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5 Actionable Initiatives For a Happier Workplace – how to encourage a better work-life balance in your employees.

This month’s blog, “How to encourage a better work-life balance in your employees” offer some sage advice on one of the most important issues of our time: enjoying our jobs, yet NOT letting them overwhelm us. Here at HR Business Consultants, we’re well-placed to know how important work is in our lives.

It looms large, tunnelling its way into our thoughts and feelings – even our dreams sometimes. The roots of our working lives spread out beneath and beyond us. We earn money to pay our bills, put food on the table, and as a way to secure financial security.

In today’s fast-paced pace and unpredictable business world, enjoying our jobs is a bonus. Many of us love what we do, and feel fulfilled. Yet, company culture, technology and social media blur the lines between work and family life – or, they can easily do so.

In our opinion, the last two years have been incredibly tough for businesses, not least for those employees working from home. It hasn’t exactly been a walk in the park; higher expectations, perhaps, and feeling “on-call” for long hours have taken their toll.

Therefore, work-life balance has become a bit of a buzzword.

But, what exactly IS work-life balance, why is it so vital, and moreover, how can you encourage a good mix between labour and leisure in those who work for you?

What is Work-Life Balance?

A healthy, sustainable working environment that minimises stress, fatigue and burnout.

In other words, on the weighing scales of life, work and personal time are, on the whole evened out; stable, steady and equal. Work plays an essential role, but doesn’t overwhelm, crush or harm our physical and mental health.

 The Problem

Employers expect results, and rightly so.

But, when there’s all-hours pressure, there’s less time spent at home, or on being “present” at home, as well as pressure on relationships and family commitments. Work hard. Now, work harder. The results? Employees fail to work smart, because they’re worn out.

They’re disengaged, tired and unproductive. They make mistakes. Work is a tough slog, a chore. And it never ends. Look out for that resignation letter on your desk quite soon. Also, the expense of a recruitment campaign, plus the associated time-consuming onboarding processes.

It doesn’t have to be this way. And, it shouldn’t be this way.

 The Solution: Your Role as a Leader

As a business leader, here at HR Business Consultants, we believe that you have a personal responsibility to support your team to juggle the demands of their work and personal lives.

Do you want to keep your key people? Help them grow in your organisation. Here are 5 essentials to think about.

1. Offer Flexible and Remote Working

Yet, do it well.

If you’re looking to encourage a better work-life balance in your employees, it’s time to be reasonable. Don’t expect an extra hour or two’s work per day because someone’s toiling away from their kitchen table.  People appreciate being trusted, which is no major surprise.

If you express confidence that someone will manage their own time well, it’s going to happen. Knowing that they can pop to the dentist, get their boiler fixed, or skip down to the gym at lunchtime will pay dividends.

NB: this isn’t easy to achieve, not least if your staff have recently returned to the office post-Covid. You may be looking to re-create the team vibe that was lost during the pandemic. The best way forward? Ask for advice, we’re happy to help implement a “WFH” policy for you.

2. Focus on productivity NOT on hours

An extension to the above point, perhaps.

Likewise, an obvious one, but not always easy to achieve.

There may be a lingering suspicion that a shorter working day equals less work done. In our view, nothing could be further from the truth. Presenteeism is the enemy of a productive working environment. In fact, it’s rather outmoded; very 1980s. This isn’t Wall Street.

Try to encourage managers to emphasise the completion of a certain task, rather than the length of time he or she expects it to take. Some days it may take longer, but at other times, not. The employee doesn’t always need to spin out their working day until home time.

The four-day working week has become a subject of great interest in many organisations. Could this work for you?

3. Lead by Example

Where you lead, others will follow. Are you a shining example of a healthy work-life balance in your office hours?

Do you leave the office on time, or are you still toiling away at 6.30pm with no sign of leaving? Do you send emails over the weekend? Apologies, but this isn’t wildly useful. Why? Because nobody will feel they can leave until you do.

Not only are you encouraging your team to stack up hours, ultimately, we’re back to the productivity issue. More likely than not, they’re going to be less creative, less dynamic, less valuable to your business – and more resentful.

4. Review workloads regularly

Are you completely up to speed with the processes in your business?

If you’re not sure, what seems like a small task could in actually take a full day, and require the input of several others. Some members of staff may have more capacity and space than others. Too much work equals stress, too little also, strangely enough, equals stress.

In our experience, overworked staff may not raise this as an issue. They’ll simply dis-engage and resign, upsetting the work-allocation apple cart along the way, at least in the short to medium term.

Ask your staff regularly to let you or their line managers know whether they’re overworked. Or, even if they’d like to take on more challenging work.

5. Examine your benefits package

We could discuss this important topic over an entire blog, and here we’re not talking about what you pay your staff. Regarding health and wellbeing, have you considered the following:

• Gym membership. Yes, the most obvious candidate, but well worth considering.
• Free on-site yoga or Pilates classes. Namaste.
• Discounts for local services, eg dry cleaning
• A free neck and shoulder massage once a month

If you suspect that the happiness-welfare-comfort factors in your company could do some improvements, the above could be some positive food for thought.

In summary, may we offer you the following advice: never underestimate what’s going on in people’s heads. Our emotional wellbeing links directly to our physical health, and our experiences at work can often dictate and dominate our lives.

Every employee is different; there’s no one-size fits all work-life balance, so there may be various measures to try for best results.

Your staff are your most valuable asset. The future of your business lies in their hands. And in yours, as their leader.

If you’d like to know more about work-life balance, HR Business Consultants can help. We have all the practical advice you need, so do get in touch.