Work-Life Balance Overview

Work-life balance has undoubtedly come a long way since its introduction in the late 1970s. People have become more aware of its importance and relevance. Countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand were among the sole pioneers of work-life balance, but now the rest of the Western world is finally catching up.

The globalization of work-life balance and the buzzword it has become has increased awareness among employees in many different countries – employees still want to work, and work hard, but not at the expense of their personal life. Action taken by national governments has led to a flurry of legislation within the sphere of work-life balance. With this in mind, it is important for organizations to keep abreast of major legal developments within the sphere of work-life balance. In the UK, for example, one of the biggest steps taken by the government on flexible working hours came into effect in April 2003, when parents of young and disabled children gained the right to request flexible working. This right was then extended to carers in April 2007, and was extended to those with parental responsibility for children aged 16 and under in April 2009. [3] As a result, employers now need to give serious consideration to restructuring the way work is done in order to accommodate changes in the workplace.

The business world has also been quick to adapt to this changing climate, using web-based technology to offer helpful services such as internet banking and grocery delivery to free up more of that most precious commodity – time.

Benefits for Business

The advantages for employers who introduce work-life balance measures can be numerous, and an increasing number of managers are acknowledging the improvements they have seen in their teams or departments.

By offering attractive work-life balance initiatives, employers may see improvements in:

• Organizational reputation and image, leading to better recruitment prospects – work-life balance incentives can be highly beneficial to employers who are trying to recruit new talent, and as popularity for work-life balance initiatives grows, it will become increasingly difficult for employers to recruit the best candidates unless what they can offer employees in terms of work-life balance is up to scratch. Organizations will also benefit from attracting a wider variety of candidates for a position, as those who require more flexible working practices, such as those with young children, will be encouraged to apply for jobs. Having work-life balance policies in place could therefore make recruitment easier and cheaper.
• Retention of existing employees (e.g new parents, employees returning from a career break) can be greatly enhanced by work-life balance policies and opportunities for flexible working.
• Employee morale and psychological wellbeing – employees who are happier, healthier and have more energy will therefore feel more supported by, and committed to, the business, which also leads to improved job satisfaction.
• Quality and quantity of production – partly as a result of reduced absenteeism, but also as a result of working from home (75% of home workers in the US have reported a quantifiable increase in productivity and work quality).
• Lower business costs – working from home costs less for organizations, e.g. property costs will fall as office space is reduced, utility and resource costs will also fall, and those employees who work from home may actually be geographically closer to clients, reducing traveling time and expenses.

They can also expect to see reductions in:

• absenteeism and turnover – employees who are less stressed enjoy better health, which means fewer genuine sick days
• on the job injuries and accidents
• compensation claims
• feelings of stress, depression or anxiety caused by trying to juggle work and home life

Benefits for Employees

A wide range of employees in organizations or departments where greater work-life balance initiatives have been introduced have highlighted the main advantages as:

• greater control over life and the ability to deal with formerly conflicting priorities
• improved health and reduced stress levels
• increased morale and improvement in attitude to work
• improved relationships with managers
• more time for personal priorities

Issues to Tackle When Trying to Achieve Work-Life Balance

While responsibility for managing stress, time and wellbeing lies principally with the individual employee, managers and leaders still have an important role to play. Even though some organizations have formal work-life balance policies in place, implementation needs to come from the managerial level if these policies are to be entirely successful.

1. Stress

Stress management is important when trying to create a better work-life balance, as it is a major problem for both businesses and employees. In the UK, the most recent statistics from the Health and Safety Executive indicate that an estimated 595,000 people reported as suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2017/18. [4] Estimates from the survey also revealed that approximately 15.4 million working days were lost in the UK in 2017/18 due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety. This equates to an average of 25.8 working days lost per affected case, making stress the largest contributor to the overall estimated annual work days lost from work-related ill health. [5]

This presents serious problems for both employees and organizations. Employees suffering from severe occupational stress are often beset with a catalog of associated health complaints and often find it difficult to reintegrate themselves to organizational life upon returning from a lengthy period of sick-leave. From an organizational perspective, in addition to the costs associated with lost working days, any legal action pursued by employees on issues of stress can have serious financial (and reputation-related) consequences for organizations.

It is common knowledge that stress, both occupational and social, is on the increase and the key for businesses is to take steps towards combating any high occupational stress levels evident within the organization. To do this, business leaders and managers must look seriously at how work is carried out within their organization. By restructuring the way work is done, for example, managers may discover ways to reduce stress levels, thus helping themselves and their employees to find a better work-life balance.

2. Time Management

Time management can also be a vital component in working towards a better work-life balance. If you cannot organize your time, you may find you are unnecessarily creating a bigger workload for yourself, which could then lead to stress. If stress and time mismanagement issues are not addressed, chronic work-life imbalance may result. As work-life balance is essentially about trying to harmonize the conflicting areas of your life, by taking time to analyze your current use of time, identify any time-wasting factors, and structure your work more efficiently, you will be taking some positive steps towards a better work-life balance.

Managers also have a role to play in their employees' time management. If, as a manager, you have noticed that team members are working long hours, procrastinating or wasting time, you have a responsibility to tackle the problem. Identifying the root of the problem will help you decide on the most appropriate way of tackling it, but you should also help by setting realistic deadlines for projects and tasks, planning appropriately and taking into account unexpected emergencies such as illness or special leave, reviewing working practices, and arranging time management training for those team members who need it. You should also aim to set a good personal example by managing your own hours effectively.

3. Health and Physical Wellbeing

Previously, when people thought about health in the workplace, it was usually associated with 'health and safety' – minimizing physical risk, reporting accidents, first aid etc. However, traditional occupational hazards, while still important, are now considered alongside increasing concerns about the relationship between work and mental and physical wellbeing.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are a leading cause of long-term absence in the UK, with around 11.6 million working days lost each year. [6] A similar picture is found in the USA, where MSD accounts for 33% of lost working days, costing the economy around $254 billion per year.[7] [8] However, many countries have implemented simple back pain campaigns, to educate workers about what to do when back pain strikes.

In Australia, the Back Pain: Don't Take it Lying Down campaign (1997-1999) was a huge success. It was designed to educate Australians about back pain and provide advice on how to manage it, through TV commercials presenting simple messages illustrating that low back pain is not a serious medical problem; it can be improved and even prevented through positive mental attitude; people with back pain should stay active and keep exercising rather than resting, and should remain at work. The campaign had a lasting beneficial effect, leading to a significant drop in the number, length and cost of employee compensation claims related to back pain. These findings have had a profound impact on health policy and back pain research, prompting similar campaigns in various countries including Canada, England, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland and Wales. [9]

For most people of working age, work is good for personal health and for the health of their families. It follows that individual health is also good for organizational health, as it ensures a fit, motivated and productive workforce – in other words, good health makes good business sense. It is estimated that approximately 2.3 million people in the UK suffer from ill health caused by work, amounting to 32.9 million lost working days and costing the economy around £100 billion each year, with similar figures from Europe, the US, Canada and Australasia, so taking steps to address the main health issues faced by the working age population is clearly a logical step in the right direction. [10]

Health and Wellbeing – Whose Responsibility?

Many organizations now offer a dizzying array of initiatives to support the wellbeing of their workforce, for example free gym memberships, private healthcare, smoking cessation clinics, free fruit, free health screenings and organized sporting activities. Organizations don't need to spend a fortune on employee wellbeing: even those with limited resources can still promote wellness at work, such as sending out promotional emails, adding health-related information to their intranet, or including health tips in employees' payslips.

The responsibility for health and wellbeing lies with employees and employers alike. Promoting good health and wellbeing involves:

• educating and training managers on the impact of workforce health and its link with productivity, engagement and motivation
• educating employees and involving them in decisions that affect their jobs and how things are done
• managing change in order to minimize any negative impact on employee health
• redesigning working practices and job roles to give employees more control over what they do and how they do it

While work can have a positive impact on our personal health and wellbeing, there is a growing body of evidence to show that organizations that promote health and wellbeing in the workplace will reap significant rewards. Healthy and well motivated employees will have a positive impact on the productivity and effectiveness of a business, as improved wellbeing improves motivation, which, in turn, improves performance, which increases productivity and profits.

4. Flexible Working

Flexible working has become one of the most popular ways of creating a better balance between the conflicting priorities of career and lifestyle. While surveys consistently show that flexible working options are extremely popular with employees, they also highlight the positive benefits this offers for businesses. Indeed, many organizations have found that by allowing employees a little more freedom and flexibility in how and where they work, overtime costs can be reduced. This can also alleviate stress in the workplace, boost employee morale and increase productivity.

While more traditional flexible working initiatives such as flexitime, job-sharing and part-time work remain popular, advances in technology have allowed employers to offer a wider range of flexible options, such as:

• Remote working/teleworking – where employees work from somewhere other than the office (e.g. home) and communicate with their employers by telephone, email, instant messaging, video conferencing etc.
• Annualized hours – working hours are calculated across the year rather than the week. This means that employees can take more time off when business is quiet. This is becoming increasingly popular in businesses that operate around peak and off-peak times of the year.
• Phased retirement – this allows people to retire over a fixed period so that vital skills and knowledge do not suddenly disappear and instead can be passed on to those taking over. This is becoming increasingly popular due to an aging workforce and the pensions crisis.

Communication

Communication improves working relationships by building trust and cooperation, which are essential for the success of any work-life balance initiative. It is by communicating and understanding the business needs and the needs of the employees that steps towards implementing work-life balance measures can be taken. In addition, if employees communicate workplace problems to their managers, managers can take steps to help their employees avoid unnecessary stress.

Communication and Health Promotion

The benefits that good health can bring to employees and organizations as a whole are quite clear. Health promotion improves wellbeing, which, in turn, improves motivation, thus improving performance, which increases productivity and profits. However, encouraging people to take the first steps towards improving their health can be a real challenge. When promoting good health in the workplace, the first step is to present the business case for health promotion to team members and senior colleagues, articulating the benefits of such a program and securing buy-in. The next steps are to:

• plan appropriately
• set objectives
• decide on the audience
• identify resources required
• finalize the nature of the campaign (e.g. speakers, masterclasses, websites, activities)
• decide how it will be promoted, by evaluating the target audience and the resources available

Examples of publicity materials include e-shots, social media posts, leaflets, intranet, team meetings, newsletters and posters.

Whatever the reason for pursuing a work-life balance program, it is important for managers to keep in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Different initiatives will suit different workplaces, and any measures implemented should be beneficial for both the business and the employee.

Conclusion

According to the Work Foundation, work-life balance is "about people having a measure of control over when, where and how they work. It is achieved when an individual's right to a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work is accepted and respected as the norm, to the mutual benefit of the individual, business and society." [11] Forward-thinking organizations are becoming more aware of the compelling business case for work-life balance, and a work-life policy that respects and balances employee, client and organizational needs can be beneficial to all.