PITTSBURGH--Nearly half of America’s workers will be laboring rather than relaxing this Labor Day, according to the results of a national poll¹ conducted by Development Dimensions International (DDI), a global human resource consulting firm.

The findings counter the long-standing annual Labor Day tribute to the contributions American workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country-a day generally celebrated by not working.

Who’s Pushing Who?
So why are US workers choosing work over play on the final fling vacation day of the summer? Personal ambition-not boss or organizational demands-is the cause, according to DDI’s Leadership Forecast 2005-2006 Best Practices for Tomorrow's Global Leaders².

In fact the global study of more than 4,500 supervisors, managers and organizational leaders found that 60 percent of leaders who already have poor work life balance are willing to sacrifice even more personal time if it means a faster climb up the corporate ladder.

As further proof, of those polled about their Labor Day plans, nearly 80 percent did not feel pressured to work on this national holiday (even though almost half said they will), emphasizing that workers are self-motivated to put business ahead of their personal lives. This counters a common belief that longer hours are the result of a demanding boss.

“Leadership has become a real ‘love it or leave it proposition;’ and you have to work hard to stay in the game,” said Rich Wellins, senior vice president, DDI. “On Labor Day, leaders will have their Blackberries in one hand and their grilling spatulas in the other.”

Especially since DDI’s US poll of 1,100 workers revealed that on Labor Day, 42 percent of workers will take time away from family and friends for work-related activities, including checking emails and voicemail (28 percent) or catching up on reading (14 percent)-and some will even travel into the office (17 percent).

Life in the Balance
DDI’s Leadership Forecast survey shows that nearly one of every three leaders claims to have a poor work-life balance.

While a sobering statistic, it’s not a surprising one, according to DDI, whose survey also notes that only 25 percent of organizations proactively promote work-life balance. Leaders are under a lot of pressure today, with nearly half feeling too much is expected of them, according to the Leadership Forecast.

But it appears that personal ambition is the real culprit, as today’s leaders are taking on more responsibilities because of their own desire to grow, develop and most of all, to be rewarded with higher levels of leadership. While organizations receive a short term benefit from this situation by getting more out of their ambitious leaders, the DDI global survey findings highlight that one in four leaders is considering bailing out to pursue other goals, partially due to the high level of stress they feel from their jobs.

When there is an increase in work life balance, organizations will see up to 2 percent reduction in turnover. “In a tight economy, leaders see the advantage of getting ahead of the game,” Wellins said. “The boss may not be the problem, but they need to be part of the solution with proactive measures to prevent leadership burnout and by sending the message that leaders are valued and providing them with the opportunity to grow and succeed, without having to give up their personal lives.”

Available for interviews: Rich Wellins, Senior Vice President, DDI
Paul Bernthal, Director, DDI’s Center for Applied Behavioral Research

¹The national poll was conducted with 1,169 workers across the United States.

²The Leadership Forecast 2005-2006 Best Practices for Tomorrow's Global Leaders is a longitudinal, international study of 4,559 organizational leaders from 42 countries. This is DDI’s fourth Leadership Forecast since 1999.

The Leadership Forecast 2005-2006 Best Practices for Tomorrow's Global Leaders is sponsored by Human Resource Executive magazine and by the Katz School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh.