BOSSES are spending less time with their families these days, as they step up efforts to guide their firms through the recession.
While executives still place family life as their top priority, the pressures brought about by the economic downturn are making it harder for them to maintain a healthy balance, according to a new survey.
The National Family Council surveyed 199 chief executive officers from March to June, and found that 77 per cent of them were able to manage their work and family commitments effectively.
This is a drop of 9 percentage points from last year, when 86 per cent of the 500 business leaders surveyed said they were able to balance office and home life.
Council chairman Lim Soon Hock warned: 'While we work harder during this time of economic uncertainty, we must remember that family relationships need to be nurtured in good times and bad.'
It can be a tricky undertaking.
Frequent travelling means Mr Kurt Wee, vice-president at Conrad & Ottess Private Asset Management, does not get to see his four-year-old daughter and one-year-old son as often as he would like.
'You have to be more vigilant in the downturn, so if work says you have to go, you have to go,' he said.
'But I now try not to be away for more than three days and two nights at a time. Kids grow so fast, and I don't want to miss seeing mine grow up.'
Maintaining a work-family balance has certainly become more challenging.
Last year, 68 per cent of respondents said they were able to make use of programmes at their workplaces to manage their employment and family demands. But this year, only 41 per cent claimed to be able to do so.
And dwindling profits may be forcing top executives to sacrifice family time for a better bottom line.
Last year, 82 per cent of respondents said they 'will not strive for workplace success at the expense of the family'.
This year, just 67 per cent agreed with that position - and it shows.
The proportion of executives spending more than five hours a day with their families also dropped, from 21 per cent last year to 8 per cent this year. In fact, a quarter of these executives spend two or less hours a day with their families.
More than half of those surveyed said a heavy workload posed one of the biggest challenges to family life, while a quarter said it was difficult to arrange family time together because each family member had different commitments.
Mrs Mildred Tan, chair of the Council's Family First @ Work Workgroup, suggested setting aside family time 'like we do for business meetings'.
'Strong family bonding does not happen by chance...If we have a plan and we work towards our goal, chances are we will have the time to build the strong and stable family we desire,' she said.
CEOs are making conscious efforts to allocate time for family - 39 per cent of them block out weekends, while 27 per cent said they make it a point to have meals with their loved ones on weekdays.
For the second year running, business leaders rank family as the most important thing, followed by health, career, money, personal pursuits, religion and community work.
'It is heartening to note that a significant number of CEOs put family as a No.1 priority,' noted Mr Lim.
