business and private lives. Furthermore, they considered both work and home as

responsibilities that negatively impact one another, and that they could not fully

participate in either. One women employee mentioned that her personal needs and

expectations were “completely overlooked and ignored”.

Another area of concern resulting from the lack of time for women was not being able to

see their extended families. One stated “if they don’t come and visit us, I sometimes

don’t see my parents for weeks. I cannot pick up my child from school like other

mothers. My child treats his baby-sitter like his mother instead of me, I feel like I don’t

know my child”.

Men in general seemed to better isolate work and personal lives. They perceived “work”

and being the bread-earner in the family as their main responsibility. Their concept of

“not having enough time” usually shaped around not having enough time for themselves

as they used to before having a family.

The perception of the lack of time for under-30 single men was similar to single women

of the same age group. Both groups complained about not having enough fun time and

had difficulties adjusting to business hours after having relatively more flexibility at

school.

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For the employees whose children grew up and started leaving home for university, as

well as the divorced men whose children stayed with their mothers during the week,

there was more time for oneself. Nevertheless, one older male employee stated that he

worried about “having relatively little time left in life and missing out on opportunities to

become what he could have been”.

Working identity and motivations for working women and men:

On explaining why they worked, respondents talked about varying motivations at a

personal and also social level. On the personal level, they expressed the need to be

financially independent, to be productive and creative, to become independent, to make

their own decisions, to be confident of their abilities and to feel proud of their

achievements.

On the social level, they wanted to have a sense of belonging with their organization,

socialize with people like themselves, earn both social status and acceptance as a

working individual and become a role model for their children.

Though working was perceived positively, there were also some hardships expressed by

respondents in all groups. A woman employee voiced her feelings as

“to feel useful, to earn money, to socialize, to feel independent and

successful […] working has many advantages for me and that’s why I

work. However, on the other hand, I spend most of days without seeing

the sunlight, without breathing fresh air, and this will always be the same

during the most effective years of my life. I feel like I don’t have enough

time for my personal hobbies, interests, my development, the people I

love; briefly, the things that make me who I am; and I will never have

enough of them […]”

For women, parenthood had the biggest influence on how they perceived their working

lives. In addition to their age and where they are in their life stage, their work experience

and their perception was impacted by the status of their parenthood and the number of

children they have.

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Single and married women without kids placed importance on the sense of belonging

and search for meaning. They felt the pressure to discover what they needed to ‘liberate’

themselves. On one hand, they considered “leaving the corporate world and making

money through what they love to do” but on the other hand, they felt their super-ego was

chasing them. After completing a successful education and progressing in the

organization, “seniority in a prestigious company” did not feel like something that they

could easily abandon. Some of them could also clearly see themselves to be married

with children and waited for that moment. As the author, I observed that women

accepted “motherhood” as more of an identity or profession. It was a choice that seemed

like a viable option for all women. However, for men, staying at home was never raised

as an alternative to working by any of the groups.

Married women with one child between the ages of 26 to 39 felt being nurturing mothers

still did not surpass their “successful working woman” identity. Even though not having

enough personal time seemed like their biggest issue, they did not feel a significant

work-life conflict. The majority felt happy with their marriages; one mentioned “those first

sparks were still alive” with her husband. They felt they were a mother, a spouse and still

in contact with their social environment and had time for social activities. One way or

another they tried to fit in all and “overrule time” with the perfect planning.

Work life was a divergent story with women who had more than one child; and generally,

not a happy one. They stated that most of them were at a point where their “maternal

identity almost took over their real identity”. They stood out as the mass that seemed to

have given up most on themselves where the responsibilities at home were too many,

the marriage life became monotonous and they adopted many family-related and

children-oriented activities as their own. Additional responsibilities accumulated further

at home with the tending for elderly parents (of herself and her husband’s) and at work

with managing larger teams. They did not want more time for themselves but simply to

be with their children and extended families. During the discussion, women’s willingness

to take on additional responsibilities at home did not seem forced; instead, it sounded

more intuitive. As the author, I contemplated whether working mothers sometimes made

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life more difficult for themselves by not seeking out help so they could focus at home,

which they subconsciously accepted as their primary role in the family.

