Perhaps disconnects are what allow some businesses to patthemselves on the back for a job well done, just before they gounder. The disconnects between human resources and theirmain constituents — C-Suite residents and the troops — has beenwell documented. Now, CareerArc sheds light on yet another big onebetween HR and the troops in the field.

In its “2015 Workplace Flexibility Study,” featuring input frommore than 1,000 employees and HR professionals, CareerArc foundthat the folks in human resources are wearing rose-tintedspectacles when it comes to work-life balance. In other words, manymore HR managers believe they offer workers a healthy work-life balance than do the workersthemselves.

According to the survey, 67 percent of HR professionals thinkthat their employees have a balanced work-life, but 45 percent ofemployees feel that they don't have enough time each week to dopersonal activities.

Additionally, 20 percent of employees surveyed spent over 20hours working outside of the office on their personal time perweek. That's half a work week's worth of time. And that does notmake for happy campers, CareerArc said.

“Technology has expanded the 9-to-5 workday into the 24/7workday, which has made it extremely difficult for employees tohave personal time,” said Dan Schawbel, founder ofWorkplaceTrends.com, which partnered with CareerArc on the survey.“Companies are being forced to react to this work life dilemma byinvesting more in their programs in 2015. In the future, everycompany will have a flexibility program and those that don't willlose the battle for the top talent.”

The study pointed out that technology now gives workers the“option” to do more work outside of work hours, which may not besuch a positive trend.

“The majority of workers — 65 percent — say that their managerexpects them to be reachable outside of the office,” the studyreported. Here's the breakdown on how these respondents areexpected to stay tethered to the job:

• 33 percent by email and phone
• 23 percent by phone
• 9 percent by email

“From the HR perspective, 64 percent expect their employees tobe reachable outside of the office on their personal time, 18percent by email, 3 percent by phone and 26 percent by both emailand phone,” the study said.

What works better, CareerArc said, is a workplace flexibility policy that allowsemployees to work from home during regular business hours. In fact,the study revealed a major disconnect between how employees valueworkplace flexibility and how employers think they perceive it.Three-quarters of employees said it was the most important benefitto them, but only half of employers ranked it No. 1 in employees'benefits priorities.

“Formal workplace flexibility programs — wherein employees havethe option to periodically work from home without coming into theoffice — seem to be benefiting both employees and employers,” thestudy said.

“Eighty-seven percent of HR leaders believe that workplaceflexibility programs lead to employee satisfaction, while nearly 7out of 10 HR leaders use workplace flexibility programs as arecruiting and retention tool.”

The survey found that companies are cautiously investing more inworkplace flexibility options, but these investments are temperedby concerns about abuse of the program.

“The biggest concern for employers who establish flexibilityprograms is potential employee abuse of the system (42 percent),followed by it not being part of their culture (40 percent) andconcerns about employee fairness (34 percent),” the studyfound.