Read the article and write a paper, you must have a minimum of 3 scholarly sources (peer-reviewed journal articles). Please ensure that you follow standard APA formatting. Your paper must have a title page and a reference page. You must have a minimum of five (5) in-text citations. Respond to the following questions in an essay (3 page minimum). Apply the OD processes, such as diagnosis and change management, to issues related to performance management, employee and organizational work-life issues, benefits, and programs. Describe some of the issues related to individual work-life balance, and analyze related organizational support for it. How can Healthco become a top work-life balance company?  Scenario #1 “Pat, I just can't do it. I know you want me to go to New York tonight, but I can't make a trip like this at the last minute.”   “Chris, you are the best attorney we have for these negotiations—we need you.”   “I appreciate the compliment, but I can't arrange the care for my mother and my daughter on four hours notice. I told you during my performance appraisal about the demands I am under—in terms of carrying my own workload and part of Sidney's [a coworker] during this parental leave time. In addition, like I said, I have two elderly parents, one needing daily care, my toddler daughter, and I am moving next week. I know you want me to progress and I appreciate it, but you know I work hard—I work overtime every week—but I can't do what you want this time. I'm sorry. I'll talk to you later.”   Pat hangs up the phone and thinks, “Okay, I know I am asking a lot, but how do I resolve these issues? It's frustrating that Sidney is out on 12 weeks leave—geez!!!—and it's only going to get worse. Chris is my best person … why isn't Chris more committed? And doesn't Sidney know that 12 weeks off creates hardships for everyone else? How can I get them to do more?”   Chris walks to the parking lot thinking, “Boy, I thought I made a good move in coming here. But Pat is worse than the partners I used to work for. What am I going to do? Oh well, at least the job market for attorneys is good.” Scenario #2 “Francis, I appreciate your help these last few weeks. I never could have exceeded all my goals or facilitated my team exceeding its goal if you hadn't connected me with Kyle's Elder Care Referral Service. I feel like I would have had to take at least five to seven days off to gather the same information that Kyle had immediately available. And then I would have spent another week or two—not two days— getting my dad settled. I don't know why he decided to retire to Ireland, but he is delighted with the arrangements, and is doing well.”   “That's okay, Blair, I'm happy to help. Thank you for the excellent job you've been doing. I really appreciate it. Let's talk about next month's key goals.”   Blair had been the project lead during the implementation of a new quality process in the laboratory, and despite an above-average workload the last ...

1. Read the article and write a paper, you must have a minimum of
3 scholarly sources (peer-reviewed journal articles). Please
ensure that you follow standard APA formatting. Your paper
must have a title page and a reference page. You must have a
minimum of five (5) in-text citations.
Respond to the following questions in an essay (3 page
minimum).
Apply the OD processes, such as diagnosis and change
management, to issues related to performance management,
employee and organizational work-life issues, benefits, and
programs. Describe some of the issues related to individual
work-life balance, and analyze related organizational support
for it. How can Healthco become a top work-life balance
company?
Scenario #1
“Pat, I just can't do it. I know you want me to go to New York
tonight, but I can't make a trip like this at the last minute.”
“Chris, you are the best attorney we have for these
negotiations—we need you.”
“I appreciate the compliment, but I can't arrange the care for
my mother and my daughter on four hours notice. I told you
during my performance appraisal about the demands I am
under—in terms of carrying my own workload and part of
Sidney's [a coworker] during this parental leave time. In
addition, like I said, I have two elderly parents, one needing
daily care, my toddler daughter, and I am moving next week. I
know you want me to progress and I appreciate it, but you know

2. I work hard—I work overtime every week—but I can't do what
you want this time. I'm sorry. I'll talk to you later.”
Pat hangs up the phone and thinks, “Okay, I know I am asking
a lot, but how do I resolve these issues? It's frustrating that
Sidney is out on 12 weeks leave—geez!!!—and it's only going
to get worse. Chris is my best person … why isn't Chris more
committed? And doesn't Sidney know that 12 weeks off creates
hardships for everyone else? How can I get them to do more?”
Chris walks to the parking lot thinking, “Boy, I thought I made
a good move in coming here. But Pat is worse than the partners
I used to work for. What am I going to do? Oh well, at least the
job market for attorneys is good.”
Scenario #2
“Francis, I appreciate your help these last few weeks. I never
could have exceeded all my goals or facilitated my team
exceeding its goal if you hadn't connected me with Kyle's Elder
Care Referral Service. I feel like I would have had to take at
least five to seven days off to gather the same information that
Kyle had immediately available. And then I would have spent
another week or two—not two days— getting my dad settled. I
don't know why he decided to retire to Ireland, but he is
delighted with the arrangements, and is doing well.”
“That's okay, Blair, I'm happy to help. Thank you for the
excellent job you've been doing. I really appreciate it. Let's talk
about next month's key goals.”
Blair had been the project lead during the implementation of a
new quality process in the laboratory, and despite an above-
average workload the last month, had successfully met the
project's objectives. Francis thought, “It was touch and go when
Blair's dad suddenly wanted to retire to Ireland, and wanted to

