Skip to main content
Intellect

Study: Family dinnertime feeds the company’s bottom line

Family dinnertime is known to be good for children, and now research shows the family dinner hour can recharge employees and wipe away the strain of working long hours.

Brigham Young University family scientist Jenet Jacob and colleagues analyzed data from 1,580 IBM employees who are parents. Their study, which appears in the June issue of Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal, found that employees who could get home for dinner felt they worked in a healthy environment.

“In our study, the level of interference with dinnertime was related to a perception of a healthy workplace, and that’s connected to job retention and productivity,” Jacob said.

The study also found that making it home for dinner evened the scales for women trying to balance long work hours with family life. Normally the level of perceived work-family conflict directly increases with each hour worked. In this study, work-family conflict remained the same for women working up to 60 hours a week, so long as work did not interfere with dinnertime.

“This shows bosses can get more out of employees if they’re having dinner,” Jacob said. “Parents, not just kids, benefit from time spent eating together.”

Jacob’s BYU colleague and co-author on the study, E. Jeffrey Hill, collaborated with IBM on the design of the company’s Global Work and Life Issues Survey. The researchers say employers could take advantage of their findings through options like telecommuting and flexible work schedules.

Writer: Erika Riggs

Related Articles

data-content-type="article"

Beyond diet: New BYU study links diesel exhaust to obesity and diabetes

October 09, 2024
A study co-authored by eight BYU students and three BYU faculty finds that exposure to the exhaust gas produced by diesel engines is tied to increased fat mass, enlarged fat cells, insulin resistance and inflammation. These changes can cause metabolic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Forum: “Why America went crazy and how you can stay sane”

September 24, 2024
David French, columnist for The New York Times and bestselling author, spoke to BYU students and employees in this week’s forum address at the BYU Marriott Center. He invited the audience to build unity with people they disagree with through friendship, connection and love.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

BYU completes first-ever campus-wide sustainability assessment, earns distinction

September 24, 2024
BYU has been recognized as a STARS Gold Institution by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). The sustainability report from AASHE considers BYU’s commitment to sustainability in academics, student and public engagement, operations, planning and administration, as well as its unique approach to earthly stewardship. BYU is one of only 140 institutions in the country to have been awarded a gold rating by AASHE.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=