IFREI · IESE Business School · International Center for Work and Family
Find out whether your work environment lets you combine work, family and personal life
IFREI Wellworking is the questionnaire of the IFREI study by the International Center for Work and Family (ICWF) at IESE. It assesses the policies, leadership and culture of your environment, places it on one of four well-working levels and compares your result with other people’s.
No sign-up. You see your report when you finish; e-mail is optional.
The model behind the report
Dimensions
Policies
Leadership
Culture
Well-working level
Very low
Low
Medium
High
Impact on
Work-family satisfaction
Health
Sleep
Energy
50,000+people have taken part in the study
30+countries on five continents
1999the year the study began
12impact indicators in the individual report
Figures from the IFREI Well-working report.
What well-working is
Working well: effective work that leaves time and energy for the rest of life
Well-working refers to the working conditions in your environment that make it easier —or harder— to do an effective job, while generating learning and leaving time and energy for commitments outside work, such as family and community.
A person is at a high level of well-working when their leader, the culture they live in and the organizational environment they are exposed to make it easier for them to integrate work, family and personal life.
The model
Three dimensions of the work environment
The well-working level is determined by three dimensions that make up the environment a person works in and that affect whether they can integrate their work, family and personal life.
01
Policies
The instrumental support and flexibility the organization offers.
Leaving for a family emergency, childcare or dependant-care subsidies, on-site childcare and maternity and paternity leave beyond the legal minimum.
Information
Professional and personal counselling, information on childcare, schools, day centres and care homes, on work-family benefits, and work-family seminars.
14 policies in three families.
02
Leadership
The specific behaviours of your supervisor that support work-family integration.
Emotional support
Listens and takes an interest in how work affects your family responsibilities.
Instrumental support
Responds to your requests, for example by adjusting schedules.
Role model
Shows by example how to combine work and family.
Managing the policies
Is open to talking it through and to using flexibility in a way that benefits the company, the person and their family.
FSSB scale (Hammer et al., 2009), 7-item short form, scored 1 to 7.
03
Culture
The shared assumptions, beliefs and values about how far the organization supports and values the integration of work and family life.
Respect for leave
Nobody pressures you to cut your leave short when you have a child.
Career consequences
Using flexibility does not hold back promotions or assignments.
Working hours
You are not expected to put work before family.
Definition by Thompson et al. (1999), measured with nine questions.
Flexibility policies are necessary but not enough: a well-working environment also needs a leader who behaves accordingly and a supportive culture.
The result
Four levels of well-working
Based on the policies a person has access to and, above all, on their supervisor’s behaviour and the culture they work in, the report places their environment on one of four levels.
Very low
Systematically hinders work-family integration
Work and family are in constant conflict: dissatisfaction, high stress, low motivation and the wish to leave the company.
Low
Frequently hinders work-family integration
Conflicts are frequent and leave people feeling unsupported by the organization, stressed and dissatisfied.
Medium
Occasionally supports work-family integration
Conflicts may arise that people resolve with their own resources and, partly, with the organization’s.
High
Systematically supports work-family integration
Work, family and personal life enrich each other, with high satisfaction, commitment, health and well-being.
Improving an environment is gradual and has to be done systematically.
Reference data
The world average, against the high level
The report compares each result with two reference points from the study: the world average and the average of people working in high-level environments. These are their scores on each dimension, out of 100.
Reference score by dimension, out of 100
Dimension
Reference
Score
Policies
World average
34
High level
56
Leadership
World average
68
High level
94
Culture
World average
63
High level
88
On all three dimensions the world average falls well short of the high level. Policies is the lowest-scoring dimension, even in high-level environments.
Source: reference values of the IFREI report.
Impact
What the study links to the well-working level
Drawing on responses from more than 30 countries, the report shows how indicators for the organization, for people and for their social environment change from one level to the next.
In the organization
Intention to leave
Rises as the well-working level falls.O'Reilly, Chatman and Caldwell (1991)
Equal opportunities
Whether men and women feel the environment favours one sex over the other for promotion. The perceived inequality is greater in low-level environments.
Quality of the work experience
Vigour, dedication and absorption at work.Schaufeli and Bakker (2003)
In people
Satisfaction with work-family integration
Much higher in high-level environments.Valcour (2007)
Motivation
The higher the level, the higher the average of the three motivations: transcendent, intrinsic and extrinsic.
Health
The health people report, compared with others their age, is directly related to the level.
In the social environment
Time with children
Closely related to the level: days a week a person has dinner, reads and plays with their children under 14, and the hours a day they spend with them.
Quality of life
Sleep quality, energy outside work and exercise, which improve as the environment approaches the high level.
According to the report’s methodology, the trends its charts show are statistically significant. They are relationships observed in the study sample, not a prediction for any particular person or organization.
What you get
Two reports, depending on who responds
Free
Individual report
For anyone who wants to understand their work environment. You respond on your own; your company does not take part.
Your well-working level and what it means for your work-family integration.
Your result on policies, leadership and culture, against the world average and the high level.
How you compare with the average for your gender, your age group, people with or without children and with or without leadership responsibility.
12 indicators: sleep, energy, health, exercise, work-family satisfaction, intention to leave, three types of motivation and the days you have dinner, read and play with your children.
You see the report on screen when you finish. Leave your e-mail and we send you the link.
Quantitative methodology, with samples large enough for the trends to be statistically significant.
Each construct is measured with several questions that capture its different facets.
Questions statistically validated with rigorous tests, in large samples and different contexts.
Translated from the original language following a method validated by the scientific community.
Every scale shows reliability above what the academic community requires.
Scales it builds on
Family-supportive supervisor behaviours (FSSB)Hammer et al., 2009
Well-working cultureThompson et al., 1999
Intention to leaveO'Reilly, Chatman and Caldwell, 1991
Vigour, dedication and absorptionSchaufeli and Bakker, 2003
Satisfaction with work-family integrationValcour, 2007
Frequently asked questions
What is IFREI Wellworking?
It is the questionnaire of the IFREI study, which the International Center for Work and Family (ICWF) at IESE has run since 1999. It measures the well-working level of a work environment: how far its policies, leadership and culture make it easier to integrate work, family and personal life.
What exactly does it measure?
Three dimensions: the flexibility and support policies you have access to, your supervisor’s supportive behaviours and your organization’s culture. It also asks about sleep quality, energy, health, exercise, satisfaction with work-family integration, intention to leave, motivation and time with children.
How is the well-working level worked out?
From your answers on the three dimensions, the report places your environment on one of four levels: high, medium, low or very low. A high level systematically supports work-family integration; a very low one systematically hinders it.
Who is my result compared with?
With the study’s world average, with the average of people working in high-level environments and with the groups you belong to: your gender, your age group, people with or without children and with or without leadership responsibility.
Is the individual questionnaire free?
Yes. You answer it without signing up and see your report on screen when you finish. If you leave your e-mail, which is optional, we send you the link to the report.
What does an organization receive?
A company report with the study sample, the share of people at each level —in the company, in each department, in its country and worldwide—, the analysis of policies, leadership and culture, the impact on the organization, on people and on their social environment, and conclusions.
Does the company report show results for individual people?
No. It presents percentages and group averages. A department is shown on its own only once it has at least 20 responses; smaller ones count towards the company total. In a company study, respondents do not receive an individual report.
Which languages is it available in?
The questionnaire and the reports are available in Spanish and English.
How rigorous is the instrument?
Each construct is measured with several questions taken from statistically validated scales, translated with a method recognised by the scientific community. According to the report, every scale shows reliability above what the academic community requires.
Who is behind the study?
The International Center for Work and Family (ICWF) at IESE Business School, with Professor Mireia Las Heras, director of the ICWF, as principal investigator. The questionnaire and the reports run on Pro Evaluation System.
Find out the well-working level of your environment
Answer the questionnaire and get your report when you finish, or tell us what your organization needs.