Single and divorced women with children felt some of the same concerns such as not

being able to spend time with their children and not being able to do something for

themselves. On the other hand, they were different from other working mothers. As the

only breadwinner in the family, they felt “pressured and scared of losing of their jobs”.

Their children’s needs and expenses were clear priorities and they had to take care of

food, transportation, sports and arts courses, as well as rent. Even though they did not

complain about their income level, they thought their income withered away and even if

they were able to keep a part of it, they felt obliged to save it for so-called “dark days”.

As opposed to other mothers, single and divorced women did not feel guilty of not being

able to spend time with their children. Instead, they felt they “did their share and even

more” for their children.

There was a group of senior women over 40 years old, who felt more at ease with the

demands of their jobs, children and family obligations. They said they learned to more

efficiently manage their time because they delegated responsibilities both at home and

at work. For example, one senior woman at the director level said that she gave up on

the desire that “she should be the one to do everything”. Other senior women voiced a

desire to catch up with the life that they missed earlier by working and taking care of

children. There was also a need to position themselves as “role models” and regain their

sense of “femininity” that they had put in the background until they reached the current

stage. According to another senior woman, “the correct formula was to accept the trade-

offs of being a working woman and to distinguish work and private life with distinct lines;

but also to know when one [of them] becomes a priority”.

There was a distinct difference in the way men perceived their working lives in

comparison to women. One respondent mentioned it as “part of their nature”’ and stated

that “men work, [they] are not perceived as real men if [they] do not provide for [their]

families”. Even though the motivations for work varied across different life stages, most

men in the groups mentioned work as their main responsibility and priority. In contrary to

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the female respondents, the work and family conflict did not appear to be a major issue

for men with the exception of few employees who recently became fathers.

The working motivations of men changed throughout their life stages. For single men

under 30, working provided them with financial independence, however, they missed

having more time to themselves and felt that this caused an inner struggle. For single

men who were older than 30, work was prioritized with the aim of “becoming an expert”

in their jobs, yet they felt that the time they made for their family and loved ones

decreased and thus, worried about “not finding the right partner” and “being alone”. Men

who were over 30 and married with children felt their responsibilities at work and home

increased, further pressuring them with the burden to be successful. One employee

mentioned that he “wanted to have some time that just belonged to him outside of work

and home, away from all responsibilities”. Men who were over 40 wondered if there was

anything to life other than work and worried about not having hobbies or retirement

plans. This seemed to be a time when some men looked for a “safe, new beginning”.

As a distinctive difference between genders, men who are over 30 and married with

children felt a strong pressure of responsibility and expectation of success. For all of the

groups composed of men, there was a strong perception that ensuring stability and

securing the future financially for the family was their responsibility. They felt they were

not only expected to work, but also to push and move forward in their careers. There

emerged a heartfelt need to make a name for themselves, to progress and to feel that

they have made it as successful individuals. One employee mentioned that if this need

was not fulfilled, he would feel “disappointment” and “sadness”.

An unexpected finding of the discussions related to most of the male and female

respondents. The men were seen as the main breadwinners in the family and the

women had a choice—or wanted to have the choice—to either work more flexibly or

raise the children. For men, looking after children or working more flexibly to take care of

the children were never raised as options. As the author, I ruminated if this

subconsciously impacted women and men in different ways. For women, it could impact

their career choices and willingness to prioritize work after they had children if they

believed their primary occupation and role was at home. For men, their expectations or

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views on their women colleagues could change and they could start thinking that they

will not prioritize work after they had children as in some cases their wives did not want

to work after they had children.

