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The size of a company plays a large part in the issues confronting adopting WLB.

     In large companies the resources often exist to be able to accommodate many of the issues described earlier while taking advantage of the benefits of WLB. For example, although care still needs to be taken flexible working can relatively be adopted by introducing it to smaller sections of the workforce at a time. In that way flexible working will become a part of the company culture and is less likely to disrupt established work practices, communication patterns, and managerial structures.

    Larger companies are better able to absorb many of the ‘start-up’ costs associated with introducing flexible working, such as equipment costs, training costs, recruitment costs, etc. Larger companies can even often afford to send their managerial staff on relevant training courses to ensure that communication, managerial style, supervision, etc., are appropriately developed.




     
     Smaller companies (SMEs) often do not have the resources (financial, human, equipment, etc.) to develop flexible working structures or to facilitate work life balance opportunities. Personnel in SMEs often multi-task and lack the time, training, or inclination, to examine the opportunities that WLB can provide. Company culture within SMEs is often more insular than in larger organisations.

     This is particularly true for very small companies (MSEs – micro-small enterprises) with fewer than 5-10 staff. Often such companies are sole traders where the employer and employee is the same person.  In such situations WLB becomes extremely important for the welfare of both the individuals and their families. Gender issues play a more significant role in SMEs than in larger companies ( the United Nations gender-statistics website provides detailed information about gender-related issues across Europe - http://www.unece.org/stats/gender).

     The Eurobalance project has identified SMEs as being an important beneficiary of the champion structure that is being developed.

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