Paco Gay. PHOTO: loaned

The reconciliation of work and family life staff"is neither a fad nor a passing fad," said Paco Gay, professor of Personnel Management Service of IESE at the University of Navarra, during the II National II National conference on Work-Life Balance staff, family and work in the media, held in Zaragoza, Spain.held in Zaragoza. The conference, organized by the association de la Prensa de Aragón, was inaugurated by the Regional Minister of Social Services and Family, Ana Fernández.

topic During his lecture "Reconciliation, a passing fad?", Professor Gay insisted that reconciliation is not a matter of ideology or fashion, but of necessity, since society needs "whole, integrated and complete people", who will not be so if they only function as a work tool.

According to the professor, who is also a member of IESE's International Center work and Family, the younger generations have a new scale of values that is "very different" in which, in short, the idea is that "we don't live to work but work to live: an old cultural saying, but one that is becoming more and more true every day. However, he added that, although much progress is being made in this area, there is still "a long way to go, because although there are new technologies and tools, it is very difficult to get rid of old habits and ways of doing things".

"Work-life balance requires flexibility and there are certain productive approaches that by definition are very inflexible," he said. Referring to the behavior of companies on this issue, he explained how those who are forced to compete in the market take care of the work-life balance "because they have no choice, since a person who does not combine his life staff and work has personal problems that do not contribute anything to creativity, innovation and competitiveness," he concluded.