Productivity
BACK_TO_BLOG

An Employer’s Guide To Work-Life Balance And Flexible Working

What is work-life balance, and how can it be achieved? For many people, reaching perfect harmony and a rewarding balance between work and personal life is far from easy. Splitting your time and energy between the two can be a daily challenge.

What is work-life balance, and how can it be achieved? For many people, reaching perfect harmony and a rewarding balance between work and personal life is far from easy. Splitting your time and energy between the two can be a daily challenge, made even more complicated when battling obstacles such as a long commute, family commitments, or working different hours than your partner. Work-life balance has been a hot topic for several years but is on the radar now more than ever.

The COVID-19 pandemic turned everyday working life on its head, and many workers revisited their priorities – work-life balance is now one of the top considerations for many candidates when moving jobs.

Despite life slowly returning to normal, the ‘Great Resignation’ kick-started due to the pandemic. Aside from pay and job satisfaction, many candidates moving jobs are looking for shorter commutes (or no commute at all) to allow for a better work-life balance and working arrangements that provide greater flexibility around family priorities.

As an employer, handling the issue of work-life balance can be difficult. It is different for every employee – a working parent’s idea of work-life balance might look very different to that of a recent graduate settling into a new city and taking the first steps in their career. Goals for work-life balance tend to differ between single and married employees, those new in their careers, and those looking towards retirement.

Productivity
Productivity

Five ways to improve work-life balance

There are many ways companies can help employees achieve a better work-life balance.

Here are our top tips to improve work-life balance in your business:

1. Set boundaries for overtime

Working 60–70-hour weeks shouldn’t be confused with commitment or dedication. Working beyond the daily standard hours should be limited to time-sensitive activities or projects. Otherwise, employees will check out and burn out.

2. Introduce flexible paid time off

A handful of US companies have introduced unlimited paid time off. Sounds daunting (and expensive), right? Not all employees took advantage of the benefit when it was introduced in their companies because some felt guilty about taking time off. For something less radical, a “flexible” paid time off plan might be worth considering, allowing your company to cater for the needs of a workforce with increasingly diverse wants and needs.

3. Set work-life balance models

Encourage your managers and leadership team to lead by example. Their actions during time off – such as responding to emails or calling for meetings – will affect their employees’ work-life balance choices and what they feel is expected of them. Employees that limit calls and email replies or completely switch off while on leave or at weekends (depending on the working hours agreed for their role) shouldn’t be criticised. Instead, ask them to create thorough handovers while they’re away. Writing a handover and going through it with the team can also give peace of mind that everything’s taken care of and highlight any urgent issues that need to be dealt with before they go on leave – allowing them to relax and enjoy a well-earned break. This means less chance of employees burning out – and checking out of the business. Empowering managers by providing them with the support and resources they need to drive changes for their teams can also help your business meet employee expectations on a more individual level.

4. Offer health and well-being benefits

Besides health insurance, offering on-site wellness programmes such as discounted gym memberships and employee assistance programmes that provide counselling for mental or emotional health issues sends the message that the company is looking for the right balance for its staff. Investing in your employees’ wellness doesn’t need to cost the earth and can include initiatives like organising sports events or providing fresh fruit and healthy drinks.

5. Create a family-friendly workplace

Any parent will know that childcare responsibilities don’t neatly stop when you get to the office, so creating a family-friendly work environment can significantly help working parents. Consider offering an on-site childcare facility to take the stress, frustrations , and travel time away from working parents. If this isn’t a practical option, there are other ways you can offer flexibility to working parents, such as allowing them to take time off to pick up their children from school when they are unwell or flexible start and finish times for parents doing the school run.

So, from free fruit Fridays to encouraging employees to switch off when they’re away from the office, there are plenty of ways to create a workplace environment that values work-life balance among employees. Next, we take a look at flexible working.

The business benefits of Flexible Working

A hugely popular workplace benefit and a hot HR topic, the freedom to choose work hours and workplaces is here to stay. Flexible working is a big step towards a better work-life balance and can be a big motivator for employees considering changing jobs. Providing flexible working options can enhance your employee value proposition (EVP), increasing your ability to attract talent and improving morale and employee retention. Introducing flexible working can benefit your business in several ways:

Productivity

Competitive edge

One in two small businesses with less than 50 employees offer flexible working, according to research by Smarter Working Initiative. Although smaller businesses may not be able to match the benefits of larger, more established companies, they can have the edge over their rivals when hiring talent if they offer flexible work arrangements.

Staff retention and morale

Retention is a crucial topic for businesses, and one of the ways they can improve it is by offering flexible work. Flexible working arrangements can boost employee morale and motivation through higher job satisfaction and improved work-life balance. Flexible working can reduce fatigue and stress, which may cause employees to lose focus and underperform. Happier employees can mean improved retention levels, productivity, and quality of work.

Financial benefits

In addition to flexible working arrangements helping to increase productivity, they can reduce hiring and training costs due to improved retention and the costs associatedwithsickleave, absenteeism, and poor productivity. Flexible working is also relatively quick and inexpensive to introduce compared to other benefits.

Flexible workings can include:

  • Working part-time or reduced working hours
  • Flexi-time: employees choose their working hours within agreed limits
  • Job sharing: one full-time role is shared between two or more employees
  • Working from home (all or some of the time)
  • Mobile working or teleworking: employees work at premises other than the office or home (at clients’ offices, working while travelling etc.)
  • Shift swapping
  • Condensed hours: working time is reallocated over a week or a fortnight. For example, employees may ask to work additional hours from Monday to Thursday to get Fridays off
  • Annualised hours: employees’ working hours are expressed as the total number of hours for the year and can be varied from week to week and month to month

Flexible working arrangements:
What are the rules?

Since the Flexible Working Law was passed in June 2014, all UK employees – not just parents and carers – who have been working 26 continuous weeks and haven’t made another application for flexible working within the previous 12 months are eligible to apply for flexible work conditions.

For more information about handling requests for flexible working, read the ACAS Code of Practice here.

  • Work-life balance is one of the most significant considerations for employees when deciding to quit a job or accept a new role
  • Flexible working arrangements are one of the most significant benefits a company can offer to a id work-life balance
  • Offering flexible working options can give businesses a competitive edge in hiring and retention, improve productivity and morale, and have plenty of financial benefits too

“The pandemic has made people revisit their priorities and the work-life balance offered is one of the top considerations when choosing a new role.”

For more insights and employer guides, visit the Adecco blog.

Hiring? Adecco can help put the right people on your team and give you the support and resources you need to keep them there. To learn more, contact us today.

Blog Home
...
5 Essential People Management Skills For Success

No matter where you work, the chances are that your job involves working with other people – and if you’ve worked your way up the career ladder, it might mean that you oversee a project or team. Understanding what makes people tick will set you and your team up for success.

Learn More
...
An Employer’s Guide to Interview Questions

Our employer’s guide to interview questions gives you everything you need to find the best candidate for the role. With the post-pandemic labour market opening back up and an increasing number of potential candidates actively seeking new opportunities.

Learn More
...
How Company Culture Can Help Attract And Retain Top Talent

What is company culture and how can it be used to improve employee retention? Get tips on improving your company culture to help attract and retain your talent. Company culture can be defined as the personality of a company. It encompasses how people within an organisation interact with each other and work together.

Learn More

×