Online employee survey:

As for the quantitative research, to capture the majority of the age groups in the

organization, the online survey responses were broken into three age segments (under

30, 30 to 40, above 40) and were also classified according to parenthood status and

gender. This classification created 12 groups of employees under three age segments:

1. Under 30 years old: non-parent men, non-parent women, parent men and parent

women (parent men and women are small in number);

2. 30 to 40 years old: non-parent men, non-parent women, parent men and parent

women; and

3. 40+ years old: non-parent men, non-parent women, parent men and parent

women (non-parent men and women are small in number).

Out of these groups, there were two groups which had less representation and

constituted a smaller base. They were parent women and parent men who are under 30

and non-parent women and non-parent men who are above 40 years of age, which was

an even smaller base and was ruled out as insignificant for testing.

The eight areas that were in the scope of this work were:

a. personal values;

b. satisfaction with life;

c. satisfaction with work life;

d. satisfaction with their own work;

e. motivations for working;

f. challenges as a working individual;

g. satisfaction with work hours; and

h. need for flexibility at work.

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On personal values, out of the 32 values, eight values were repeatedly selected as the

most five important values for all groups. These values were family, honesty, trust,

health, justice, happiness, respect and success. With the exception of the non-parent

men under 30, all groups put family as the number one most important value. For this

group, family ranked in the fourth position. Following family, honesty, trust and health

were the highest ranked values in all groups. Happiness was picked as the second most

important value for non-parent men and non-parent women under 30 and interestingly, it

was not one of the top five values for the other groups. Happiness was replaced by

justice for all the other groups and was not one of the top five values.

On values, no significant differences were observed according to life stages, gender or

parental status.

Table 3

Satisfaction with life increased with age and also parenthood. The most dissatisfied

groups were the under 30 non-parent men with 43 percent satisfaction and non-parent

women with 47 percent satisfaction. The most satisfied groups were above 40 years old

women parents with 70 percent satisfaction and men parents with 68 percent

satisfaction.

For the age group of 30 to 40, women parents (66 percent) were followed by men

parents (62 percent), non-parent women (57 percent) and finally non-parent men (52

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percent). For all age groups, women were more satisfied with their lives than men and

parents were more satisfied than non-parents (Table 3).

Table 4

Satisfaction with work life had a similar trend and increased steadily with age and

parenthood. The most satisfied group was women parents above 40 years of age with

86 percent satisfaction followed by men parents in the same age group with 77 percent

satisfaction. For ages under 30, non-parent men were more satisfied with their work

lives scoring a 48 percent than non-parent women in the same age group with a

satisfaction score of 44 percent. For the age group of 30 to 40, men who were parents

were more satisfied than non-parent men and non-parent women had a similar

satisfaction to women who were parents (See Table 4).

At earlier life stages, women seemed to be less satisfied than men with work life.

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Table 5

On satisfaction with their own work, men in all age groups were generally more

satisfied than women with the exception of women who are parents and above 40 years

old. This group of women had the highest satisfaction rate of 78 percent whereas non-

parent women below 30 had the lowest satisfaction rate of 37 percent. The gap between

30 to 40 year old men and women parents was the widest with a 12 percent difference

(Table 5). This difference could have been driven by the additional responsibilities

women take on at home, such as raising kids, in addition to work.

For the motivations for working, eight were the most selected by all groups. These

were:

a. doing the job I like;

b. being financially independent;

c. providing a good future for my family;

d. producing something of value;

e. earning money;

f. achieving something in life;

g. being valued &appreciated; and

h. securing my future.

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For parents in all age groups “providing a good future for my family” was the most

important value. Women also valued “being financially independent” regardless of their

parental status. This value, however, was not chosen by men and the only group of men

who selected it were single and under 30 years old. This could be due to their need to

establish themselves as adults at a particular stage where they are also considering

creating their own families.

“Doing the job I like” was chosen as the number two or three motivation for all groups

with the exception of women parents above 40. For this group, work had a different

meaning and they were the only group who chose “acting as a role model for the next

generation” as one of their top five motivations.

As the challenges of working, all parents picked “failure to spend time with my child”

as the number one challenge. “Tiredness / failure to rest” were either the number one or

number two challenges for all groups. “Failure to spend time on personal development

and training” was at the top of the list as number one or two for non-parent men. “Failure

to spend time with my spouse” was in the list of top five challenges for all men with

exception of men above 40. The reason could be explored further to assess whether this

was due to the acceptance of work life realities or to the loss of romanticism.

“Failure to exercise” made it to the top five for men and women above 30. Women in all

age groups chose “failure to spend time with my parents and other family members” in

their top 5 challenges whereas this was not a challenge selected by men with the

exception of non-parent men under 30. This could be due to women’s perception of

family, which included their parents even after they formed their own families. For men

this perception of family seems to be valid before they get married and have their own

children. “Failure to spend time on my hobbies and interests” was chosen by all groups

in different orders. “Sleeplessness” also made it to the list for 30 to 40 year old women

who were parents showing their need for flexibility.

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Table 6

On the satisfaction with working hours, women and men differed significantly

especially at ages between 30 and 40. It was unexpected to see non-parent women

being more dissatisfied than parents for the same age group as parents’ dissatisfaction

could be explained by the additional responsibilities at home related to childcare.

Women who were non-parents under 30 were also dissatisfied (34 percent) following

non-parent women (31 percent) between 30 and 40. As in all other questions relating to

satisfaction, women parents above 40 had the highest satisfaction (73 percent). See

Table 6.

The request for “flexibility during certain periods of life” was highest among women

of all groups. Non-parent women under 30 wanted flexibility the most (90 percent)

followed by women parents between 30 and 40 (86 percent) and non-parent women in

the same age group (85 percent). Men also wanted flexibility and men who were not

parents (77 percent) wanted it more than parents (69 percent) between ages of 30 and

40. It seemed obvious that younger employees wanted flexibility regardless of their

parenthood status and this could be explained by the generational difference and

preference of working virtually without a defined location as a workplace (Table 7).

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Table 7

Discussion

Proposition 1 aimed to test if employees’ values, motivations, challenges and needs in

relation to work vary in different life stages.

Values:

There were certain values that all employees associated with regardless of their age,

gender or parenthood status. These values were family, honesty, trust, health and

justice out of the subset of 33 values. Family was the most important value for all groups

and ranked as the number one important value for all employee groups with the

exception of single men under 30. In focus groups, younger groups of employees,

especially men, under the age of 30, reflected on finding belonging and satisfaction

within their social peer groups and friends rather than family.

Happiness was one of the most important values for younger and single employees and

women. By the time they reached their thirties, ‘happiness’ was no longer one of the

most important values and was replaced by ‘justice’. Younger employees under 30 were

also more aware and concerned of the broader environmental problems and wanted to

participate in social activities preserving nature and the animals.

Can you please state how much you agree with the statement of “I want flexibility during certain periods of my life”?

Top 3 box Strongly Agree & Agree

NON PARENT Men

NON PARENT Women

PARENT Men

PARENT Women

NON PARENT Men

NON PARENT Women

PARENT Men

PARENT Women

72 90 69 86 77 85 58 73

Under 30 30-40 30-40 Above 40

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According to the focus group discussions and survey results, the values did not change

significantly from one life stage to another with the exception of younger employees

giving more importance to happiness and older employees to justice.

Motivations:

There was a clear distinction between the different life stages on the motivations for

work. Motivations evolved from personal to more family- and social-oriented ones with

age.

For younger employees under 30 years, being financially independent was very

important. As they were getting ready to form their families, they wanted to earn money

doing the job they liked.

For employees between the ages of 30 and 40, working to build a good future was

important for parents and earning money for non-parents. They all wanted to do the job

they liked and produce something of value.

Employees over 40 wanted to achieve something of importance, feel valued and

appreciated and act as a role model for the next generation.

Challenges:

Challenges also differed according to life stages and parenthood status. For younger

employees under 30, life became dull and monotonous. Of all employees groups, they

were the least satisfied with life, work and working hours. The employees expressed that

they missed having time for themselves, their hobbies and not having responsibilities.

