23/09/2011 Work-life balance – time to readdress the balance

I watched an interesting BBC report recently about people staying connected to work during their holidays. Most people are working longer hours these days, making holidays even more precious and for many of us the only real time to sit back, relax and recharge our batteries. The problem is that technology has enabled a 24/7 workplace and a culture of working anywhere anytime which is a double edged sword.

In the UK alone, a recent survey by Origin Storage of 1,000 office workers in the City of London found that 73% will check in with the office while on holiday while 62% admit their boss expects to be in touch with them while on holiday. This is a global issue. Research by Robert Half recruitment among 1,600 executives in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand found that 60% of executives filter through their work email while on holiday while a staggering 90% of employers in Singapore and Hong Kong expect their employees to be connected during a holiday.

All of this has got me thinking that if work is encroaching to such a degree on private and family life, then more needs to be done to redress the balance by letting family and private life encroach on work. The current situation is not sustainable as a one way street.

At the very least, I think employers must ensure they provide clear guidance both to managers and employees on acceptable and expected practices for issues such as holidays. There are a number of ways that we can help redress the balance, for example by providing time off in lieu, flexible working and allowing employees to deal with personal issues in work time.  Many companies are doing a really good job at this.

The thing that is perhaps the greatest barrier is the whole issue of trust. A flexible working survey by Regus earlier this year among 17,000 senior business people in 18 countries found that although 59% of businesses allow some level of flexibility to workers regardless of their seniority, age or service record, 40% declare that only senior staff are sufficiently trusted. This form of selection automatically excludes many employees that would benefit from a more family friendly work environment such as young families and junior talent that businesses may have gone to great lengths to attract.

The time has come for companies to be more innovative in their approach to helping employees achieve a better work-life balance.  Those who fail to take appropriate steps run the risk of lower productivity and disengagement despite the increasing numbers of hours that managers and employees are working these days.