Due to the Covid-19 pandemic disrupting how people work, employers and their personnel butt heads over work-life balance, with the former pushing for return-to-office mandates and the latter saying they’d rather quit than lose their hybrid setup.
In modern, fast-paced work environments, achieving a delicate equilibrium between professional and personal responsibilities or interests can become a Herculean task. Work-life balance issues in your organization can affect your workforce’s well-being, so, as a leader, it’s your duty to understand and address them.
It’s not only a matter of social responsibility but also strategy, as this equilibrium allows your people to do their jobs well. To help you gain a better grasp of employee work-life balance, we’ll delve into its intricacies, how you can promote it, and how doing so can greatly benefit your company.
How do you define employee work-life balance?
The definition of work-life balance can be subjective and encompasses several factors that are difficult to quantify. The Muse explored this concept in a 2023 survey that revealed the following:
- 51% of respondents saw it as something that allows them to switch seamlessly between professional and personal needs as they emerge throughout the workday or week.
- 23%, meanwhile, saw work-life balance as an equal allocation of time and priority for work and private matters, without one interfering in the other.
However you define it, work-life balance boils down to your employees enjoying stability in their jobs and the aspects outside of it, particularly in a way that leaves them pleased with both domains.
How does promoting employee work-life balance benefit your business?
To attain work-life balance, your employees must effectively manage their time and energy to fulfill professional and personal responsibilities. Your efforts should thus focus on creating an environment that enables this, and over time, your organization will see a variety of perks as a result.
Enhanced productivity
Employees who have time for rest, recreation, and other personal pursuits can effectively offset their everyday work stresses. As evidence of this, a study from the “International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health” found that a key benefit of balancing health and family alongside one’s professional endeavors is better job performance.
By allowing them to chase goals and enjoy life outside of work and minimizing the worry of overbearing, demanding employers or superiors, workers can focus more on their jobs, consistently maintain motivation, and enhance their productivity.
Attract top talent
Recruiting top talent can be extremely competitive, especially in dynamic business landscapes. Offering work-life balance initiatives, however, boosts your employer branding, in particular for high-value candidates who prioritize a healthy mix of professional and personal activities.
Statistics back up this claim:
- According to Randstad, 94% of employees find work-life balance important, and 61% of people wouldn’t accept a job that disrupted it.
- Meanwhile, 70% of workers say that an equilibrium between professional and personal life is an important consideration when looking for a new job. In fact, they value it even more than compensation, perks, and growth opportunities!
Reduced turnover
Organizations that prioritize their employees’ well-being will enjoy a happier, more committed, and more satisfied workforce.
For example, a 2022 study dove into how one’s work life quality affected their intent to depart from an organization, as well as the variables that affect it, including:
- Compensation and benefits
- Management
- Work environment
As it turns out, if any of these aspects turned out to be dismal, it significantly decreased an employee’s work life quality, which is responsible for 17% of turnover intent.
MDPI also discovered a strong connection between work-life balance and staff turnover, indicating that those unhappy about the compatibility of their jobs with their personal lives are more likely to leave their employers. It also suggests organizations that overlook this aspect of employee welfare will struggle with higher turnover.
Improved morale
A work environment marred by cutthroat management and heavy workloads demotivates employees. On the other hand, a supportive one that offers more breathing room and encourages balanced lifestyles nurtures a positive culture that enhances morale.
Something as simple as offering flexible work schedules, for instance, can go a long way: A retention survey from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) discovered work-life balance to be a reason why 75% of employees seek flexible work options. Further, 90% of employees said a flexible work schedule would increase their morale.
Enhanced creativity and innovation
Employees who have ample time, energy, and resources for their well-being and personal pursuits are able to experience activities that stimulate creativity like travel, dining, and hobbies.
That freedom allows them to broaden their horizons and bring fresh perspectives and ideas to the table, fueling innovation within your organization.
The drawbacks of overlooking employee work-life balance
A poor approach to ensuring harmony between your employees’ work and personal lives can have serious repercussions for both parties.
Employee burnout
Hefty workloads and harsh managerial styles can result in unsustainable pressure for employees and greatly diminish their well-being.
According to American Psychological Association, three out of five workers report negative physical and mental impacts due to work-related stress such as:
- Physical fatigue
- Difficulty focusing
- A lack of interest, motivation, and energy
- Emotional exhaustion
All of these factors strongly contribute to employee burnout, which greatly hinders your company’s overall productivity and can lead to problems with absenteeism and turnover.
