Work-Life Balance Case Study

Background

W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. is a global, privately held company headquartered inNewark, Delaware. It employs approximately 8,000 employees (called associates) inmore than 45 locations worldwide. Founded by a husband-and-wife team in 1958,its manufacturing operations are clustered in the U.S., Germany, Japan, China andScotland. There are three sites in Scotland, two in Livingston and one in Dundee,employing approximately 450 people. Gore produces proprietary technologies withversatile polymer polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) used in products in the healthcare and leisure industries. It is especially known for products like GORE-TEXand ELIXIR strings. Gore is known not just for its innovative products, but also forits innovative business style (Gores written business objective is To make moneyand have fun). Gore strives to create a unique corporate culture. Quite simply, the culture is driven, according to co-founder Bill Gore, from the need to foster the creativity and initiative that contribute to technical development.

Corporate Culture and Working Hours

The organizational culture is founded on a team-based environment where teams areorganized around opportunities and leaders emerge. Teams are fluid and comprise\followers and leaders. Employees, known as associates, have no defined job titles,only general task/responsibility areas. Leaders emerge naturally by demonstratingspecial knowledge, a skill and/or experience that will move the business objectiveforward. According to Ann Gillies, an associate in the HR team in Scotland, leaders are defined not by organizational status but by followership because of personal influence, not power. The roles of leaders and followers are interchangeable by workprojects.

All associates have a sponsor, or mentor, assigned to guide them to chart acourse in the organization that will offer personal fulfillment while maximizingtheir contribution to the enterprise. In this way, associates can alternatelyandsimultaneouslybe leader, follower and sponsor.

Enabling this corporate culture of teamwork is a commitment to four basic principles(as espoused by Bill Gore) that drive the organizations activities:

-Fairness to each other and everyone with whom they come into contact.

-Freedom to encourage, help and allow other associates grow in knowledge, skill and scope of responsibility.

-The ability to make ones own commitments and keep them.

-Consultation with other associates before undertaking actions that could affect the reputation of the company by hitting it below the waterline.

It is the corporate culture based on the four fundamental principles that integratesand enables work-life balance at W.L. Gore. Gillies believes Gore operates fairlyand that associates are not managed but instead manage themselves by being fair,meeting commitments and consulting others as appropriate. Consequently there arevery few company policies, procedures or rules; practices develop naturally and donot need to be framed in policies. There are no policies and procedures, therefore,that explicitly relate to work-life balance. However, the companys approach to worklifebalance can be seen in its approach to working hours.Working hours, according to Gillies, are central to Gores approach. There are noset working hours; people make commitments... they are never imposed and peoplekeep to their commitments. Gillies continues, Personal and family responsibilities are okaypeople have no need to explain if they are not going to be at work, buttend to anyway because we are fair to each other. When commitments requirestaffing for specific hours, the team in that area decide individuals hours of work.Some people choose to work from home, and office attendance is recorded only forfire safety. The need to work long hours can arise, as it did for one associate, BenStewart, currently aleader, when he was involved in a global project requiring him tospend large amounts of time in the U.S. When a change in his home circumstances arose, Stewart evaluated the time he spent travelling and reduced it significantly by using videoconferencing and conference calls. He adds that his sponsor also encouraged him to travel less, and to take time off to compensate when he does travel.

Outcomes

It is widely believed that Gores corporate culture which encourages a healthy work-life balance directly contributes to the award-winning success the company has long enjoyed. John Kennedy, a Gore leader and senior associate in Scotland in traditional,external business terms, underlines this belief. He says, Our culture and principles drive very high performance from individuals and teams, who are empowered and results-oriented with a strong can-do attitude.Gillies acknowledges that sometimes it feels like it would be easy and certainly quicker to direct, but in the long-term, we know that doesnt work. She is emphatic that because we are not telling people what to do and when to be here, there is more chance work is going to be done better. Associates buy into what the companystands for, so the quality of input and decisions is better.For Stewart, one of the challenges facing associates is that it is very easy to get caught up in the positive environment and find yourself over-committing. To counteract this, he notes that leaders, sponsors and associates need to understand each individual situation and act appropriately. Kennedy supports this position: It can be easy to get caught up in an environment of high energy and activity.Gores approach to work-life balance contributes to its repeatedly being included inFortune magazines best companies list.

Way Forward

Continuing to develop associates is seen as central to sustaining the corporateculture and principles that foster work-life balance at W.L. Gore.

Learning Points

When they are part of a clearly understood management style, work-life balance arrangements can work without being supported by formal policies and procedures.Work-life balance can be an integral part of a holistic management approach.Organizations should focus on life issues for employees/associates and actively work on these as well as work development to ensure the balancing of work and life.Good leadership and mentorship are important to encourage employees to balance work and their personal life.

Please help me answer discussion questions. Thanks!

1) What are the key elements in the corporate culture at W.L. Gore that may prevent employees from taking advantage of there being no set work hours?

2) How would you describe the management style and management responsibilities in this company?

3) What are some challenges employers may face when trying to implement W.L. Gores distinctive approach to work-life balance in different countries of its operations?