3. move immediately. Thank heaven I remembered reading about
Kyle and the Elder Care Referral Service.”
Blair left Francis' office with a smile, thinking, “ Francis is
great to work for… I can't even consider any of the calls I'm
getting from other hospitals or headhunters. It's just great to
work for someone who understands that work is just one part of
life.”
Scenario #3
Robin, department head for pediatrics at HealthCo's second
largest hospital, had asked to meet with Mercer, the director of
pediatrics for HealthCo.
“Mercer, thanks for your time. As you know I'm 56 this year,
and I want to talk to you about my retirement. I have many
interests beyond my medical practice, and also want more time
with my family and community. What I would like to do is
begin working part-time after this first year. What I'm thinking
is that I would work 30 hours a week for two years, still holding
clinic hours two days week. Then the next three to five years I
would like to transition to full-time retirement. What I would
like is to work 20 or so hours per week for those years, working
with medical school students and on research projects.”
“Well, Robin, as you know, we don't have any formal
retirement policy except to fully retire. I'm going to have to talk
to HR about this. You have extensive experience and expertise,
and I don't want to lose that. I'm just not sure what HR or the
Physicians' Council will say.”
“I understand. My first choice is to remain with HealthCo, but
I know there are organizations that would be interested in my
working part-time. When can you get back to me?”

4. “Give me a couple of weeks, Robin.”
“Okay.”
Mercer began to think about Robin's request, already hearing
HR raise issues like benefits, ongoing participation in
retirement funding, and precedents being set. But Mercer didn't
want to lose Robin's expertise. And Robin's idea of working
with the medical students might let HealthCo create a unique
internship and residency experience, which would let HealthCo
attract the top students.
BACKGROUND
The people in these three scenarios work for HealthCo, a fully
integrated, nonprofit health care organization with nine major
medical centers and 36 affiliated clinics, rehabilitation units,
therapy facilities, hospice and geriatric units, and other highly
specialized centers. Located in the eastern United States,
HealthCo has about 6,700 employees. Like other health care
companies, it employs a disproportionate number of women,
especially in nursing and patient care, allied health services,
and support staff. The backgrounds of Pat, Francis, and Mercer,
all managers at HealthCo, are provided below.
Pat is the chief counsel of HealthCo's internal legal
department. Pat has worked for HealthCo for five years, after 15
years in a major law firm in Washington, D.C. It has been a
difficult transition from the “do-anything, 24/7” pace of the
firm to the “slower, less professional” pace of HealthCo. Pat is
married and has three kids. Pat's spouse is also an attorney.
Pat's staff is primarily full-time and works “nine to five.” The
department is very busy, often with a workload that
significantly exceeds the day-to-day capacity of the staff.

5. Francis serves as the director of laboratory services for the
largest hospital. The laboratory is staffed around the clock and
can be called on to perform routine and emergency procedures
at any time. The new quality process that Blair helped to
implement was critical to the lab supporting the hospital's status
as the primary emergency and critical-care facility in the
region. Francis, who had started in a research lab prior to
joining HealthCo, felt the pressure of staffing a 24/7 lab.
Having never married, Francis could not imagine juggling
marriage and children in addition to the demands of having two
parents and five siblings and their families living nearby.
Francis tried to help the lab's employees with family or life
demands, but did so on a personal basis, and not because the
hospital had many such benefits available.
Mercer is a nationally known pediatrician with 15 years
experience, and was recently hired to head HealthCo's pediatrics
organization. Mercer's expertise and management capabilities
were stretched in a positive way by the demands of such a large
and comprehensive pediatric practice. Thriving on that
challenge, Mercer had been very successful since taking over
the organization. Marrying after medical school to another
physician, Mercer felt grateful for being able to work the hours
required to fully learn and understand this new position. Mercer
knew a number of people on the pediatric staff, including a
number of the pediatricians. Many of them felt Mercer worked
way too much, and moreover, worried Mercer expected the same
of them. Mercer knew that younger physicians weren't as keen
on the 24/7 doctor lifestyle that Mercer's father had lived.
RECENT EVENTS
A couple of weeks after Pat's conversation with Chris, Francis'
with Blair, and Mercer's with Robin, a senior staff meeting was
called to discuss current issues and the coming year's strategic

