Research conducted by Red Letter Days in conjunction with Personnel Today shows that over half of the UK's HR decision makers (52%) believe enabling employees to spend more time with their family is the most important factor to improve their work-life balance. This figure further supports the growing demand amongst UK households in creating an harmonious work / family life balance – having a great job can no longer come at the expense of your family.

However, further results show that 65% of HR decision makers said their organisations offer no family-related initiatives to their staff, with 46% citing administration issues as one of the main barriers in offering these benefits to their employees.

To coincide with these findings, Red Letter Days, the UK's leading experiences company, is launching a new range of family experiences to champion the work-life balance, making it easy for employers to reward staff without creating additional admin work. With over 150 experiences for couples, parent and child, and families, the choice includes: 'Les Miserables' Kids' Club Family Day, Circus Skills Experience, Family Falconry Encounter, Father and Son Fishing Day, Husky Dog Sledding and Summer Concerts.

The Les Miserables Kids Club is the perfect opportunity for the whole family to have a great day out together. The day includes a backstage tour of the theatre and a drama master class in full costume and make up, in preparation for a re-enactment of a scene from the show. The whole family also has the opportunity to watch a matinee performance of the hit musical.

"Our research has shown us that work-life balance is an issue that companies across the country – not just in London – are facing," comments Theo Paphitis, fellow co-owner of Red Letter Days and Dragon's Den star. "The new Red Letter Days we have created help families to make the most of their time together – it's about creating memories that get you through your everyday commute to work."

Other key findings include:

• 95% of those surveyed agreed that family-related benefits would be attractive to employees
• Over 1/3 of the UK work force leave their jobs because of family-related issues
• Out of retention and loyalty programmes that companies may offer, one third of respondents (34%) believe that 'family-orientated incentives allowing time away from work' would have the greatest impact on work-life balance
• The most common method for a company to improve the work-life balance for their staff is by offering flexible working hours (74% of those surveyed currently offer this and 13% are considering this)

What do Employees Want?

• HR professionals have found that recognition from employers has the largest impact on employee satisfaction (94%), followed closely by flexible working hours (92%) and challenging work (83%)
• Employees want career progression and salary increases – 85% of employees leave organisations to further their careers and 67% leave to earn more money
• Results showed that only 8% of employees believe that having additional holiday allocation would improve their work-life balance
• Employees without families should be offered the same benefits as employees with families

"A huge proportion of the UK workforce is experiencing work-life balance issues," said Zachary Soreff, Sales and Marketing Director at Red Letter Days. "We are constantly looking at new and innovative ways to way to meet the needs of our clients, helping them to incentivise and retain their staff and to ultimately build company loyalty. From the initial feedback we have had, we expect this new range of Family Experiences vouchers to be a great success."

Over 1000 HR decision-makers participated in the survey from fields of Banking and Finance, Local Government, Manufacturing / Engineering, Education / Training, Professional Services, Health, Retail, IT, National Government and Charity.

-ENDS-

For further information or to see the full report please contact Shine Communications on 020 7553 3333: Annabel Lockyer / Kate Addy / Zac Schwarz

email: annabel.lockyer@shinecom.com / kate.addy@shinecom.com / zac.schwarz@shinecom.com

Editor’s Notes:

Created in 1989, Red Letter Days pioneered the concept of giving experiences as unforgettable gifts. Now owned by Dragons’ Den entrepreneurs, Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis, Red Letter Days offers an unrivalled choice of hundreds of experiences across the UK and abroad. Experiences can be purchased online at www.redletterdays.co.uk.

Consistently delivering tangible business benefits to companies across the UK, Red Letter Days continues to provide hundreds of inspired experiences to companies, including those in the FTSE 100.

With a product offering that includes vouchers, points, gift cards and event organisation, Red Letter Days is the UK’s only gift experience provider that has a dedicated corporate division, ensuring consistency in providing imaginative and flexible ways for clients to incentivise and reward clients and employees. Whether they are looking to improve team morale, raise productivity levels, reduce absenteeism, revise a marketing strategy or simply reward buyer behaviour, the team at Red Letter Days is focused on formulating recommendations and delivering events that assist in meeting a client's overall objectives.

Red Letter Days experiences and events are the ultimate business tools. They're aspirational, impactful and flexible enough to be used in a variety of ways to achieve an organisation's objectives. With hundreds of experiences to offer, backed by first class service, Red Letter Days can create an experience or bespoke event that staff and customers alike will enjoy and remember.

The corporate Points solution provides an easy to use on-line system that promises a maximum return on investment. The web based facility enables companies to reward achievement and loyalty by allocating points to individuals that accumulate over time and can be redeemed against an experience or a choice of gifts. Point winners can then go online to view points balances, browse experience options available at their points value, and redeem their accrued points for Red Letter Days and Gifts. Sites can be co-branded and full customer service and technical support is available.

All experience vouchers arrive beautifully presented in a red signature box and can be co-branded and include a personalised message if desired. The company also provides a range of gifts, from wines, chocolates, flowers and hampers.

Red Letter Days is an official partner to the national tourism agency - Visit Britain.