They were almost surprised with the reality of work life and in a way, disappointed with

what they found after years of hard work in school. In a similar context, they wanted to

continue investing in their education and personal development. However, they also

worried about not having a social life and as a result, being alone.

Single non-parents between 30 and 40 years of age followed them as the second least

satisfied group of employees on life, work life and working hours. They expressed a

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need for belonging and having roots. This could be a result of the social pressure to find

the right partner and have children.

Even though life became harder due to the increasing responsibilities and lack of

personal time after having children, parents were more satisfied with life and work in

general. Regardless of their gender, they reported that their biggest challenge was the

failure to spend time with their children. They also complained about feeling tired and not

having enough time to rest.

Employees who were older than 40 years were the most satisfied group with life, work,

their own work and working hours. Meanwhile, they wanted to spend time with their

children and families, complained about feeling tired and wanted to create more time to

look after themselves physically.

All employee groups complained of the long hours of work and time spent on traffic.

According to Proposition 2, employees’ motivations and needs in relation to work are

different according to their gender even at the same life stage. This is especially true for

women who become parents due to the additional responsibilities they take on at home,

such as raising children and taking care of the family.

Differences between genders on being a working parent:

All employee groups complained about the lack of time, however, the real distinction

between men and women peaked when children were born.

For women, the tension was on assuming additional responsibilities at home, like raising

children while trying to successfully continuing the pursuit of their careers. They felt they

had two jobs and competing priorities at the same time. As a result, their business and

private lives negatively affected each other, and they felt that they cannot fully

participate in either. They tried to find tactics such as multi-tasking and taking care of

home-related responsibilities from work. They also expressed the anxiety of not being

able to keep up with performance expectations at work after returning from their

maternity leave and during the early childhood years of their children. Women who were

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parents between ages 30 and 40 were the most dissatisfied group with being in work

life.

Men seemed to better separate their work- and private lives, and felt that work and

earning money for the family is their main responsibility. After having children, they

expressed that they became more work-oriented and felt the pressure to be more

successful and earn a better income. As women felt more pressured and divided about

their responsibilities at home after having children, men became more focused and

driven as the breadwinners for the family. This potentially makes it more difficult for

women to compete in the workplace as career-wise they are impacted negatively from

both standpoints.

Women parents also experienced work-related challenges differently when they got

divorced. Having custody of the children meant more financial and parental

responsibilities and less personal time for women, whereas for divorced men who were

parents, they had more time to themselves and less work-family conflicts as the time

they spent with their children decreased significantly.

Finally, a noteworthy finding was that women’s experience of work was not only different

than men, but also from each other at the same life stage, if their parental status

differed. Parenthood impacted women in many ways in both their personal and work-

lives as well as how they perceived their work life. Their scores varied significantly at the

same life stage depending on their parental status. For instance, though they

complained about the lack of time and requested more flexibility, women parents

between 30 and 40, were more satisfied with life, their work and working hours, than

women who were under 30 and non-parents. Further research would be beneficial to

further delineate whether this difference stemmed from generational expectations or

societal norms on the expected age to settle down and have children.

Proposition 2b tested if women’s motivation towards work increased with age. This

could result due to their children growing older and them feeling they finally have more

freedom to pursue their careers.

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Quantitative research findings through the online survey supported these results as

women parents over 40 were the most satisfied group with life, work life, their own work

and the working hours, with a significant difference from other groups. Among all other

women groups, they were also the ones who wanted the least “flexibility during certain

periods of life”.

Qualitative research findings derived from focus groups and in-depth interviews also

supported these results as the women seemed to be more at ease with their

responsibilities at home when they learned to delegate in their private and work lives.

The women said that they gave up “perfectionism” and “the desire to control” everything.

At work, they focused on being good role models to younger women in focus group

discussions and felt they could be supportive by “mentoring” younger generations.

What’s happening beneath the surface?

