THE BUSINESS CASE FOR BALANCE
Setting aside the more serious concerns of burnout and mental
health issues, workers who constantly feel overwhelmed and off kilter
can have a negative impact on a business’ bottom line.
In a 2012 study by researchers at the University of Western
Ontario, one-third of respondents felt their overloaded work and
home responsibilities had a high tendency to cause them to lose
sleep or significantly reduce their energy levels. In fiscal terms, this
translates to lost productivity and a greater number of sick days.
Employees who attempt to stay on top of tasks by spending excessive
amounts of time at their desk may be spinning their wheels,
as well. Multiple studies have found an inverse relationship between
hours worked and actual accomplishments. One 2005 study of a
construction project, for example, discovered that employees who
worked 60-hour weeks over a prolonged period were 24 per cent
less productive than crews working 40-hour weeks.
WHY SO DIFFICULT?
While external factors like corporate downsizing, mobile technology
and family pressures are certainly partly to blame, the root of the
problem may be internal.
“We have very high expectations of ourselves,” said Boswell.
“There’s the pressure of raising children or of caring for elderly parents,
and we really feel we can do it all. But these expectations are
often wholly unrealistic because we’re still human. The pressures
are going to lead to problems down the road because you can’t do
everything.”
HR AT RISK
HR professionals are more aware than most about the importance
of balance, but also more susceptible to imbalance.
“HR people feel the need to set an example,” said Boswell. If they
work in an environment that doesn’t encourage flex time or provide
paid personal days, they may become excessively stressed by an
inability to meet the demands of family life. “Because HR professionals
are the ones putting the policies in place and enforcing them,
they might sense extra scrutiny if they contravene them by, say, leaving
early to tend to personal issues.”
In addition, many people drawn to the HR field have a compassionate
and caring nature.
“This comes with some negatives,” said Marmen. “Our job can
take on a counseling role when employees with personal issues seek
us out.” When this happens constantly, an HR professional can experience
compassion fatigue, a form of chronic stress that makes it
difficult to leave work challenges at the office.
EMPOWERED AND SATISFIED
If sheer workload is a significant stressor for an employee, there may
be solutions that reduce effort while still getting the job done.
“Your best resource is your employees,” said Marmen. “Collaborate
with them to find out exactly what is going on. Not only will they
help to identify problems, they will likely have great insight into the
opportunities that exist for improvement and change.”
One issue employees frequently cite as a job stressor is a lack of
autonomy.
“The days of micromanagement need to go away,” said Boswell.
“There’s a time and place for that level of direction – when you’re
onboarding a new employee, for example.” She adds that a lack of
freedom can lead to frustrations at work that carry over into the
rest of life. “If there’s some element of independence for employees,
they’ll feel more empowered, and that makes for a more satisfied
workforce.”
REMOTE CONTROL
Being in greater control of your work environment may also mean
working from home on occasion. While this can help employees
free up time for life’s other commitments, it’s not always the perfect
solution.
“A lot of employers think that to encourage good work-life balance,
they need to allow employees to work from home. But I don’t
think it’s for everybody,” said Boswell. “It’s not for every company
and not for every employee. You definitely need to put some policies
in place, define what it looks like and establish a trial period to determine
if it works.”
It’s not always what employees want, either.
“A solution might be as simple as letting somebody come in a little
bit later and then leave later, or come in earlier and leave earlier,
without affecting the core work that needs to be done,” said Boswell.
“We’re so plugged in nowadays that it’s not the issue it once was.”
Paid personal days can help employees tackle external commitments,
as well. And when it comes to some tougher challenges,
employee assistance programs can be an effective tool.
“In most cases, this means there’s someone an employee can call if
they need help with elder care, child care or legal help,” said Marmen.
The upfront expense to an employer pays dividends down the road.
“If you can get ahead of a problem and help an employee solve a
challenge that they may not want to speak to a manager about, then
you’ve got that person and that productivity back.”
SETTING BOUNDARIES
While all these strategies can help, an employee needs to believe in
the benefit of setting boundaries – something that’s difficult in a
culture that doesn’t always seem to value balance. More than half of
the respondents in the 2012 University of Western Ontario study
said they chose to take work home with them, putting in an average
of seven extra hours per week from home. Nearly two-thirds spent
more than an hour each day catching up on emails. And one-third
spent more than an hour emailing during their days off.
“This is what bothers me about companies that say they have great
wellness programs,” said Marmen. “Many times when you ask those
employees how it is to work for their organization, they say they are
unable to take advantage of the wellness program because of the demands
of their job. How can there be wellness when workers are on
duty 24/7?” Even if off-hours work isn’t officially encouraged or condoned,
it’s still typical in plenty of organizations.
“In my job there’s no particular requirement to respond to emails
that come in during the evenings or weekends, but I still tend to respond
to them,” said Marmen.
To help establish those boundaries, an organization needs to
make it clear that no one is required to work beyond set hours.
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18 ❚ JULY/AUGUST 2015 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL