The importance of work-life balance and how to avoid common pitfalls
Ask yourself honestly: are you doing everything possible to create a healthy work-life balance for your employees? According to a 2022 McKinsey report on employee health and well-being, employees worldwide reported burnout symptoms, despite their employers’ commitment to mental well-being.
Creating workplace cultures that support good work-life balance isn’t as easy as offering additional annual leave or discounted meditation app subscriptions. Our experts share new research on why work-life balance is important, its impact on different generations in the workplace, and how to restore true balance.
By now, you’re probably all too familiar with the negative impact poor work-life balance can have on employees. Heavy workloads, tight deadlines, and no time to ‘switch off’ can cause a lifestyle imbalance, eventually resulting in burnout.
Reaching this critical stage can cause your employees physical and emotional harm. According to Gallup, workers who frequently experience work-related burnout are 63% more likely to call in sick and 23% more likely to end up in the emergency room.
Burnout caused by poor work-life balance also affects work performance, lowering motivation, productivity, and engagement, while increasing staff turnover rates. Work-life balance benefits extend beyond employee health and high company output — it positively impacts your ability to attract and retain talent, too.
Employees consider good work-life balance highly attractive, making it a key retention and acquisition tool in today’s competitive hiring landscape. According to a recent survey by Aviva, 41% of employees said they were attracted to their current role due to the excellent work-life balance. It was the most attractive benefit, with salary coming second at 36%.
These findings are supported by our research for the Robert Half 2023 Salary Guide, in which 73% of employers agreed that flexible working is essential for staff retention and attraction. In addition, 32% of employers said they were considering reducing work hours without cutting pay to reduce burnout while retaining headcount.
Before implementing more robust policies, it's worth noting that each generation has different needs where flexibility is concerned. A 2022 study by Oyster revealed that Gen X, Gen Z and Millennials all ranked flexible working as the second most important employer expectation.
Generational expert Dr Eliza Filby revealed that Millennials value flexible working to facilitate childcare, and Gen X value it for elder care. She also discussed Baby Boomers and their desire for a more interesting path to retirement, which includes a steady reduction in hours.
A study by Cigna International Health revealed Gen Z to be the most burnout-prone generation in the workplace, making it even more crucial for leadership to take a robust and healthy stance on maintaining balance.
With this in mind, it’s not just a question of how to improve work-life balance but how to offer a range of options to your employees. The policy around flexibility should benefit all generations and should be clear enough to avoid conflict or confusion.
According to new research published by Business in the Community (BITC), more than half (55%) of employees surveyed felt pressured to respond to calls or check emails outside of work. Being terminally ‘on’ prevents employees from getting the physical and mental rest they need and can trigger burnout.
Implementing something as simple as a policy around antisocial work practices can help prevent employees from habitually checking their emails. You can also encourage them to turn off notifications to prevent Slack, Discord, and emails from disturbing them out of hours.
Is a culture of presenteeism hurting your employees? Fear of judgement from management and colleagues has many employees across the UK feeling obligated to work when sick or stay later than their contracted hours. It’s an insidious, unspoken expectation that has the power to undermine healthy work-life balance policies.
The best way to combat presenteeism is to lead by example. Encourage staff to take lunch breaks away from their desk, to leave on time, and to take their full annual leave allocation. This is most effective when you let your team see you doing it, too — encouraging the understanding that these rules apply to everyone, including you.
Heavy workloads can cause employees to adopt bad habits concerning work-life balance. According to the BITC survey, two in five (41%) employees have such heavy workloads that they feel pressured to work overtime. HR Review recently reported that more than 6 in 10 employees fail to take their full annual leave allocation due to pressure from management.
If you’ve noticed employees avoiding their annual leave or failing to take their full allocation, try working with them to ensure they can comfortably meet deadlines and manage their workloads. Consider bringing in temp or contract help to support your team when time is short, or workloads are heavy.
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Hybrid working flows best when you shift to an outcome-based work culture rather than one which rewards hours spent at a desk. It grants employees the autonomy they need to achieve objectives in a way that suits them and allows them to take breaks as and when required.
Interested in learning more about creating a culture of good work-life balance? Visit the Robert Half advice blog today. For more information on current flexible working trends, download your free copy of the 2023 Salary Guide.
