As an employer, it’s important to support your staff and encourage a good work-life balance in your business. By offering help such as time management training, you stand a better chance of preventing the effects of work related stress taking their toll.
The increase of technology is making it possible for people to work from anywhere at any time, which in turn is having a large effect on people’s lifestyles. Many struggle to draw the line between their personal and professional lives, leading to heightened levels of stress and anxiety. There are several ways to encourage a good work-life balance in your business, so let’s dive into them….
Embrace the Quiet Space
Everyone working in an office knows that the volume can sometimes rise to an impractical level, resulting in distractions and the inability to complete work during set hours. Alongside this, we’re all guilty of suffering from a bad day every now and then, where we just want to spend time alone and in peace.
Therefore, it’s a good idea to introduce a quiet space, where your employees can go and collect their thoughts. Consider creating a designated quiet space where employees can feel calm and have a moment for silent reflection and solitude, which will also come in handy for those weekly review sessions.
Think about Your Company Culture
Ensure that your business has a positive and realistic company culture. For example, you shouldn’t put pressure on, or expect, employees to uphold an extraordinary level of energy or to put in extra-long hours on the regular. Naturally, employees will burn out and eventually leave if their working day continuously goes beyond their contracted hours. Let your business promote a culture of working smart hours and encourage employees to stress less and achieve more.
As a business, you should always ensure that an employee’s job is manageable and that they can realistically complete their tasks within their contracted hours. Alongside this, schedule regular employee events and activities to encourage team building and friendships among your team. After all, the relationships and friendships that employees build at work can encourage them to stay at your company.
Ensure Time Off is Time Off
With mobiles, emails and social media, it’s becoming a lot more difficult to encourage people to switch off. But, if your business can do anything to prevent employees from being permanently attached to a screen, then you’re on the right track to building a solid work-life balance in your business.
Whether it’s the weekend, a holiday or even just outside of their contracted hours, if your business can redirect calls, encourage out of office emails and avoid contacting your employees outside of work, you’ll have a happier workforce on your hands.
If emails are becoming a problem within work, provide email training to minimize the amount of work required outside of the office.
Be a Good Role Model
It’s one thing to set standards but if you don’t practice what you preach then you’re setting a bad example to your team.
For example, regularly leave the office on time, take a proper lunch break away from your desk and don’t respond to emails outside your working hours. If managers are responding to emails while on holiday or in the middle of the night, it sends a message to employees that they are expected to do the same. Practice better email etiquette and be a good role model by respecting the rules and ensuring you’re walking the walk and not just talking the talk.
Keep it Consistent
It helps to have a certain consistency throughout your business. While shaking things up with an office change can be of benefit, employees will feel at ease knowing what their work schedule is like each week, helping them to prioritize their workload accordingly. It’s your job, as a manager, to communicate expectations and realistic deadlines, as well as checking in with your team members to make them feel supported and valued.
Allow Room for Flexibility
Flexible hours aren’t for every business, but applying these working patterns in certain areas can help with the overall work-life balance. Put trust in your team and let them work from a coffee shop or from home when they need or want to, or if possible, let them switch their hours – at the end of the day you might even see your clients benefiting from someone starting later in the morning and working longer in the afternoon, providing cover after the usual nine to five.
So, what are you putting in place today to help your team feel more supported and less stressed at the office and at home?
By Jack Lloyd
Jack Lloyd is a Content Marketing Executive at CV-Library. As a graduate of English literature, he loves to write about a wide range of content and can be seen enjoying live music and festivals across the UK.