“Balance is not better time management, but better boundary management.” —Betsy Jacobson, Author and Businesswoman
In today’s competitive business scenario, where hustling and workaholism have become the standard, setting work boundaries and unplugging can be challenging.
So, how do you pursue your professional ambitions without crashing and burning?
The answer is work-life balance. Balance is key to achieving professional success and having a good quality of life. However, the responsibility to create a healthy work-life balance lies not only on the individual workers but also on the organizations. Corporate culture plays a massive role in how well employees cope with their duties and work pressure.
This blog sheds light on the best practices organizations can implement to foster good work-life balance and how Saviom‘s advanced resource management software can help these initiatives.
But first, let’s start with the basics.
What is work-life balance, and why is it important?
Work-life balance refers to an individual’s level of prioritization of personal and professional activities in their life. It is more about having the flexibility to get things done in one’s professional life while still having time and energy to enjoy their personal life.
A good work-life balance allows people to be more disciplined and organized at their workplace. This translates into numerous positive effects, including less work-related stress, a lower risk of burnout, and a greater sense of well-being.
Work-life balance benefits not only employees but employers, too. When employees do well, physically and mentally, it reflects in their work commitment. In addition, motivated, focused employees perform better and produce better results.
Now that we have learned the value of work-life balance, let’s discuss the best strategies to implement it in the workspace.
Tips to improve work-life balance
Fostering a good work-life balance is imperative to build a loyal and productive workforce. Enlisted below are the best practices companies can implement to help the resources achieve better balance.
Ensure optimal resource utilization
Overutilization of employees can severely affect productivity from home, resulting in stress and burnout. In contrast, underutilization makes employees feel undervalued and leads to disengagement. Therefore, it’s essential for managers to check resource schedules before allocation and regularly monitor utilization levels. By ensuring optimal utilization, companies safeguard employees from low morale and burnout and guarantee higher job satisfaction.
Empower employees to choose projects of interest
Employee empowerment is vital to building a corporate culture of trust and transparency. Therefore, providing autonomy over their work fosters a sense of responsibility and improves work performance. Furthermore, empowering employees to choose projects of interest can be a great initiative, enabling them to showcase their proficiencies or gain new experiences. This also helps in their career development, instills confidence, keeps them focused, and prevents disengagement or boredom.
Offer flexible working hours
“According to SHRM, 55% of employees cited work-life balance and flexibility as a vital aspect of their job satisfaction.”
Work flexibility gives employees the much-needed leniency to accomplish their tasks without worrying about rigid work timings. A flexible work schedule empowers people to work when and where they feel the most productive. It’s a good idea to allow employees to take a few days of work from home every month so that they can spend time at home while fulfilling their official duties.
Frame a corporate wellness plan
“According to a Harvard study, for every $1 spent on a wellness program, the company saved $3.27 because of reduced healthcare costs.”
The stat above validates the necessity to develop a company-wide wellness program. A corporate wellness plan encapsulates the physical and mental well-being of the workers. It includes various perks such as care packages, paid insurance covers, company retreats, access to on-site/off-site facilities, subsidized healthcare services, extended medical leaves, etc. Many organizations also offer in-house counseling sessions to help employees deal with work pressure, stress, or anxiety.
Facilitate a two-way communication
Managers are primarily responsible for communicating the company goals, expectations, and feedback to their team members. However, to create a genuinely positive workspace, organizations must facilitate an open-door policy that lets employees voice their opinions to their supervisors. In addition, by establishing a continuous feedback mechanism, companies can capture employees’ feedback and work towards resolving their grievances or accepting their suggestions.
Encourage employees to take time off and vacations
Taking a break from work is critical to rejuvenate oneself. Hence, it’s a good practice to encourage workers to take vacation days or time off every year instead of letting their leaves lapse. This can invariably reduce unplanned absenteeism. Employees can use this downtime to travel with family, catch up with friends, dedicate time to hobbies they love, or relax. When they return to work, their energy level is higher, resulting in better engagement and productivity.
Focus on team-building activities
Team-building activities are meant to help workers bond and build trust. Companies can organize picnics and outings where the workers can unwind. They can plan for group exercises such as quizzes, puzzles, treasure hunts, and sporting and recreational activities. Moreover, they can incentivize these team-building activities with cash prizes, certificates, or trophies to boost participation. These activities help team members build positive relationships and work towards achieving common goals. It enhances productivity, collaboration, and morale.
Create an internal interest forum
Employees can form internal forums on the company’s collaboration tools to start conversations and bond over shared interests. It is an excellent way for them to socialize and talk about things other than work. Employees may also plan group vacations to devote themselves to a passion project or social welfare activities. Thus, developing interest forums can facilitate the development of personal interactions, which plays a significant role in good teamwork and better team performance.
Now that we have learned the best tips to foster a healthy work-life balance, let’s delve into how modern resource management software can help.
How can advanced resource management software help facilitate work-life balance?
An advanced resource management solution can help an organization establish a healthy work-life balance by providing a holistic view of resource activities and their availability for ongoing and pipeline projects. Here’s how it works:
- The tool’s 360-degree visibility into resource attributes enables managers to plan and schedule project activities based on employees’ capacity, availability, competencies, and interests.
- Advanced forecasting and capacity planning capabilities provide early warnings about resource excess/shortfall, giving managers sufficient lead time to course-correct shortages, prevent employee overload, and facilitate better work-life balance.
- BI reports such as capacity vs. demand, forecast vs. actual, people on the bench reports, etc., can help managers ensure optimal allocation and utilization. Effective utilization minimizes burnout and enhances productivity, enabling good work-life balance.
- Further, an organizational competency matrix that captures employees’ skills and certifications enables managers to facilitate appropriate L&D (learning & training) programs and IDP (Individual Development Plan) initiatives to foster employees’ professional growth.
- The open seat feature empowers resources to show interest in particular projects or tasks. Managers can publish vacancies along with the project details on the tool and select qualified candidates among those who have shown interest.
- Lastly, the collaboration feature enables employees to create public and private channels for communication. They can be used for the project and social discussions, helping employees bond and connect with one another.
Conclusion
The pursuit of work-life balance is easier said than done. Most of us are overwhelmed with work pressure, and it can be hard to maintain a balance. However, organizations can work together with their employees to achieve equilibrium. By implementing the tips mentioned above, businesses can foster better work-life balance and yield better productivity and performance from their workforce.