During the qualitative study, some sub-themes also emerged during discussions with

women. As working individuals, they had similar burdens though they were impacted by

the same issues differently depending on their age and parental status. As working

women—during the focus group meetings and in-depth interviews—they mentioned

many challenges which could be grouped under four areas: first, assuming multiple roles

and identities; second, not being able to make time for themselves; third, having a guilty

conscience for not having enough time at home and with the family; and fourth, the

desire to control home life, especially where it relates to the upbringing of their children.

A mother of young children aged between 30 and 40 mentioned feeling like a

“matryoshka doll, same on the outside, different on the inside […]” Several women in the

study mentioned assuming multiple roles and having separate identities as manager,

spouse, mother, lover, friend and child to their parents. They complained about

assuming each of their roles separately and trying to keep up with them every day.

There were also long discussions in focus groups on competing priorities. One of the

woman employees between the age of 30 and 40 mentioned “it is an everyday

challenge to be competitive at work, worry about my children’s homework, bake cookies

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for the school, make appointments for my parents’ hospital visits and look beautiful and

relaxed for my husband. And there is no end to it, every day is the same. My husband’s

main responsibility is to work. He tries to help but he does not see these things as his

responsibility. Funny thing is: I probably don’t either”.

These differing roles surfaced in varying ways for each age group. Non-parent women

below 30 years of age complained about prioritizing work and not having time to be with

close friends, active socially and spend time on personal activities such as traveling,

reading books or doing sports. As people who are relatively junior in the organization,

they felt they had less flexibility on when to start and end the working day. Women who

were married and did not have children felt the tension of passing time and were soul-

searching whether or not to have children. The women who were married with one child tried to manage a busy work life, relationship with their spouse, took care of their

children and talked about their busy social life. The majority of them had baby-sitters and

nannies at home and grandparents also took supporting roles raising the next

generation. Married women with more than one child talked mainly about two roles:

mother and working woman, with the spousal relationship being somehow secondary.

This point also came out in the quantitative study as “failure to spend time with my

spouse” was not chosen as a challenge by women in any age group even though it was

in the list of top five challenges for all men with the exception of men who were above 40

years of age. One woman also mentioned that she “suppressed” all her identities other

than the working woman and the mother which were the most demanding and had

“subconsciously put her identity as a wife in the background”.

Not having enough time for themselves was common for all employee groups regardless

of the gender but the impact of time spent at work was different for women. In the

qualitative study, women mainly expressed motivation for work as “social status” and a

way to gain their “freedom.” They questioned if the price they paid was too high. The

time pressure was the highest among mothers and it increased if they had more than

one child.

Regardless of the number of children, all working mothers complained about not being

able to take care of their children and not having enough time to be with them during the

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day. The dilemma of “work or child” created a feeling of guilt especially when the

children referred to other mothers who could “drop off” and “pick up” their children from

work. They also felt guilty about leaving their kids for long hours with nannies and baby-

sitters. Mothers of older children survived these feelings and were more at ease with

themselves as they were “able to have children and a career”.

For women who had a baby-sitter or helper at home, there was also a feeling of “losing

control”. Not knowing what was in the fridge or what they were going to eat that night

made them feel like they did not have control over the most important things in their

lives. Unexpected discussions took place during the qualitative research focus group

studies where older parents over 40 years of age advised younger mothers to “give up”

on the desire to control, and to use all the help they can get to become more “balanced”

and “happy.”

Contrarily, these sub-themes did not emerge in the focus groups and in-depth interviews

with men. They did not suffer from assuming multiple roles as for them “work was

essential to support the family” and did not create a work-home conflict in their

conscience. None of the fathers mentioned feeling guilty about working, however, they

complained about the lack of time and not having enough time with their spouse and

children. They also did not feel a need to control what was happening at home.

Limitations and further research

This study is a snap-shot taken between December 2015 and February 2016 in a

multinational telecommunication company’s subsidiary in Turkey through focus groups,

in-depth interviews and an online survey with white collar employees. The study is

limited in its scope as it does not test for generational or cultural differences. Due to a

smaller number of employees who are parents below 30 and non-parents above 40

years of age, the study also shows a limited sample of employees between ages of 25

and 55.