Health issues in your workforce
Chronic stress and burnout that result from imbalances in your employees’ work and personal lives can lead to them experiencing various ailments. Specifically, the American Heart Association cited studies that linked burnout to health problems like:
- High cholesterol
- Coronary heart disease
- Type 2 diabetes
- Depressive symptoms
- Insomnia
Whether you’re an employer or manager, it’s critical you keep your workers healthy and not push them so hard as to cause long-term harm.
Decreased job satisfaction
Overwhelming work commitments pressure employees to complete them rather than spend time on their personal interests.
The inability to enjoy their hobbies, time with family and friends, and other activities can lead to resentment about work, which negatively impacts their job satisfaction. That, in turn, can easily lead to issues with engagement and turnover.
Strained relationships
An 85-year Harvard study on happiness uncovered that the key to a healthy, joyful life is strong relationships. This “social fitness” is a vital element of work-life balance as well.
However, a lack of equilibrium can cause employees to neglect their personal lives in favor of work, which greatly strains relationships with their family and friends and impedes their overall well-being and happiness. Environments that promote such situations won’t keep their workers for long. You must address them immediately, as they can bleed into workplace dynamics as well.
Signs of work-life balance issues in your organization
Many employees struggle with work-life balance. A 2023 report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in the UK dove into the effects of work on people’s personal lives to learn the following information:
- 25% of respondents find it hard to devote time to personal endeavors due to their jobs, but 54% say they don’t experience this issue.
- An astounding 54% of workers say their professional commitments make it difficult for them to relax, while 26% have no problem with it.
Detecting similar circumstances within your company, however, can be difficult, as not everyone is comfortable talking about these kinds of issues. To uncover problems with employee work-life balance early, be on the lookout for the below warning signs.
High levels of workplace stress and anxiety
People who feel pressured in their jobs may manifest it outwardly through displays of negative emotion, nerves, and restlessness. This can seep into how they interact with co-workers as well, potentially leading to arguments among team members.
This red flag is especially troubling, as these disagreements indicate issues have built up over time and can negatively impact workplace dynamics. When they occur, it’s imperative you investigate at once.
Increased absenteeism and presenteeism
When cases of absenteeism or presenteeism rise, look into the individuals partaking in such behaviors and see how they’re doing.
In CIPD’s 2022 survey on workplace stress, 76% of respondents reported stress-related absences in their organization, suggesting the appearance of such patterns can be a signal of heavy employee stress and possibly burnout.
If not resolved quickly, your organization will suffer from lost productivity. The employees who are guilty of absenteeism or presenteeism will cause trouble for their team members as well, since they’re the ones who’ll have to pick up the slack.
Decline in productivity and work quality
We mentioned a study where those under work-related stress reported negative impacts such as physical fatigue, difficulty focusing, the lack of interest, motivation, or energy, and emotional exhaustion. No matter what combination of effects your people feel, each one contributes to a decline in productivity and work quality, factors that result in underperforming employees.
These not only affect your workers and their team members but your customers and brand image as well, particularly when underperformers fulfill client-facing roles. For example, those unable to function well throughout their workday may end up delivering inferior products or services.
However, these occurrences may be difficult to spot, especially when stellar co-workers effectively make up for the lost productivity. For customer-oriented employees, meanwhile, indicators may appear in the form of customer complaints or bad reviews.
Worker complaints
Overwhelmed employees are bound to complain at some point, especially when their problems and frustrations have compounded over time. Their concerns can range from excessive workloads to toxic management or issues that seep into life beyond the office (like not having enough time for their loved ones).
Whatever the case, once employees start to speak up, it’s time to slow down, take steps to ease their burdens, and ensure their jobs don’t interfere with their personal activities.
Employee retention issues
We discussed how a focus on your workers’ well-being can translate into positive employer branding and help you attract and retain talent. The opposite is also true: A demanding workplace with little respect for one’s personal time will physically, mentally, and emotionally drain a workforce.
Obviously, this will result in many cases of job dissatisfaction, and the organization will suffer from high turnover and low retention.
How to promote and maintain employee work-life balance
At this point, you should have a clearer idea of how a healthy mix of professional and personal pursuits benefits your organization. To help kick-start your work-life balance initiatives, here are some strong examples.
Offer flexible work arrangements
Remember, life can be hectic and unpredictable, and people want their employers to respect their lives outside of work. So, integrate flexibility into your policies and allow personnel to enjoy more fluid schedules, request lighter workloads, and work from home whenever it makes sense.
The right HR tools can make this type of initiative more feasible and bolster your efforts to improve employee well-being.
