Work-life Balance - a proactive perspective
Work-life balance has different meanings to different people. For instance, employees have typically seen this as the ability to successfully juggle the demands from work and life outside work, whereas for employers the term refers to the implementation of more flexible and family-friendly working practices.
In the current economic climate many individuals and families are struggling to hold on to their homes or are unable to move due to difficulties with mortgages, and these circumstances may have 'ripple effects' that could then affect concentration and productivity at work. For these reasons, among others discussed below, it has become increasingly important for employers to be thinking about how they can best implement work-life balance policies to meet the challenges of today's working world.
Remember that flexible working practices have dual benefits: for your organisation and your employees. Balancing work and home demands in an integrated way makes employees more productive, satisfied and increases job commitment, and therefore has direct business benefits. Initiatives such as flexi-time and job sharing can help you save costs and make you more effective in the long run.
The UK is said to be plagued by a 'long hours' culture and the government has resisted calls to end the controversial opt-out of the Working Time Directive. Many government initiatives such as the right to request flexible working are only aimed at those with families, which can lead to resentment and equality issues amongst those who don't qualify. It is important to recognize that work-life balance is wide and far reaching and should go beyond implementing flexible working for those employees who have family responsibilities.
There is no doubt that all generations of workers consider the juggling act of work-life balance as an important issue. Recent research by the CIPD published in their Gen UP report, 2008, showed that younger workers demand balance as a key factor in their working lives. Men are less likely to avail themselves of flexible working for fear that it may damage their careers.
These are all challenges that are best addressed in a proactive way by organisations and individuals, rather than waiting until things have already become an issue.
Here are Mendas' top tips for managing work-life balance successfully:
- Establish the needs of individuals:
- Consult your employees regularly about their needs, in order to inform policies developed. This can be achieved through regular audits through surveys (which can easily be done on-line) or suggestion schemes are a good way of doing this.
- Be sure to show that you are responsive to any issues arising.
- Create and implement policies:
- Be open and transparent with employees about any strategies, policies and decisions made.
- Any policy regarding work/life balance needs to be implemented fairly and consistently by addressing the needs of all employees.
- Don't just focus on avoiding the conflict between work and non-work, but also think about the benefits they have on each other, and take advantage of it (e.g. provide training to heighten awareness of skills developed or used in their non-work life that are transferable to the workplace.)
- Develop a culture to facilitate a good work-life balance:
- Create a culture where employees feel they can raise any issues they are facing.
- Encourage employees to take responsibility for themselves:
- Encourage employees to take advantage of policies without inducing feelings of guilt or lowering self-efficacy.
- Encourage workers to work in a productive and intelligent way to avoid the encouragement of a long hours culture that will ultimately negatively impact the organisation.
Consult the experts as and when necessary, to ensure that you are implementing best practice.
If you would like advice and support on how to manage work-life balance in a sustainable way, please contact Claire Taylor, one of our Senior Psychologists: Claire.Taylor@mendas.com
Article written by Almuth McDowall, Associate Psychologist, and Claire Taylor, Senior Psychologist, Mendas Ltd
