Healthy Journey by Work-Life Balance
Introduction
Work frequently takes priority over all other aspects, and some reasons for this are the following:
- Financial commitment in the family
- Having children
- To achieve carrier growth targets
- Competition with friends, and colleagues in the professional field
- Targets set by the organization
- To get extra benefits from the organization
We may be tempted to put our own well-being last in order to achieve professional success. Yet, striking a healthy balance between work and life—also known as work-life integration—is essential if we are to enhance not only our physical, emotional, and mental health but also our career.
In the journey of anyone's life, the working period take up more than half of the time; it is important that the journey be happier and healthier in order to celebrate life day by day. In this post, I'll discuss the value of work-life balance as well as its advantages. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is crucial for employees to succeed in both their professional and personal lives.
What is work-life balance?
In short, work-life balance is the state of equilibrium
where a person equally prioritizes the demands of one’s career and the demands
of one’s personal life. (Sanfilippo, 2023)
How to Recognise Poor Employee Work-Life Balance
- Decrease in productivity
- Employees doing a lot of overtime
- Employees taking a lot of time off to deal with 'emergencies' involving children or other dependents
- High levels of employee stress
- High rates of absenteeism or staff sickness
- High levels of staff turnover
Image credit: Medical News Today
The Benefit of Work-life Balance:
With a satisfactory work-life balance, employers can reap a range of benefits. Productivity is higher, absenteeism is lower, and physical and mental health improves with a higher commitment and motivation to work. Personal relationships can also benefit from achieving this balance. (Thomas, 2021)
1. Less Health Issues
When the workload is higher and becomes stressful, it will not only harm our personal lives; it will also cause health issues, which will also lead to frustration and depression. (Wedgwood, 2021)
2. More Engagement
When an employee balances his or her work and personal life, it leads them to have a good mental state, which will help them work better and also be happier at work.
A motivated workforce will go above and beyond for you and serve as ardent supporters of your company's image and offerings. Temkin Group claims that "engaged personnel are 2.5 times more inclined to stay at work late if something needs to be done after the typical workday finishes" as support for their claim. (Wedgwood, 2021)
3. Less 'Burnouts'
If the workload is managed well, they will be able to avoid burnout. Employers should be able to monitor the workload of their employees to avoid overload. (Wedgwood, 2021)
4. More Mindfulness
Every organization will prefer that the employees are more focused on the work and that it is completed within the specified time frame. Employees learn to concentrate better on their work when they balance their personal and professional lives. ( Wedgwood, 2021)
How Employers Support Employees to have a Work-Life Balance?
Flexible work time: It is essential to have a
standard time frame to complete the task; however, flexible working hours are a
great benefit to the employees and will help them balance their personal lives.
Performance-based rather than a number of hours: The
organization's management should focus on the performance of the employees
rather than the number of hours they work. Based on the project and task,
sometimes it takes more time to complete the task, or the employee might have a
relax day if the task is completed quickly. However, if the staff are focused
on the work and do it happily, the organization will benefit.
Make sure employees take breaks: when employees
are busy and stressed due to completing tasks, it is better to give short
breaks to them since it will help them refresh their minds and focus
better.
Check the amount of work allocated to an employee: It
is important to keep an eye on the workload given to the employees. If the
workload is high, there are chances that the employee will take time out of his
regular personal life to complete the task, and it's also better to check with
the employee on the work process on a regular basis.
Make sure employees take their holidays: With
the competition among the organizations, employees are pushed to achieve the
targets on time, so it is important for the management to support staff with
paid holidays so that they can refresh themselves and do the work better.
Set boundaries: Setting boundaries will help
employees balance their professional and personal lives. Even though staff are
on regular weekend holidays or annual leave, they do certain professional work.
Ex sending emails which will also lead to an imbalance work - life.
Take care of employees’ mental health: It is
important for a person to be happy and healthy on a day-to-day basis. A regular
chat with staff will help to understand their health condition and support them
with necessary action if needed.
Organise social events: Employees can meet and
learn more about one another through a relaxed get-together during or after
work. Because of this, they will be less anxious while sending emails to
coworkers or even their employers during business hours. Check out our picks
for the best remote team games.
Lead by example: t is essential that the management sets an example of what they want the employees to do. If the manager sends an email late at night, there are chances that the employees will do the same. ( Fuhl 2023)
Ways Employees Can Develop Work-Life Balance:
1. Learn to say no when needed: It is essential to plan and schedule your daily work so that your productivity is good and you can complete the work on time. However, when we take on more work that is not in my schedule (unless it is very urgent), we will have to work extra hours, which have to come from the employee's personal time. We need to learn to say no when it's required so that we can balance our work and personal. ( Wolf 2021)
2. Take a break: A study by The Energy Project found people naturally go from full focus to physiological fatigue every 90 minutes.
3. Request for flexibility: Open and sincere discussions about your demands as well as those of your company and team might result in practical solutions. This might include job sharing, flextime, a shorter workweek, and other innovative choices.
4. Develop compassion for yourself: Realizing that life isn't always simple is crucial. Everyone has difficulties, and you won't always do things "perfectly." You can make a change toward a more compassionate growth-and-learning attitude to work and life by realizing this reality. This may support a feeling of balance.
5. Put your health first: Making your physical, emotional, and mental health a priority in your life begins with realizing how crucial it is to keep them in good condition.
