Strategy 1...
The Work Life Balance Myth

"Forward thinking organisations have gone beyond the view of employees as
business assets, to seeing them as whole people, with lives outside of work.
Good advice to corporations is this:
invest in your human capital and it will increase in value."

Most companies still view the quest for work and life balance as competing with each other, where the gain in one means the loss in the other. Traditional thinking companies still want to own their employees around the clock, and see work life balance programs as unneeded social welfare.

New innovative companies understand changing lifestyle trends and the real benefits of retaining a great team of employees. They are taking a refreshing approach by collaborating with employees to achieve both work and lifestyle objectives in a beneficial win/win situation.

If as employees we are happier in our lives outside of work, we are likely to be happier, less resentful and more productive in our work.

Actions

• Support and recognise staff as whole people with very valid non-working lives. Help celebrate their achievements outside work. An internal newsletter or email can do this, or simply asking others about their personal life especially in annual reviews.
  
  
• Encourage managers to clearly communicate the business objectives to employees and encourage them to be just as clear about their own personal life goals. For example, in weekly meetings, not only ask about best successes from a business perspective, but also best successes from a non-working perspective. This can help establish a balance culture.
  
  
• Constantly experiment with new approaches to getting work done so that organisational goals are achieved but employees are also allowed to perform well in their work life priorities. For example, encourage people to work from home once a week if it suits them. This can enhance a sense of freedom, flexibility, save on travel time, and in doing so, promote work life balance.

Quiz

Click here to do a quiz to benchmark how and your organisation are currently going relative to Work Life Balance.

"Forward thinking organisations have gone beyond the view of employees
as business assets, to seeing them as whole people, with lives inside
and outside of work. The advice I give to corporations is this: invest in
your human capital and it will increase in value".
Ian Hutchinson, Life by Design®

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