Companies that don't invest in solving the work-life balance riddle will lose quality people
In my 30 years of advising companies, a topic that gets a lot of attention - and generates a lot of controversy - is the concept of work-life balance.
Executive teams lament that today's employees don't have the work ethic they did back in the day, while employees voice concerns that work today has no boundaries in a connected world.
The COVID-19 pandemic's work-from-home era has only added fuel to the fire. Now many leadership teams want employees back on site at least a few days a week to foster collaboration and culture building. But employees are less enthusiastic. They learned they can get their work done more efficiently from home and have more flexibility managing their lives (especially without the long, frustrating commutes).
This is all coming to a head as employees feel empowered to leave their jobs in a hot labor market. According to a study conducted by Microsoft, 52% of those ages 25 to 35 were considering changing employers. The top reasons were lack of work-life balance and mental health and lack of flexibility in work hours or locations.
Companies that don't invest in solving the work-life balance riddle will lose quality people. So what's the truth of work-life balance? Is it real or fantasy?
The truth is that work-life balance is unique to each person and the definition can change over time based on life changes and personal needs. There is no one way to create work-life balance for all employees across the board.
Instead, employers should focus on investing in the employee experience. According to author and speaker Jacob Morgan, who focuses on speaks about leadership and the future of work, employees who enjoy their jobs and are happy with their employers feel stronger integration between work and life. They tend to be comfortable with less firm boundaries between work and life.
Conversely, employees that are not happy or fulfilled in their work tend to put up bigger boundaries. These employees prefer a clean separation between their work and personal lives because they need to step away completely from work to focus on the aspects of their lives that they find more fulfilling.
So what can employers do to navigate these complicated times of returning to the office, the Great Resignation and highly diverse work teams? Here are a few tips:
1. Let employees know that you care about their well-being. Bring in experts to address your team on best practices for self-care and balance, stress management, creating sensible boundaries and the power of exercise and meditation.
2. Listen to employees. What do they need to gain a greater sense of balance and control over their work lives? Demonstrating empathetic listening to employees does wonders - even if you cannot deliver on everything they request.
3. Create intentional boundaries that work for both the company and the employee. Consider policies like no emails over the weekend unless a business emergency arises, video-free Fridays or incentives to use vacation days versus carrying them over.
4. Finally, manage team members based on quality of work output produced versus number of hours clocked. Today's diverse workforce juggles such a wide array of responsibilities outside of work. Employees are more engaged, loyal and productive when they feel they have greater control over their work schedule and have some flexibility in when they get their work done.
• Paul Eccher, Ph.D., is president and CEO of The Vaya Group in Warrenville.