Work-Life Balance and Wellbeing - Essay Example

One of the biggest problems for employees is being able to give 110% to keep their position while trying to juggle their personal life outside of work. Employers will find that employees can work better individually, and as part of a team if they have a healthy work-life balance in place. Employee retention rates are helped by offering tools to encourage a proper work-life balance. Also, employees are willing to put their best effort into working when not dealing with an imbalance between their personal life and their employment. Moving away from high salaries and into offering better benefits towards the balancing of work, life and wellness can be beneficial for all involved. The phrase, “there is a little point earning a higher salary if you rarely have the time to enjoy it” is a true sentiment that reflects the issue that employees have in being able to find the right work life-balance that employers could assist their employees with as part of their benefit package. Employees will work better for a company individually, and as part of the larger team if they are able to have a balanced life that allows for both personal life and employment. Schulman notes ‘Another factor behind extra hours is downsizing, which has created both a surplus of work to do and an insecurity that makes employees feel they have to do it or lose their jobs’ (1997). Employers may believe that an employee that feels as though they need to do everything possible to keep their employer happy from working over-time to not taking paid time off is actually very detrimental for the employee and the employer. This type of work environment can bring out the worst in an employee. One of the problems that employers who do not promote a healthy work-life balance can deal with is employee burnout. Employees that are feeling burnt out by their daily grind may not be stepping up the plate of being an efficient employee. ‘Employee burnout has a major impact on productivity, but that's not its only negative effect’ (Allbusiness.com 2013). Employees may also start looking for a new employer, may try to sabotage their current employer, produce sub-par work, and even not bothering come to work because they do not feel like it rather than any other reason. Employers are able to combat employee burnout and aggravation by providing programs that can change the balance in a positive manner for employees. Not all employees can be pleased with these programs, but it can help overall company morale and help to retain the best employees. Poor employee retention can be costly for a business as they must find eligible employees, go through a hiring process and train them to complete the work that they were hired for in the manner that the company desires. This can be an expensive proposition when it comes to the time and cost of recruitment itself, along with the time and cost of other employees need to give to cover a vacated position to keep the company running smoothly. Then, the loss in productivity in getting the newly hired employee up to the same performance level of the experienced employee that vacated their position will continue to strain the department and the employees that are still helping to cover for the work load that is not being accomplished. A recent roundtable debate last year noted that while ‘measuring the direct effect of employee benefits was difficult, but it was agreed they can play a useful role in recruitment and retention’ (Andalo 2011). Companies that become known for their generous benefits in allowing employees to fully balance their work week with their personal time are more likely to be able to select from a crop of highly capable employees looking to get that benefit for themselves. Attracting coveted potential employees to open positions that do occur in the company may allow for those new hires to be acclimated to the new environment quicker than some other potential employees. All employees can appreciate the effort being made to help them separate work from home life and balance out the two in a manner that allows for employee well-being. Employees that come into work worried about their home life will really have a hard time being able to focus while an employee with a healthy work-life balance will not have this same issue. These employees will be able to show up ready to work rather than placing personal calls or other personal tasks that they were unable to accomplish during their time off. Employers do need to take into account that their employees do have a personal life outside of work and that there are distractions that can cause them to be unable to focus, be as creative or produce excellent work (Harwell 2011). Some interesting statistics were gathered after Sunshine Coast Council members took advantage of a program that promotes a health balance in life, such as employees saw a 13.7% increase in their health, employers noticed an 11.9% increase in employment fulfilment, productivity and morale, and there was even a reduction in sick days for employees (Worklifebalancefoundation.com 2009). These statistics may seem rather low in the tens, but it does show that just offering a program that addresses the needs that employees have can be received well by employees in a way that will make employees want to work more efficiently. There is also the added benefit that healthier employees can lead to reduced insurance rates being paid out by a company as most insurance programs are focused on the health of employees to determine the rates that are being charged. This is a win-win situation for both the company and employees in reduced sick time, reduced insurance amounts and a happier work environment. Again, this is one of those benefits that may not be readily apparent when trying to calculate the cost and benefits of these types of programs, but important to keep in mind in evaluating these types of programs. It can be rather easy to see the benefit of offering a high salary in that it will entice employees to work for a company while other benefits may not be easy to see what value they offer at such a high cost to the company, but there may be a way to evaluate the return offered. For instance, British Gas Services has a program in place to help reduce back injuries for their employees as that had been a well-being health problem that employees were facing and were able to see a large return on their investment as for every £1 invested they gain £31 (Business in the Community 2009, p. 7). It may not be upfront, such as saving money on health benefits or paying out reduced amounts of sick time, but employers should look into the value that these programs add to their company. A high salary may attract an employee because it appears to offer what they need in the short term because their pay-check will be higher than they may receive at another employer. The problem comes once they start to see the negatives in thinking that the company does not care about them as a person they may determine that a lower pay-check may be more attractive if they are not treated as a machine. Employers may find it more beneficial to lower salaries while providing an environment that enhances a positive work-life balance as it may be more attractive for employees in the long term than offering large salaries. ‘Good policies can improve recruitment, retention, health, morale, motivation, loyalty, give a better return on training investment and increase productivity – all of which reduce costs and result in a more successful organization’ (PCS.org.UK 2013). In conclusion, the work-life balance may be seen as something that only employees are in charge of locating for themselves, but employers can truly benefit by helping their employees find that balance. Employees are more willing to function at work when the stress of their life is being managed in a beneficial manner. Employers that understand the work-life balance that employees are looking to achieve are able to retain their loyal employees rather than seeing their hard work in training the person go to their competitors. Employees that feel more secure with their personal life being managed along with the employment will have a reduced call off rate and will be ready to work when arriving for their shift. Benefit packages may seem more expensive to employers than just paying a higher salary for valuable employees, but in the long run will offer hidden savings. Overall, it does not pay for an employee to be raking in a large salary when they are too stressed out to be able to appreciate that salary, and may go looking for another employer that may pay a little less, but helps to cut the stress of their work-life balance. References Allbusiness.com (2013) Helping Employees Maintain Work/Life Balance | Labor & Employment > Human Resources & Personnel Management from AllBusiness.com. [online] Available at: http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/employee-development-employee-productivity/1242-1.html [Accessed: 22 Apr 2013]. Andalo, D. (2011) Wellness in the workplace. [online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worklifeuk/wellness-in-the-workplace-guardian-roundtable [Accessed: 22 Apr 2013]. Business in the Community (2009) Healthy People = Healthy Profits. [online] Available at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/hwwb-healthy-people-healthy-profits.pdf [Accessed: 22 Apr 2013]. Harwell (2011) 8 Ways to Deal with Employee Personal Problems. [online] Available at: http://blog.makingitclear.com/2011/05/03/employeeproblems/ [Accessed: 22 Apr 2013]. PCS (2013) Work life balance - guide for negotiators - PCS. [online] Available at: http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/resources/wellbeing_at_work/work-life-balance--guide-for-negotiators.cfm [Accessed: 22 Apr 2013]. Schulman, M. (1997) Time to Go Home: Work-Life Balance. [online] Available at: http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v8n1/timetogohome.html [Accessed: 22 Apr 2013]. Worklifebalancefoundation.com (2009) The Work Life Balance Foundation - Workshops. [online] Available at: http://www.worklifebalancefoundation.com/wlbf/services [Accessed: 22 Apr 2013]. Read More