More than ever before, today’s employees want and expect to strike balance between their personal and professional lives. This is not evidence of a lack of drive, it’s simply an acknowledgment that people work to live, not live to work. As employers have increasingly made work-life balance a priority in their human resources strategies, they’ve managed to boost morale and productivity, reduce turnover, and foster a positive company culture. If you’re eager to introduce these benefits to your own team, use these strategies to encourage a better work-life balance:
- Allow Flexible Scheduling – A majority of work can now be done remotely. Allow your team members to schedule their time more flexibly using telecommuting, off-hour scheduling, or four-day workweeks.
- Switch to Paid Time Off – Instead of forcing team members to give you a reason to take a day off – illness, vacation, personal day – let them take paid time off for any reason they feel is necessary.
- Log Off – In some offices, there is the expectation that even when someone is out of the office they will be available to take phone calls and respond to emails. Establish guidelines and limits for these kinds of out-of-office contacts so that your team members can actually get away from work.
- Permit Unpaid Leave – Life is unpredictable. When life-changing events happened, whether they be positive or negative, allow team members to take some time off without pay. This particular arrangement respects both the team members needs and the needs of your company.
- Be Reasonable – When there is a major deadline looming, it is acceptable to expect employees to work nights and weekends. It’s not acceptable to make this the norm. Your team can be accomplished and productive without working 70 hours every week.
- Acknowledge Overlap – There will be times when your team members will need to talk with a child for 20+ minutes or deal with an insurance issue during work time. Simply acknowledging that life often necessarily bleeds into work and being accepting of this occasional overlap can make things a lot easier on your team.
- Set an Example – As a manager, if you spend all your time working or all your time out of the office, you make it harder for others to strike a healthy work-life balance. Everyone else will follow the lead you set, so strive to be the balanced professional that you want to populate your team with.
If your team could use a boost, making work-life balance a grater priority is a powerful first step. But that’s not all your can do to encourage productivity, efficiency, and innovation. Learn about other effective strategies by contacting Selectek.
