Building a Balanced Life
With employees increasingly tied to their work via laptops and cell phones, a backlash has begun. Today, employees are pushing for improved work-life balance — and studies have shown that this trend can have real benefits for individuals and companies.
While some employers fear that work-life balance will mean a reduction in work hours and productivity, this is usually not the case. In fact, when workers enjoy greater flexibility at work, employers find that productivity and efficiency improve. Plus, turnover decreases due to higher job satisfaction and reduced stress in the workplace.
Talk to your employees about their specific needs related to work-life balance. Then get creative with ways to address their key issues. You may find that some of these ideas will suit your business:
Flexible Hours
Not all employees need to be tied to a desk from 8am to 5pm. Consider whether some of your staff could work from 7am to 3:30pm so they can pick their children up from school. Or whether others could work four 10-hour days to give them three-day weekends. The goal is to shift your focus from the hours worked to the quality and quantity of work being performed.
Flexible Leave
Employees have a variety of reasons for taking days off. Sometimes it’s for vacation, and other times it may be to care for a sick child or elderly family member. To accommodate these ongoing needs, you may want to allow employees to “buy” extra days off with a slight decrease in salary. In addition, you could provide additional support for those who want to further their education through time off for study. This can be done with or without pay, and such education can ultimately benefit your company as well.
Job Sharing
If two employees with similar skill sets would prefer to work part time, it may be worth the effort to allow them to share a single position and gain more time for family responsibilities.
Telecommuting
If some of your team members could work almost exclusively via phone and e-mail, then they may be good candidates for working from home. As an added bonus, surveys have shown that telecommuters are often more productive because they experience fewer distractions from co-workers.
On-site Daycare
If your company is large enough, and you have many parents of young children on staff, this is a great way to help them stay connected to their children during workdays.
Healthful Opportunities
Whether it’s a gym membership, weekly on-site yoga classes or a weight-loss competition, there are a variety of ways that you can encourage improved health among your staff. And remember — a healthy team is a more productive team.