As a term in its own right work life balance is rarely defined for reasons that will become clearer as the discussion progresses. Balance is indeed a key component of life, but the nearly ubiquitous concept of worklife balance is a dangerous one. A serious component of a happy life is a career that fulfills your dreams and goalsand yes, makes you happy too. In 1910, a normal sleeping schedule was considered an average of 9 hours per night, while today, this. I have learned through my experience that it is very important to make an effort to provide the yourself opportunity for balance. According to author and journalist paul krassner in an interview in 1963, one of the aspects of happiness is when you can make as little distinction as possible between your work and your play. When technology makes it possible for your boss to expect you to work at any hourwhich 57 percent of working professionals believe it hasit can be difficult to maintain a healthy balance between your work life and your home life.
Worklife balance involves juggling workplace stress with the daily pressures of family. Why the happiest and unhappiest careers are unique to you. Cambridge core organisation studies the cambridge handbook of the global work family interface edited by kristen m. The happiest careers consist of the jobs that will make your heart sing as you go off to work every morning, but those jobs will be different for different people. I realize that its easier for me to tell you what i think about work life balance than to demonstrate it, but life is all about learning. To me, life balance is about balancing the demands of being everything to everyone while not losing my sense of self, my needs, and my passions in the process. The aim of these benefits is to create a better balance between workplace and workforce needs. People can live longer, healthier lives because of technological advancements. A worklife strategy handbook 7 worklife strategies make business sense a flexible worklife balance is more important to singaporeans than high pay survey by recruitment consultancy robert walters, business times 2007 there is a strong business case to be made for worklife harmony in the workplace. Secrets to balancing work and family life lifehack. Positive work life balance thinking treating staff as adults who are balancing their work commitments. A single woman should understand that she needs the right diet, proper sleep, and the likes. This manual delineates the wide range of measures that public employees may benefit from to achieve a healthy work life balance. To develop a healthy balance between work and life, you have to first let go of the fear that, if youre not working, your company will fail.
We provide a range of support to create an environment where everyone whatever their commitment outside of work has the opportunity to flourish. Work life balance, the distribution of ones time between work and non work e. Achieving proper worklife balance enables employees, especially parents. Its not just challenging for you but also likely for your family and close friends too as they feel the impact of your workplace commitment affect their own lives. If you do not make the conscious decision to achieve balance, it is likely that you will fail along the way. Ten essential management actions for creating work life balance 1.
In fact, 40 percent of professionals believe it is ok to answer an urgent work email at the dinner table. This benefit includes free and reducedfee counseling with a licensed therapist. Were committed to supporting staff to achieve a healthy work life balance. I think it is a lost art, and yet when we find a book we love, we advocate for it and tell everyone about it because of the impact it has had on our lives. Life balance is defined as the balance between the major dimensions of our lives, illustrated in the life balance wheel below. Many authors attempt to define work life balance policy or work life balance arrangements. Creating a worklife balance plan american medical women. Below are a few general suggestions to consider when putting together a total rewards package. If this is not possible, you may want to offer your employees a childcare. Executive order 266 external link encourages the expansion of opportunities within the federal government for individuals to improve their physical fitness. To be precise, worklife balance is maintaining a state of equilibrium between ones professional and personal life. Worklife balance worklife balance is a term used for the idea that you need time for both work and other aspects of life, whether those are familyrelated or personal interests. However, it was only during the 1970s and 1980s that the concept of work life balance was shed more. How to practice the art of life balance by stacey hoffer weckstein, create a balance i believe life balance means different things to different people.
Every woman has a different set of spheres that she would like to juggle more effectively e. What is the best books to read about worklife balance. Remember, striking a healthy work life balance isnt a oneshot deal. Creating work life balance within the workplace the following actions are considered to be the most essential for employers that are committed to work life balance. Amazon employees share what its like to work at the. The cambridge handbook of the global workfamily interface. Worklife balance initiatives can be part of a complete health and safety andor a health promotion program in the workplace. This book proposes an entirely different way of looking at that dichotomy thats right, another way to approach the idea of work life balance. To date, research directed at the worklife balance wlb has focused. An employees total rewards benefits package typically contains elements of salary or compensation, benefits, work life flexibility, performance, recognition, and growth and development. Based on five years worth of interviews with almost 4,000. Clarke, et al 2004, 121 to understand work life balance, it.
Comptroller general decision b240371 external link, dated january 18, 1991 addresses whether a federal agency can purchase access to a. This guide discusses the main sources of academic stress and lack of job satisfaction, and proposes some practical tips for your academic and personal life. Unfortunately, if people dont get a handle on some of these things, they could be setting themselves up for challenges in the future. The benefits of such telework flexibility enhance employee worklife balance and can support agency continuity of operations and agency mission accomplishment. Work life unit family development division ministry of community development and sports mcds building 512 thomson road. Well, assuming you want more out of life than merely working until youre 65, then you really need to rethink this nonsense about the socalled work life balance. Sometimes it even feels like achieving worklife balance isnt even possible, especially if youre working upwards of 50 hours a week. Creating work life balance is a continuous process as your family, interests and work life change. The importance of worklife balance technology has improved peoples lives in many different ways. The next step is to make changes in your life as needed, to develop greater balance. A worklife balance hack is to literally schedule downtime in your calendar as if it was an event or meeting. Successful flexible work arrangements an employers guide a guide researched and produced by the work life unit, family development division, ministry of community development and sports. The exact idea of worklife balance evolves over time with each of us. Manual on worklife balance measures public service.
With employees electronically connected to the workplace 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in the office or out, work and life balance is a challenge. The saying goes that all work and no play makes jack a dull boy. With email, social media and todays technology, it can be hard to separate life inside and outside the office. Scottish parliament employee handbook worklife balance. Handbook on workplace flexibilities and worklife programs. Managing oneself to understand this balance is to understand that one also needs to be taken care of. Balancing work and personal life creating life balance a few notes about balance. Work life balance is a state where an individual manages real or potential conflict between different demands on his or her time and energy in a way that satisfies his or her needs for wellbeing. The role of worklife balance practices in order to. Starting this week, im going to leave the office by 5. Work life balance policy and procedure 3 information classification. But this dichotomy between work and play has been around since the middle of the 1800s. Be prepared to work a minimum of 12 hours everyday and up to 1516 hours for months on end, said a current area manager in haslet, texas, upper. Three major factors contribute to the interest in, and the importance of, serious consideration of work life balance.
The public service is a model employer in the creation and promotion of work life balance. A work from home policy may also be referred to as a telecommuting policy or homebased work policy. What makes up a great total employee rewards package. Having a worklife balance is a major factor that engages healthy work environment and lifestyle. Additionally, we offer training for supervisors and departments on topics ranging from managing stress to processing grief to. Periodically examine your priorities and make changes, if necessary to make sure youre keeping on. Its important to make time for yourself, and if you schedule that into your schedule, you wont be able to schedule anything else in it. Adopt these 12 habits for a better worklife balance. Employers that help employees have worklife balance are glad.
Poor worklife balance leads to poor health later in life. How you can encourage worklife balance for employees. In addition, supporting worklife balance through telework can indirectly result in significant benefits for agencies in the areas of recruitment, retention and employee engagement. Work life balance 3 reasons why worklife balance is a myth im done trying to chase work life balance.
In the first collection of its kind, the sage handbook of human resource. Some of the biggest factors impacting worklife balance are bad and overbearing bosses, too much work, inflexible schedules, bad coworkers and long commutes. We recognise that achieving that sense of balance is a very personal thing. Achieving work family life balance is a long and often daunting process. The key to more effective worklife balance is to understand the spheres in your life and the dynamic that drives each one. Set up the expectation, in your workplace, that when an employee leaves for vacation, it is okay to send an email that says he is on vacation with limited access to email. However, for most of us, reaching the level of worklife balance still remains a. Rethinking the worklife equation the new york times. The initiatives can be written as part of existing health and safety policy, or particular guidelines can be referenced in the overall company human resources policy or the collective agreement if applicable.