Future research can be conducted on a cross industry, test cultural and generational

differences and broke or extend the age groups further to understand more about age,

gender, marital and parental status differences.

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Conclusion

The world is changing on an unprecedented pace through rapid advancements in

science and technology. As a result, people generally live longer and enjoy a higher

standard and quality of life. This has also led to the evolution of the make-up of the

current workforce where for the first time in history, four generations of employees in

varying ages and life stages work together.

Organizations have so far utilized a simpler, “one-size-fits-all” approach to working

environments, conditions, hours and policies. However, a more complex and multi-

faceted approach is needed to understand the motivations, needs and aspirations of

today’s diverse and multi-generational workforce of varying ages. Women and men no

longer live by strict role definitions of family and child-raising. The distinctions of genders

on taking care of the family and working are no longer viable with more married and

single mothers on the workforce. Additionally, the boundaries of home and office are

now more blurred than ever with enhanced access to technology through smart devices.

There is a need and demand from employees of all ages and genders for organizations

to evolve accordingly and foster more awareness, acceptance and flexibility to engage,

retain and attract a diverse workforce.

Having an organizational understanding of the challenges, motivations and needs of life

stages can help with transitions for employees from young adulthood to mid-life and

maturity as they continue to contribute to the society and live up to their individual

potentials. This awareness and agility is necessary to question conventional thinking on

working conditions, environment, hours and create a more flexible, borderless and

inclusive culture that would evolve with the current environment.

Today’s technological developments and the era of longevity also bring a priceless

opportunity to witness a historical and difficult challenge on female employment and

gender equality through a different lens. If women can continue to stay in the workforce

during childbearing and early parenthood years through family-friendly and flexible

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working policies, they can continue to contribute with their expertise and experience until

mature adulthood years whilst attaining a similar representation to men in the workforce.

These family-friendly policies would also help parents with the heavy emotional weight of

trying to balance work and life, and thus, lead to happier and more balanced

companionships and marriages where both partners have the opportunity to live up to

their fullest potentials.

The research in this paper demonstrated that satisfaction with work life, motivations and

challenges related to work vary significantly at each life stage. Satisfaction with life, work

and working hours increases as the age increases. In this study, employees over 40

were the most satisfied group and the employees who were under 30 years old were the

least satisfied group with life and work. Further research would be beneficial to illuminate

whether this variance between the age groups is due to generational differences.

Parents are also more satisfied with life and work in comparison to non-parents in

general and also at the same life stage. Even though being working parents came with

additional responsibilities and challenges, employees with children expressed more

satisfaction with life and their work lives.

Men rated higher satisfaction with life, work, their own work and working hours than

women generally did and men who were parents were even more satisfied. Gender

distinctions were easy to recognize especially during the ages of 30 to 40 where most

employees became parents or had young children. During this period, women suffered

the most from assuming multiple roles at home and in the office and as a consequence,

had less time for themselves and their families outside of work.

An unexpected finding was the satisfaction level of women employees over 40. This

group of parents had the highest satisfaction rate with life, work, work life and working

hours than all other employee groups. They demonstrated a balanced view of life and

were happy to mentor younger women on how they personally overcame challenges of

being a working mother. In addition, they felt energized and engaged to take on broader

responsibilities.

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The data from this research shows that today’s organizations will need to evolve to meet

the expectations of today’s demanding workforce. This shift requires awareness on the

various life stages and transitional periods such as parenthood and mid-life changes for

all working individuals. With this awareness, much needed support can be provided to

both working men and women in accordance with their specific needs through family-

friendly policies, support groups, mentoring and flexible working arrangements.

Organizations that can make this shift will be able to engage and retain their talents

longer, provide them with better work life quality and help create the opportunity for

equal representation of women in the workforce for all life stages and against all biases.

Page | 44

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