Worklife Balance – A ‘Current Climate’ Stress Reducer and Bottom-Line Enhancer

Let's regard the life side. For me, life is about family friends, leisure learning and self. Usually includes social, spiritual and leisure too. For women, 85% of caring responsibilities are still carried out by them, and women tend to still be the main home-makers; even though they hold down big careers too. Caring can account for up to 50 hours a week; add that to a full time demanding career or boss and where is the time for self? Where is the time to rest, nurture and refresh?

Many employers still demand that people are 'present' at work, and can often be inflexible, although there are a huge number who understand that contribution cannot be measured in hours! These enlightened companies measure output, motivation and engagement; not input (hours) as a badge of commitment. In my experience, there are still too many employers who have a rigid system of working hours, and also a rigid system of performance management. This, particularly for employees who need flexibility for life reasons - whether it be for children, eldercare, a horse, a dog, health, community involvement or just personal preference, is a real issue and adds to stress. 
Long hours cultures and presenteeism is still rife.
In our workplace cultures today, we need bright eyed, well rested, innovative and motivated people. We need workplaces that embrace flexible working and worklife balance practices. 
 So, what is worklife balance? It is simply about CHOICE and of course give and take. When an employee feels that they have choice (to deal with life’s stresses), they are more motivated, less stressed, less likely to take sick leave and ‘give and take’ their time and commitment for their employer. The company that adopts a give & take culture also enjoys increased customer satisfaction, reduced sickness absence and increased profitability. All of the companies that I have worked with have seen at least 38% and more increases in profitability and 31% increases in productivity. Employees who feel that they have NO CHOICE but to work long hours in a rigid system where management is regarded as a punishment from God, feel disengaged, deliver the minimum and live in fear of ever needing time out for life’s emergencies. These companies enjoy increased stress, increased sickness absence, reduced motivation, reduced customer satisfaction
and increased turnover of staff. Which would you rather be?

So what can employers do? Well, the first thing is to understand that if you want reduced stress, increased commitment and run a successful business, flexible working and worklife balance initiatives are one of the cheapest and biggest return initiatives that you can engage in. There are many different flexible working options – not just part time and job share, that suit business and customer needs; not to mention employee needs.

On your journey towards becoming an employer of choice, measuring where you are starting from is key. You need to know the current reality to know how you are progressing. Worklife Evolution® is a diagnostic tool developed by The Worklife Company to measure and provide recommendations to companies about their current situation in relation to worklife balance, wellbeing, culture etc. It also provides a report of recommendations which allow you to implement initiatives to suit your needs, rather than spray painting the whole company all at once! Some organisations implement recommendations in one area of their business as a pilot programme – Worklife Evolution is entirely flexible. Email me or call if you want to know more.

If that’s too much, then maybe Timeout would be good. This is a training programme that we developed for Google and it is 2 days of taking time out to review work and life and put actions together to redress the balance for the organisation, teams and self. It is wonderfully rejuvenating and aways run in-house for companies. One to one Worklife Balance Coaching is particularly beneficial for specific individuals who are struggling to achieve balance.

I'd be delighted to come and entertain and educate your employers with a presentation about this topic, or, you can buy my book that tells you 'how to' apply worklife balance at work. It's called 'I'm Glad I Spent More Time at Work!' and is available from Amazon. If you work alone, and are struggling, you may want a copy of my Worklife Balance tool - free of charge. Just email admin@theworklifecompany.com , or if you are a business woman, you may be interested in my workshops - Dancing Round the Handbags. All of these are detailed on the website www.theworklifecompany.com Remember, NO ONE EVER LAY ON THEIR DEATHBED WISHING THEY'D SPENT MORE TIME AT WORK!

Lynne Copp Managing Director The Worklife Company 07831 406914 lynne.copp@theworklifecompay.com

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