What is considered a good work-life balance?
A person has achieved a good work-life balance when there is harmony between the different areas of their life – work, family, friends and hobbies. These areas should support and complement each other. People with a poor work-life balance often work long hours, leaving little time for non-work activities. It can be particularly challenging for someone who works night shifts to achieve a good balance between their professional and personal life.
Even if someone works a standard number of hours, having trouble switching off after work can also be a sign of poor work-life balance. This is becoming increasingly difficult due to 24/7 connectivity with modern technology, as well as the rise of working from home, which blurs the boundaries between work life and home life.
How are employees impacted by poor work-life balance?
There is compelling evidence that overwork can have a seriously negative effect on both physical and mental health. Employees working long hours may experience:
- increased levels of stress and stress-related illnesses, such as depression and anxiety;
- detachment from personal life, which can cause a breakdown of domestic relationships and friendships;
- lack of sleep, leading to a higher risk of stroke and heart disease.
Related: Why Workplace Wellness Matters: Strategies to Foster a Mentally Healthy Work Environment
How does better work-life balance benefit employers?
Investing in your employees’ wellbeing isn’t just good for them – it can also provide a significant boost to your business and your bottom line. Happy and healthy employees who and not struggling with burnout are considerably more productive and motivated than employees who are stressed and working excessively long hours. When employees are aware that their employer is investing in their wellbeing, they are also more likely to be loyal to the business. This means you’ll keep your staff turnover down. What’s more, promoting wellbeing can help your business attract talent. For small to medium-sized businesses competing against larger companies that can offer higher salaries, work-life balance perks can give your business a powerful edge in the competition for high-quality candidates.
How managers can support employees in their work-life balance
1. Offer flexible working arrangements
Workplaces, industries and societies have changed enormously since the days when the 9 to 5 daily grind was considered the best way to run a workplace. These days, many other options are available. Offering flexible working arrangements is one of the best ways employers can help their workforce strike a balance between personal and professional life.
Flexible working arrangements include:
- flexible working hours, such as flextime, where employees can choose when they start and finish work, and can accumulate time off by working longer hours on some days;
- job sharing, which involves two people working part-time and sharing a full-time role that is normally performed by one person;
- remote work, where employees work from home or at any location outside their employer’s offices.
Flexible working arrangements lead to higher levels of job satisfaction, productivity and motivation. And in competitive job markets, it can help employers, especially small businesses, stand out from the competition and attract the best talent. Flexible hours and the ability to work remotely are important factors for jobseekers.
2. Establish clear boundaries
For most jobs, technology allows us to work from anywhere, at any time. The good things about this are that everyone can keep up to date, and it makes flexible and remote work possible, but the downside is that it means work can easily spill over into our private lives. It can be tempting to keep checking what’s happening with work well after clocking off. But employees need to take time to rest and recharge after work so that they are ready to perform at their best the next day. That’s why it’s important that you encourage your employees to leave their work at the office. Here are some ways you can do this:
- Set expectations with clients about when work will be done.
- Encourage employees to switch off their phones and restrict their access to work emails during the evening.
- Create a culture in your workplace where employees are expected to take time off, and overwork is seen as a negative trait.
3. Set up a social committee
Social activities in and outside the office promote a better work-life balance because they give employees an opportunity to take their minds off work and relax. They also foster team bonding, which leads to improved productivity at work.
A social committee is a small group of employees that is responsible for organising social events for the workplace. They organise events, such as movie nights or after-work dinners, or put together company sports teams.
4. Encourage short breaks
Work-life balance isn’t just about separating work life from personal life – it’s also about having a healthier approach to work in the office. One powerful way you can promote this is by encouraging your employees to take regular short breaks throughout the day. The human brain isn’t designed to focus on a single task for extended periods of time. So, when your employees break up their work time into more manageable chunks, they’ll be happier, more focused and more productive. Consider implementing these ideas:
- Have a designated ‘social area’ in your office where employees can get away from their desks to socialise and do non-work-related activities.
- Encourage light exercise, for example short walks, throughout the day.
- Hold ‘walking meetings’ outside the office or start a lunchtime running club.
5. Encourage time off
As much as we love our jobs, we all need a break to rest and recharge our batteries. If your employees have an opportunity to forget about work and de-stress, they’ll be more productive and motivated when they return to the office. A change of scenery and routine can also give people a new perspective on old problems and fuel creativity. So, annual leave isn’t merely an employee entitlement – it has direct benefits for your business.
Australians are entitled to four weeks of annual leave per year. However, research shows that almost 67 percent of Australian workers don’t take all of their annual leave. Here are some tips to help you encourage your employees to take some well-earned time off:
- Set an example. As the manager, taking your own annual leave will create a culture of valuing time off and not viewing it as something on the ‘nice to do’ list. This will make your employees feel more comfortable and less guilty about taking leave.
- Have a clear policy about annual leave, and introduce a limit on the amount of annual leave that employees can roll over to the next year.
- Educate your employees about the benefits of taking a break. You could show them statistics that highlight the association between taking time off work and improved mental health and work performance.
6. Provide employee support services
Providing employee support services, such as an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), can greatly help your employees achieve a better work-life balance. An Employee Assistance Program gives employees free access to counselling and support services through an external provider. They’ll be able to work through personal, family or work-related issues that could be affecting their mental and physical health, work performance and general wellbeing. Counsellors can give employees targeted and personalised advice about how they can achieve a better work-life balance. If you implement an EAP, it’s important that you take the time to actively promote it and make sure your employees know how they can access it.
7. Lead by example
As the saying goes, practise what you preach! It’s one thing to tell your employees that work-life balance is important. But if you’re constantly working overtime and sending emails in the evening, your employees might feel pressure to match your schedule and put in just as many hours. So, make sure you set a good example by:
- leaving the office on time;
- taking regular short breaks during the workday;
- taking all of your annual leave.
Related: Eight Amazing Women on Achieving Work-Life Balance And A More Gender-Balanced Workplace
Achieving a healthy balance between work and the rest of our lives is easier said than done. Many of us want to work less and enjoy more time with friends and family, but the pressures of modern life and our desires to achieve success in our careers make it difficult to pull it off. However, taking the work-life balance strategies in this article and implementing them in your workplace will go a long way towards helping your employees to achieve this goal. It can have a big impact not only on the health and wellbeing of your employees, but also the overall performance of your business.
