Employers should help workers attain life balance
Stress for Success
February 13, 2006

Today's work pace is drastically different from decades past. The historic 9-to-5-job that was mostly left behind at the end of the day has been replaced by a near-constant state of electronic-on-call, blurring the boundary between work and home for many. New technology from blackberries to the ubiquitous cell phone is largely to blame, keeping you from “turning off” until you flop into bed at night.

Additionally, many employees begrudgingly work longer hours and with both parents typically working there’s no one at home to keep everything running smoothly. It’s no wonder, then, that the March 2005 Families and Work Institute reported:
§ 44% of US employees felt overworked often or very often (only 29% rarely or never)
§ 27% felt overwhelmed by their workload

They found chronically overworked employees have an adverse effect on business outcomes by making mistakes and resenting their employers (with all its passive-aggressive payback behaviors like absenteeism). 39% with high levels of overwork reported anger at management versus only 1% of those with low levels. The overworked also have greater resentment toward coworkers for not working harder.

They also found:
§ A key contributor to feeling overwhelmed is high levels of multitasking
§ More than one-third of all workers don’t expect to take their entire vacation time
§ Employees who are provided with opportunities to learn, are supported on the job, and given flexibility to manage their work/life balance are less likely to feel overworked regardless of the hours or responsibility

It’s in an employer’s best interests to facilitate work/life balance whether through stress reduction and fitness programs or concierge services. It would also make their workplace much more appealing making recruitment and retention easier.

Poll your employees to identify their most common roadblocks to balance, then brainstorm viable strategies with them. For instance, if multi-tasking does rank high, what can be done to reduce it? Or can you at least provide brief, regular brakes to reduce the stress of it? If attending to family responsibilities ranks high, cross-train workers so someone can be covered when taking time off.

There will certainly be resistance, especially from “bottom line” people in your organization, to providing new life balance benefits, some based on misconceptions like:
§ Employees’ personal lives shouldn’t affect work
§ Hours at work equal results
§ Management will lose control
§ Benefits don’t make employees more productive
§ Family-friendly policies are mainly for women
§ Participation will be a career-limiting move
§ It's only for non-managerial positions
§ One approach is good for everyone

Find out why someone resists and satisfy their resistance. Clarify the goals, costs, benefits and challenges of new programs. Suggest a trial period vs. full implementation. Monitor, resurvey, and make necessary adjustments as the trial period moves forward.

In the meantime, if your employer isn’t likely to facilitate greater balance for you take responsibility for yourself:
§ Figure out how to multi-task less
§ Take all of your earned vacation time
§ Request flexibility from your boss rather than wait for her to act

A balanced worker is a more productive one, and one who’s more likely to stick around.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com or call 239-693-8111 for information about her workshops on this and other topics or to invite her to speak to your organization.