In a world where productivity is a cardinal virtue and work emails arrive at all hours of the night, many people feel overburdened. A favorable work-life balance is essential for a contented, meaningful life, and yet most workers feel they’re being asked to do more than they can handle. If you’re a manager, you can solve this problem for your workers by taking their needs into account.
The Effects of Poor Work-Life Balance
When people suffer from overbearing bosses, excessively long hours, and the expectation of constant work-related communication, they become stressed, irritable, and generally unhappy. They’ll start to dislike their jobs, their families may resent them, and they can even put themselves at risk of a heart attack or other serious health conditions.
A poor work-life balance among employees is also a problem for the employer. Unhappy workers rarely perform at their best, and a merciless company will quickly earn a bad reputation, making it hard to retain and add talented employees. Everyone’s better off, from workers to the companies employing them when an adequate work-life balance is struck.
Improving Work-Life Balance for Your Employees
As a manager, there’s plenty you can do to improve your employees’ work-life balance. As you enact the following changes, you should sense a momentous shift in the general attitude around the workplace.
Flexibility
Workers appreciate the ability to rearrange their work schedules according to personal obligations. If it’s in your power to grant employees a bit of flexibility, they’ll repay you with harder work and a better attitude. We all find it easier to get the job done when we’re not stressing about all the personal issues we’d like to be addressing at home.
Paid Time Off
Everyone benefits from a chance to recharge the batteries and have some fun. Paid time off gives employees the chance to step away from work according to their personal needs and desires. When they come back to the workplace, they’ll likely be ready to work harder than ever before.
Time Away From Devices
When work becomes stressful, the only way to get some relief is by momentarily stepping away. You can do your employees a big favor by permitting them to ignore work-related emails and messages during their time away from the workplace. Nobody should have to be constantly reachable.
Reasonable Hours
While working long hours might be the only remedy for a particularly large project or a sudden glut of work, you shouldn’t expect your employees to clock excessively long shifts on a regular basis. All those extra hours will only contribute to burnout.
Bosses Setting the Example
When it comes to expected behavior, employees take their cues from the boss. If you’re the manager and you never take a break, workers will assume they have to mimic your manic pace. By leaving at the expected time and giving yourself the work-life balance you need, you’ll reassure your employees that they’re welcome to do the same.
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