What’s Next in Work-Life Balance?

This InsideHR session looked at what employers can do to help people balance work and family, drawing on survey data about care pressures and hybrid working preferences. James Marsh of HRreview hosted a panel from Bright Horizons: Jennifer Liston-Smith, Denise Priest and Oliver Black.

Jennifer Liston-Smith, Denise Priest and Oliver Black, Bright Horizons. Hosted by James Marsh, HRreview.

Key takeaways

Flexibility alone does not solve the care problem

Liston-Smith said about 40% of working parents in the Modern Families Index, Bright Horizons' survey of a random sample of UK working parents, reported that their employer offered flexibility but very little practical support. Liston-Smith warned that flexibility can turn into freedom to overwork, and argued that employers should treat support for care as a continuation of health benefits.

Plan for care arrangements breaking down, because they routinely do

In Bright Horizons' 2021 Work and Family Snapshot, a survey of more than 1,300 employees at over 170 client organisations, 79% of those with childcare responsibilities and 63% of those with adult care responsibilities had a care breakdown in a typical year. Over half lost more than five days to it, and 23% had some elder care responsibility. Priest said adult care, once a small concern, now has to be part of employer planning.

Give line managers help at the moment they need it, not a one-off course

Black said the same policy can work completely differently in two departments simply because of who leads each one. Black argued that a training course months before a difficult conversation is little use, so managers need short, timely prompts and resources for the conversation they face this week. Priest added that a consistent approach across managers matters for inclusion, so employees do not depend on luck.

Measure whether people stay, not just whether they return

Black described a client with a generous maternity and paternity policy whose data showed that everyone came back but nobody stayed. Liston-Smith recommended dropping satisfaction scores in favour of rating specific factors, such as confidence and clarity of plans, before and after an intervention, and checking them against the goal set for the programme.

Build the business case on the cost of absence and turnover

Black said every programme eventually has to justify its budget to a finance director, and anything without evidence becomes a nice-to-have. The simplest numbers are the cost of a day someone cannot work and the cost of replacing someone who leaves, and Black urged HR teams to tie each programme back to those figures.

Design hybrid work around the job, not the old office week

Liston-Smith questioned why the working week must be Monday to Friday in rows of desks, and warned that a four-day week often just packs five days into four. Black and Priest described the office as a place for collaboration and mentoring rather than heads-down work, and Priest noted that a 40-hour job squeezed into 30 hours is still a 40-hour job.

22 Oct 2026 · Oliver Black, Bright Horizons

Everyone came back, but no one stayed

A generous parental leave policy can lift return rates and still fail on retention. Measure who stays, not just who comes back.

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