Take Accountability for a Healthy Work-Life Balance

Ultimately, the most important factor in achieving a good work-life balance is the communication and creative problem solving between employee and supervisor. When both the employee and supervisor recognize the importance of maintaining a healthy and productive work-life balance, they can work out conflicts, make temporary adjustments, and develop long-term solutions. Have you achieved balance between your work and personal life? What else can you do to help yourself and your people achieve a better work-life balance? Do you have open communication with your direct reports and your direct supervisor about work-life balance issues? If not, start taking greater accountability for work-life balance today.

Some organizations are creating work environments that don’t force a  showdown between an employee’s personal life and professional life, including telecommuting, family-friendly benefits such as maternity and paternity leave, liberal vacation allowances, sabbaticals, job-sharing, flexible work hours, and stress-reduction workshops. One of our clients, a leading company in the financial services industry, is a case in point. This financial giant has demonstrated a real commitment to work-life balance through a variety of benefits and programs offered to employees at all levels: Back-up Child Care—when an employee’s usual childcare arrangements fall through; Personal Assistant—a concierge service available to all employees that takes an employee’s “to do” list and gets everything accomplished; Assistance Program—professional, confidential counseling and referral services at no cost; Fitness & Health—discount health club memberships and equipment as well as medical services; and Flexible Work—a variety of flexible work arrangements, including job-sharing, compressed workweeks, flextime, telecommuting, and remote work. Manager work-life training, maternity and paternity leave, and special mentoring programs continue to make work-life balance a priority at this company—and the results in terms of employee retention, fulfillment, and productivity are readily apparent, which fuels the company’s ability to deliver superior results year after year.

Making sure employees maintain a healthy work-life balance not only benefits employees but also the organization in terms of increased employee retention and productivity. Don’t be afraid of opening the door to dialogue on the subject of work-life balance. Research shows that when organizations create a more open and sensitive environment for addressing and resolving work-life balance issues, productivity and employee satisfaction increase. The fear that people will take undue advantage or stop working as hard is unfounded. In fact, research shows the opposite to be true.

To learn more about how to take greater accountability for achieving better work-life balance in your team and organization, we invite you to join our Accountability Community at www.partnersinleadership.com.

Accountability Community is a registered trademark of Partners In Leadership, Inc.