Ask yourself a question – Do we live to work, or work to live? Most of us are done with work at the end of the day, but it could extend even into the weekend for many. Some of us welcome this while others disagree. The differentiator being, an employee-friendly organization makes sure to put its staff first over anything else as their top priority.
As an employer, you must understand your employees, their work-life goals, needs and desire, their expectations from work and most importantly, their personalities. It’s true that when it comes to maintaining a work-life balance, employees have to take responsibility and make sincere efforts. An employer could do a few things to help employees achieve and maintain a healthy work-life balance in a way that works for them.
A few workplace practices or changes to your workspace itself that help employers ensure their employees get the balance right are:
Provide Flexible and Remote Work
Majority of the employee's place importance and value on flexible working. They prefer to be trusted with work, how they manage, when, where and how they do it. Employee’s value companies which empower them to manage their own time and work. They feel appreciated in an organization where they know they could finish earlier, see a physician when needed or get a household job done, safe with the knowledge that their employer trusts that they would still get the work done on time.
Encourage Focus on Productivity Rather Than Hours
Rather than tracking the number of hours employees spend at work, encourage employees to complete a singular task. On some days, employees might need to put in extra effort to complete a task but get offset again when they do not need to work a full 8-hour day. One way to encourage this is to work out of dynamic customized workspaces.
Encourage Breaks or Vacations
Encourage your employees to take vacations. In spite of working out of an aesthetically designed large furnished office space occasionally taking a break or even working in a different part of the office for some time should be encouraged for variation. Break-out areas or cafeterias where workers could go to hang out should be made available. At times team chatter and mobile phones could be overwhelming, and hence it's healthy to break away for some time.
Review Daily Workloads Regularly
Review your allocation of work to ensure that all individuals have achievable workloads. You would need to familiarize yourself with the process of allocating work. What may seem like a small task to the management might take an individual a day to complete. Managers who talk to their teams regularly can discern who is overloaded and stressed, and who has additional capacity to work. Ask your staff regularly to indicate to managers if they are overworked, just right or have spare capacity.
Lead By Example
Ensure that managers and the senior leadership team enjoy a healthy work-life balance too. Leaving the office on time, taking vacations/breaks, not emailing workers during out of office hours, or expecting them to deliver work in non-working time scales unless it is urgent.
Provide Employees with Opportunities to Volunteer
Certain studies show that millennial is more motivated by social action than a pay-check when looking for a job. Having the opportunity to contribute and do good is not just confined to millennial, though. If workers are provided with the freedom to give back whilst working, then they automatically feel good about themselves and their work in general.
Support for Parents
Often, companies find it difficult to retain talent, especially mothers, as they cannot accommodate the additional childcare needs required. The problem is not restricted to mothers alone with many men too now saying they want to spend more time with their children.
Ensure that the mothers and fathers in your organization are getting better work-life balance so that you do not lose out on precious assets. Some coworking spaces also provide certain amenities like creches that can help in this.
The benefits of a healthier work-life balance for your business's growth are phenomenal. Not only are the employees healthier, happier and more productive, but your company will become well known for looking after employees. This is sure to even attract and retain top talent. Ultimately, it comes down to whether your business is one that keeps people at the heart of what it does and is loved by its people.
Are you part of an organization where people are the most valuable asset, and where a company's success is dependent on their workforce being successful? If so, supporting the right work-life balance is particularly indispensable.
A large part of taking care of employees consist of enabling them to work in ergonomically designed workspaces. Check out our range of built-to-suit workspaces for rent in Chennai and also available across many other locations in Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad.