A 5-Step Response to Employee Concerns About Work-Life Balance
Experienced leaders are coming to grips with a younger workforce that wants more out of life than working long stressful hours.
Stressed employees want to minimize pressure. Leaders feel pressure to do more with less. Only 2 out of 10 employees are willing to go above and beyond their job expectations.*
72% say work-life balance is a consideration when looking for a job.**
A five-step response to employee concerns about work-life balance:
#1. Take them seriously.
When someone says they want work-life balance, don’t assume it’s a bad thing. Set aside your assumptions and explore expectations.
Burned-out employees deliver poor results.
#2. Avoid rushing to solve a concern you don’t understand.
Explore purpose:
- What makes work-life balance important to you?
- What benefits would come your way if you had work-life balance?
- What would day-to-day life look like if you had work-life balance?
#3. Define the win:
If you had work-life balance, what would life look like? Get specific.
What would be different on a day-to-day basis if you had work-life balance?
#4. Create a time journal.
Now that you have clarity about purpose and expectations, track their use of time for a week. Create a spreadsheet with ½ hour blocks that covers 24 hours a day for 7 days. Include home time because work-life balance is about work and home.
“It’s easy to log your time. Stop every 3 or 4 hours and complete your time journal.”
#5. Reconvene in a week:
Explore the results of their time journal. Ask them,
- What did you learn?
- After tracking your time, how do you define work-life balance?
- What needs to change?
- How can I help?
Assumption: This post assumes you want what’s best for employees and customers.
How might leaders respond to concerns about work-life balance?
Still curious:
15 Questions that Change the Way People Think
*Gartner Says the Number of U.S. Employees Going Above and Beyond at Work at All-Time Low
**10 Statistics on Work-Life Balance That May Surprise You
The first step is to find out what they mean by “work-life balance”. Don’t assume that what works for one person works for all. And just because someone is single or doesn’t have kids, that doesn’t mean they aren’t also interested in work-life balance. Finally, make sure that everyone understands the difference between equal and fair: you aren’t trying to treat everyone the same; you are trying to treat everyone fairly. (Though that is probably a discussion for a different day.)
Thanks Jennifer. Before solving something, explore the obvious. What would be true if you had work-life balance?
Aristotle said justice is treating equals equally and unequals unequally. (not an exact quote) We understand this principle when you set expectations for a 2-yr-old and an adult.
When I speak with others about this, I always bring up the idea of not really needing balance, but harmony. The word balance infers some equality between the two. Essentially, most folks are really telling us they are doing too much at work and do not have enough time for their home life. They are out of balance. I hear that and bring up the concept of harmony because in a harmonious state, like a band or orchestra, there are times when part needs to state precedent over others. There are times when the drums take over, another when the flutes are louder. However, all instruments, like all parts of our life, make wonderful music when they are in harmony. So the question is how can we bring harmony to your schedule? What are things we can do differently, what is most pressing, What tools can help?
Thanks sisepuedeabc. You bring a useful perspective. Language matters. Work is part of life. Work is part of meaning. Distinguishing between work and life doesn’t take us where we want to go. Perhaps we’re talking about a fulfilling life.
The thing that concerns me is labelling work as a necessary evil. Work is good. All fun leads to boredom. Ease isn’t the goal in life. Making a contribution is central to meaning.
I’d even go further and say I it is about intentional imbalance.
With this topic the timeframe usually assumed is a day or a week – and those will always be in some form of imbalance, which is also natural: going on vacation (all fun), finishing a project before a deadline and working long hours (mostly work), slow start Monday, strong finish Friday, etc. … . Just waves.
Where I am looking for balance is on a longer time frame: a year, a quarter or a month. I want to balance a sense of satisfaction from progress at work vs. self care.
There are some things that I do daily for both work and self-care, but there are some that I do weekly or less often, but they are also critical.
I think that a big piece of this is managing expectations from both the employee and the employer. Employers should be upfront about their expectations, i.e. 40 hours per week for hourly, 9-5 M-F, or 4-10 hour days, for salaried employees, is the expectation 50 hours per week? Is Flex scheduling available? For an employee or prospective employee, knowing up front what you are signing up for is huge, as you will be able to manage your expectations of how this position will impact your work/homelife. This comes down to both parties clearly communicating their expectations and recognizing that there may be times that schedules/shifts might change, due to extenuating circumstances, but that this should not be permanent. Making changes unilaterally, without buy-in, will result in a demotivated and unproductive workforce at all levels within the company.
I agree you can’t go wrong seeking feedback and trying to understand the perspective of the employee but be careful to not make special arrangements for one employee and anger the rest of them in the process.