Balancing Work and Life

Your organization will be more successful if employees balance their lives
By Meagan Francis, Director Studio 4b Small businesses often have a small staff and employees wear several hats at once. Absence due to illness, childcare emergencies or personal issues can present a problem. How can you afford to let a prized employee have extra time off to care for a sick child or reduce hours during a personal crisis?

But research shows that the best workers are those who aren't "all business, all the time." Promoting a balance between life and work obligations at every level of your organization will attract employees, encourage a loyal and happier workforce, and make your business more effective and successful.

To be productive and satisfied, workers need:

1. Flexible schedules that accommodate personal interests and family
2. Convenient, affordable, high quality child care
3. A workplace that allows them to be physically and psychologically healthy.

Help employees find good childcare

Workers need to be confident that their kids are well-cared-for. Reliable childcare – including backup or emergency care – also can reduce absenteeism.
Try:  KLC Child Care and Management Consulting provides on-site and emergency childcare, holiday care, corporate discounts, and partnerships with existing child-care centers.

Promote health and wellness

Healthy workers create an effective workforce.
Try:  Wellness Corporate Solutions offers health risk assessments, health fairs and screenings, seminars, wellness coaching, consulting and services that can help employees maintain healthy habits.

Offer telecommuting or flexible schedules

When employees can skip the commute and work from home some of the time – or alter schedules to meet childcare or other needs – they'll save money and be better able to attend to family and personal matters.
Try:  Career/Life Alliance Services offers a software tool for detailed planning of flexible schedules.

Find out how other companies are dealing with the work-life issue

Attend a seminar or conference to help you incorporate work-life initiatives in your own organization.
Try:  The Alliance for Work-Life Progress offers members discounted registration to its conferences and courses and a wealth of information and resources.

Get help from a consultant

Helping your employees balance their lives and careers shouldn't mean a lot of extra work for you.
Try:  LifeCare can help you manage employee benefits like assistance with child and adult care, financial and legal services, and more.

Use scheduling software that looks at the whole picture

Help employees manage work tasks and guard "off" time with a program that keeps track of it all.
Try:  Llama Graphics' Life Balance software is a time and task coaching software that takes a user's unique goals and priorities into mind and helps them manage the many demands on their time and energy.

• Don't micromanage. Research shows that companies that offer employees autonomy and team decision-making have a happier and more effective workforce.
• Be flexible. Whenever possible, allow employees to create schedules that fit their own unique needs.
• Provide a comfortable, ventilated and smoke-free break room — and allow employees the opportunity to use it.
• Promote health. Provide frequent fresh-air breaks, organize lunch-hour walks, and serve healthy snacks during long meetings.