It’s a question that many members of the modern workforce are consistently asking themselves. Working a 9-5, 8-4, 7-3, or the late shift can become very laborious to some after a while. While some employees relish in the routine, others may not be well adjusted – and that is okay!
According to Sage.com, work-life balance is an important component for your company and employees. As a business, employers aren’t able to give a 100% guarantee, but they can make an effort on behalf of their team. Employees’ responsibility also take precedent in the matter such as their attitudes with work and home life in addition to maintenance.
Check out their recommendations for workplaces to adopt supportive maneuvers to help balance their employees work-life stability:
1. Offer flexible and remote working
81% of 3,500 employees we polled placed importance and value on flexible working. They want to be trusted to manage when, where and how they work.
It’s no surprise really.
Workers value employers who empower them to manage their own time. Employees feel valued at companies where they know they can finish earlier get their boiler fixed or see a physician when needed, safe in the knowledge that their employer knows that they’ll still get the job done.
2. Encourage managers to focus on productivity rather than hours
Rather than count the hours employees work, encourage managers to focus on the completion of a particular task.
Some days employees may need to put in long hours to complete a task, but this is offset by the days when they don’t need to do a full eight-hour day.
3. Encourage breaks
Encourage your employees to take breaks, take a walk or even work in an entirely different part of the office.
You can create break-out rooms or set aside spare desks that workers can go to. Sometimes team chatter and phones can be overwhelming and it’s healthy to break away for a bit.
4. Regularly review workloads
Review your allocation of duties to ensure individuals have achievable workloads.
You will need to familiarize yourself with the processes of allocating work. What seems like a small task to management might take an individual a day to do.
Managers who talk to their teams regularly will know who is busy and stressed, and who has capacity.
Ask your staff regularly to indicate to managers whether they are overworked, just right or have spare capacity.
5. Lead by example
Ensure that managers and the senior leadership team enjoy a healthy work-life balance too.
Make sure they’re leaving the office on time, taking breaks and not emailing workers out of office hours or expecting them to deliver work in unworkable time scales when it isn’t urgent.
7. Reconsider time off
Could you afford to give your staff more time off?
Equally, another way to prevent burnout is to force workers to take their time off within the holiday year by not allowing them to carry over holiday or capping how many days they can carry over.
Most team members would rather book the time off than risk losing them.
8. Increase support for parents
Often companies lose great talent, especially mums, because they can’t cater to their childcare needs.
The problem isn’t restricted to mums alone, with many men saying they want to spend more time with their children, too.
Ensure the mums and dads in your organization are getting a better work-life balance, so you don’t lose precious expertise.
Not all companies can provide company crèches. However, you can consider ways to help with childcare costs.
Also, providing better and equal benefits for maternity, paternity or shared parental leave will encourage all parents to balance their working life and parenthood regardless of their gender.
And consider if you can do more to offer parents part-time roles or job shares.
9. Offer health cash plans
Provide health cash plans providing reassurance to employees knowing that they have insurance if they or their family become unwell.
It also encourages a more pro-active approach to health check-ups and inoculations leading to fewer staff absences.
10. Perks or no perks?
Their research revealed that while 40% of business owners believe office games and similar benefits are important to employees, just 5% of workers agree.
So, if you’re considering perks in the office such as ping pong tables, think again.
However, there may be additional services that can save employees time and money and alleviate stress.
These may include:
- Subsidized gym membership or free fitness classes
- A discount at the dry cleaners
- Massages in the office
- Company cars or support including petrol allowance
- Repairs and maintenance
- Helping staff with their tax returns or tax support if they have any questions.
Think about what’s right for your people and your company, and design experiences personalized to your workforce and your people. Source: Jessica Fuhl, Sage.com