6. initiatives. The CEO, Dr. Palmer, recently had become focused
on employee retention, after Human Resources reported that
HealthCo's turnover was 1.5 times the industry average. While
HealthCo was competitive about salary, benefits seemed to be
an area needing improvement. Further, the recent issue of
Fortune
, which identified the “Best Companies to Work For,” raised Dr.
Palmer's awareness of the growing importance of work-life
programs and policies.
Dr. Palmer realized that HealthCo did not provide many of the
benefits offered by these “best companies.” In fact, very few
health care companies made the list. Palmer conceded that the
24/7 nature of health care organizations probably complicated
the provision of work-life benefits. However, Palmer also saw a
potential competitive advantage in being a leader in providing
such benefits, especially when combined with the competitive
salary and merit structure HealthCo offered. Dr. Palmer
remembered that a survey had been done of HealthCo female
employees by an outside research team, and that one area of the
survey was work-life issues. A review of the data revealed a
number of benefits seen as important to the female employees of
HealthCo (see
Table 1
). The research also had suggested that the immediate
supervisor played a vital role in the employee's ability to
successfully balance work and life, and the employee's
satisfaction with her work-life balance. An immediate
supervisor's direct support of work-life balance was
significantly linked to other important outcomes, such as job
satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intent to leave the
organization.
TABLE 1 Rank-Order Importance of Work-Life Benefits for
Female Employees at HealthCo

7. Benefit
Rank
Currently Offered by Healthco
Maternity/Paternity and Family Leave
Includes paid maternity and paternity leave, extended paid
leave for family issues, and unpaid leave for family issues
with the ability to return to work.
1
HealthCo pays six weeks maternity and paternity leave, after
the employees has been with the company for one year.
Employees can take another six weeks unpaid. No extended
leave.
Sabbatical/Extended Leave
Paid extended leave after working for a specified time with the

8. company.
2
Not offered by HealthCo.
Fitness
Includes on-site fitness facilities, and/or paid health club
memberships.
3
Not offered by HealthCo.
Flextime
Includes part-time work schedules, flextime, and
telecommuting.
4

9. Flextime, with two-hour flex offered in some departments.
Work-Life Task Force
Employee committee that oversees work-life issues.
5
Currently overseen by HR.
Concierge Services
Includes services such as on-site takeout, dry cleaning, auto
service, and other similar services.
6
Not offered except at corporate headquarters.
Child Care

10. Includes on-site child care, vacation programs, and before and
after school care.
7
Sick-child care offered at some of the medical centers.
Referral Services
Includes child care, elder care, and other referral services.
8
Not offered by HealthCo.
Paid Health Insurance Premiums
*
HealthCo pays the employee's premium.

11. * Payment of health insurance premium not rank-ordered, but
included in survey information.
© Cengage Learning
Dr. Palmer raised the question of offering work-life benefits at
the senior staff meeting. Dr. Palmer noted that while funding
was not unlimited, of course, HealthCo's recent financial
performance would permit budget allocations to such benefits,
and might also be offset by reduced turnover costs or improved
productivity.
Pat immediately stated, “I can barely get my staff together
now with all the work we have going on. And, I certainly can't
hold their hands. They would never be coddled this way in a law
firm. People work the hours needed, no questions asked.”
Francis said, “I can see the difference such benefits would
make, but how do I make this work in a 24/7 department? While
Legal might see it as difficult, I see it as impossible, especially
any movement away from traditional shifts.” A nursing director
commented thoughtfully, “Some hospitals are considering
shorter, split shifts, and longer shifts to create flexibility—
there might be something to that.” A number of departments
immediately argued such scheduling was a leader's nightmare,
and that the company's existing two hours of flextime in a
number of departments created serious issues. The V.P. of
finance for the hospital spoke up, “I don't see why people with
children should be treated differently—it's their choice to have
children. I have a life, too, and you don't see me asking for
special arrangements. I have employees asking me to work fr om
home—how do I appraise their performance if they primarily
work at home?” Mercer thought about Robin's request,
wondering if other baby-boomer employees would soon be
making similar requests.

12. Dr. Palmer listened to what was quickly becoming a heated
discussion, noting the varied and complicated reactions of the
different directors, vice presidents, and other top leaders of the
organization. Dr. Palmer commented, “We say in our recruiting
materials that our employees
are
HealthCo, that it is individual care in all areas of the
company—from nursing to accounting—that makes us different.
How can we expect our employees to give individual care if we,
as an organization, don't care about them and their lives?”
“I'd like a team of four to six volunteers to put together a plan
for becoming a top company in terms of work-life benefits.
Please identify the key issues in serving all employees with
such a set of benefits, and any related issues.”