Encourage regular breaks and vacations
Recently, 31% of employees named mandatory paid time off (PTO) as a top benefit they want from employers, even ranking ahead of mental health assistance. That’s because time away from work allows them to reset mentally, devote time to their loved ones, and enjoy their hobbies. Opportunities for recreation are highly valued and allow employees to return to their jobs well rested and ready to tackle new challenges.
Although the specific number is up to the employer, this perk requires workers to take a certain amount of time off. If possible, be generous and allow them to enjoy it regularly, so long as the length of their absence is within reason.
Promote open communication and feedback
Allow workers to talk openly about the work-life balance issues they face, and ask about their causes. This pinpoints the variables within your company that trigger employee stress, whether that’s excessive workloads, demanding managers, or operational inefficiencies that force people to spend more time working.
Then, you can make the necessary improvements. Establish feedback mechanisms as well where possible; processes that let employees freely and regularly give their input can reduce turnover by 14.9%.
Nurture a healthy workplace culture
According to the American Institute of Stress, no amount of resilience training can counteract the effects of a toxic workplace culture, which includes employee burnout.
Typically, the key contributors of this kind of environment range from heavy workloads and excessive pressure to a lack of autonomy and control, uncertainty, and negative behaviors.
Promoting the opposite is the only way to address company toxicity. To foster a culture that supports employee well-being, consider taking the following action:
- Limit overtime hours
- Avoid micromanagement
- Enable employee independence
Provide wellness resources
Flexible work arrangements allow employees to spend more time on personal interests and commitments. Meanwhile, you must take steps to cultivate workplace wellness and happiness, as 57% of employees and 69% of executives will seriously consider leaving their companies for one that better supports their well-being.
A popular way to ensure personnel achieve a balance between health and work is to provide platforms and programs designed to establish that equilibrium. In fact, the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) found a large percentage of employers in the U.S. and Canada recognize the value of these wellness initiatives and make them readily available:
- Mental health services (86%)
- Access to mental health mobile apps (41%)
- Standing/Walking workstations (60%)
- Walking/Fitness challenges (46%)
- Free or discounted flu shots (78%)
- Health risk assessments/appraisals (50%)
- On-site events and celebrations (59%)
By following their example, you not only support employee work-life balance but also retain them over the long term.
Incentivize employee participation
Rewarding those who take part in your initiatives is another common and effective way to encourage work-life balance in the workplace. Specifically, 48% of employers in the U.S. and Canada use gift cards as a wellness incentive, while 43% provide insurance premium reductions.
You can follow suit or give your rewards a unique spin: For instance, you could run a company-wide fitness challenge for the chance to earn an extra day of PTO. Whatever you choose, make sure you further recognize those who take work-life balance seriously but still deliver stellar results.
Follow a top-down approach
Employees look to their leaders and managers as examples, since they play a central role in guiding teams toward success. That influence also heavily influences the creation of either a positive or toxic work environment. In fact, 76% of Americans say their manager sets the culture, but 36% claim their superior doesn’t know how to oversee a team.
To establish work-life balance as a priority throughout your organization, start with your organization’s leadership and have them lead by example. Develop empathetic managers through emotional intelligence training and participation in wellness initiatives. Once employees see their leaders taking work-life balance and wellness seriously, they’ll follow suit.
Continuously evaluate and adjust
Promoting work-life balance in your organization and nurturing a healthy workplace is a long-term commitment; you don’t launch a program and then never touch it again. It’s an ongoing process that entails regular reevaluations of and adjustments to your wellness initiatives and culture.
These can be based on employee feedback, as your workers are the ones participating in your initiatives, or performance reviews, since they let you see whether your work-life balance efforts enhance productivity among individuals.
It all depends on your approach. The IFEBP, for instance, found that organizations measure wellness program success differently:
- 14% use return on investment (ROI), a straightforward approach where employers compare how much they gained to how much they spent on employee well-being.
- 11% gauge value on investment (VOI), which considers intangible assets, like cultural or behavioral improvements that contribute to company productivity.
Wrapping up — Employee work-life balance fuels organizational performance
Fostering work-life balance and wellness across your company is a strategic investment that can yield significant returns in many business segments. To unlock the full potential of your organization, establish a supportive environment and remember to:
- Let employees openly talk about how work affects their personal lives
- Offer them greater freedom and flexibility
- Start with your organization’s leadership
- Establish systems and programs that support your personnel’s welfare
- Measure your results and make changes based on what does and doesn’t work
By prioritizing your employees’ well-being and happiness, you’ll create a more productive, engaged, and loyal workforce that continuously drives success in your company.
About the Author: rachel@profilesasiapacific.com