Use the idea of habit-building to incorporate quick, helpful tasks into your day. Think about the following behaviours:
- Daily mindfulness
- Movement/exercise
- Social interaction
- A practice of appreciation
- Deciding to use your paid vacation time
Source: The Happiness Index
Conclusion
Work-life balance is highly essential for employees in order to have a healthy and happy journey in their professional and personal lives. By balancing work and personal life, they succeed in both areas by providing the best to the workplace and family.
Reference list
Fuhl.J. (2023) 12 ways to support a better work-life balance for your employees. Sage (online). Available at https://www.sage.com/en-gb/blog/hr-support-better-work-life-balance-workplace/, Accessed on 31st March 2023.
Weerasinghe, T.D. and Dilhara, M.G.D., 2018. Effect of work stress on work-life balance: Moderating role of work-life support organizational culture in Sri Lanka customs department. Journal of the University of Kelaniya, 32(1-2), p.69.
Thomas, L (2021) Importance of a work-life balance, News ( online). Available at: https://www.news-medical.net/health/Importance-of-a-Work-Life-Balance.aspx#:~:text=With%20a%20satisfactory%20work%2Dlife,benefit%20from%20achieving%20this%20balance. Accessed: March 27, 2023.
Sanfilippo, M. (2023) How to improve your work-life balance. Business News Daily. Available at: https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5244-improve-work-life-balance-today.html. Accessed: March 27, 2023.
Wedgwood, J. (2021) The importance of work-life balance. The Happiness Index ( online). Available at: https://thehappinessindex.com/blog/importance-work-life-balance/. Accessed on 27th March 2023.
Wolf. J. (2021) Try these 12 tips to improve your work-life balance. Betterup (online). Available at https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6502930271021375611/2420827184315099312. Accessed on 31st March 2023.
For Sri Lankan employees in the current climate, this is a fantastic essay. This post offers me as a worker in an organization more things to think about in terms of my own work-life balance. As a reader, you have used more pragmatism to make it very apparent so that we can comprehend this notion. Excellent and quite useful essay.
ReplyDeleteVery interestingly spoken article.
ReplyDeleteWork-life-balance plays a vital part in employee's life. Focus on financial benefits and career development must be managed parallel to personal demands as well. Personal demands have a psychological impact over the employee which must be taken into consideration by employees when making strategic decisions and policies. In addition to the points on employer support discussed in the article paternity / maternity leave policies, medical leave policies, flexible working hours and insurance cover could be also considered by the employer to provide a better work life balance to their employees.
Interesting take on the topic. My question to you is, do all employees have the liberty of expecting and demanding work-life balance, especially if they wish to climb the corporate ladder quickly? I am thinking more along the lines of the South Asian context. Keen to know your thoughts on this.
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for the reply and your question is great ....My answer to your question will be " is it worth to climb in the professional lader when your personal life is not happier and healthier?
DeleteThe article discusses the importance of work-life balance and its benefits for employees and employers. The article begins with the definition of work-life balance and how to recognize poor employee work-life balance. The article then goes on to highlight the benefits of work-life balance such as less health issues, more engagement, less burnouts, and more mindfulness. Furthermore, the article provides various ways that employers can support their employees in achieving a work-life balance such as flexible work time, performance-based work, breaks, checking workload, taking holidays, setting boundaries, and taking care of employees’ mental health. Overall, the article emphasizes the significance of work-life balance and the role of employers in supporting their employees to achieve it.
ReplyDeleteQuite an interesting explanation of the work-life balance theory. Some people prefer to devote more of their time to their jobs than to their personal lives. For example, if we question an entrepreneur about their entire life, they will likely say that they have launched a business and are constantly looking for and putting into practice new strategies to grow it. What do you think about this group of people, and do they require a balance between their personal and professional lives? Does it still apply?
ReplyDeleteThanks Piumi for commending. My opinion for your question is, Is it worth to sacrifice the personal life for carrier growth, yes people may have different opinion, but for me it's not worth. It's important to have balance.
DeleteVery essential topic in human resource management Barathi .Work-life balance is an aspect of employee well-being related to the employee's ability to manage both personal and professional responsibilities with adequate time for rest and leisure. Each individual may define his or her ideal work-life balance differently. Some organizational factors that interfere with work-life balance are stringent rules, excessive workload, hostile work environment, time pressure, and lack of job security. Work-life balance is a sense that you're able to meet your obligations at work and at home while having time to enjoy your hobbies and interests in your personal time. The perfect ratio of work to home looks different to everyone.
ReplyDeleteWork-life balance is a very important concept in order to ensure that your employees are not overworked and have mental freedom.
ReplyDeleteThis article highlights the importance of work-life balance for employees and the benefits that can be achieved by maintaining a healthy balance. The research study conducted among customs officers in Sri Lanka found that many officers were suffering from work-life balance issues due to the work roster, rotation, and endless night shifts. This article also emphasizes that a healthy work-life balance is crucial for employees to succeed in both their professional and personal lives. Employers can benefit from having employees with a satisfactory work-life balance, as productivity is higher, absenteeism is lower, and physical and mental health improves. The article suggests that employers can support employees to achieve a healthy work-life balance by offering flexible working hours, performance-based work evaluation, providing regular breaks, checking workloads, offering paid holidays, setting boundaries, and taking care of employees’ mental health. Overall, this post is an important reminder that achieving work-life balance is crucial for both employees and employers, and it's essential to maintain a healthy balance for a happier and healthier life.
ReplyDelete