Flexibility and motivating your employees to have flexibility can really pay off for employers in the long run. “As we look ahead, it is clear that in order to remain competitive, employers must find ways to offer flexible work options if they want to attract and retain top talent,” said Hank Jackson, president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management. Work-life balance means different things to different people, being that we all have different lifestyles, commitments, time constraints, etc. Balance is a very personal thing, and although only your employee can decide the lifestyle that suits them best, as a manager, you can be supportive in helping them achieve that.

Know what your employees are striving for

Not all of your employees will have the same work-life balance goals. Make time to talk to your employees so you can learn what they are striving for. From there, you can determine what you can do to help them. Some employees may benefit from working remotely on set days, while others might need to flexibility to pick and choose their days depending on their needs.

Set a good example for your employees

Setting a good example for your employees to follow can make them feel much more comfortable about working flexibly and enjoying a balanced life. If you send emails late at night, or work hard on the weekends, your employees may start to think that is expected of them, too. If you do need to work crazy hours, let them know that you don’t expect them to reply to your midnight emails, or spend their Sunday working on a project. You can set your own boundaries, and remind yourself to respect your employees’ boundaries as well.

Make your employees aware of their options

Letting your employees know what their options are when it comes to working flexibly or remotely can be the first big step in creating a positive environment where your employees can pick and choose where they work from. Some employers may already have covered this in their onboarding or interviewing process, but if things have changed, or if you did not include it in your onboarding, make sure that your employees are aware of their options. Some employees may not even know that flexibility is an option for them. Regularly discussing options with your team makes them open and aware.

Stay at the forefront of the flexibility curve

Staying at the forefront of the flexibility curve of work-life balance trends is a great way to keep your employees balanced. Consider that what worked last year may not work this year, and what will work next year may also call for a flexibility update. Keep your company’s work-life balance initiatives nice and fresh.

Take a vacation yourself

As we stated in our blog post Maintaining a Healthy Work-Life Balance: For Employees, according to the State of American Vacation study conducted by the U.S. Travel Association, 52% of employees reported having unused vacation days left over at the end of the year. Employees are often worried about taking time off – thinking it effects everyone too much for them to do it. This fear restricts a lot of employees from getting a much-needed break. As a manager, team leader, CEO, or any other position of power, you probably have the same fear. But the company will not go up into flames if you use your vacation time! Remember that you work hard and that you need a break too. By taking your own vacation time and showing your employees that it is a safe, healthy, and responsible thing to do, it will encourage them to use their vacation time as well.

Benefits to offer that help with work-life balance in the workplace

Offering specific benefits to your employees can also help maintain work-life balance and show your employees that you care about their mental health and care about giving them a much deserved break.

Exercise Access

One of the most positive ways to reduce stress and help mental health is to exercise. Everyone that is able to, should be getting in some type of exercise everyday, whether it’s a simple walk, or lifting weights, it’s a great and healthy way for people to relieve stress. Employees who eat healthy and exercise are less at risk of getting sick and missing days from work. This is also beneficial to the employee, meaning that they can use their PTO for vacations or fun events, instead of using them up for sick days. Many office buildings have gym facilities onsite, so if you do, encourage your employees to use it regularly. If not, some other great ways to motivate your employees to exercise is to offer membership discounts at a local gym, offer free or discounted workout classes, or discount codes for online workouts. A fun idea is to add some competition into your exercise motive. Have your employees track their fitness and offer some type of reward for this, creating an exciting program for your employees. You can also look into promoting a local 5K race, or raising money for charities/non-profits by asking your team to participate in a 5K.

Childcare Services

Childcare services can impact employees on a very high level. Not having the proper care for their children can create a huge stressor for parents, leaving them feeling overwhelmed at work. Similar to the gym situation, some places of employment offer on-site childcare services. This is a great option for parents, and can take a lot of frustration out of their life. If this isn’t possible for your office, it’s also a great option to offer discounts or recommend childcare services, so that your employees know you support them.

If both of these options are not really feasible for your business, you should try to allow your employees at least some flexibility to care for their children. This can include the ability to take time off to pick up a sick child from school, the ability to see a child’s school play at lunch time, or flexible start/end time for parents who drop off or pick up kids from school.

Company Outings/Events

A great way to boost employee morale and give them a sense of work-life balance is to offer the occasional company outing or company event. Allowing your employees to relax and get to know each other in stress-free environment can help them feel more balanced. Company outings and events can be as cheap or expensive as you’d like to make them, so work them into your budget at whatever capacity you can. Have a designated person (or team, depending on the size) organize everything, and allow your employees to relax and enjoy.

The post Helping Maintain a Healthy Work-Life Balance: For Employers appeared first on CallHarbor.

Prioritize Your Time

Without a supervisor to keep accountability while working from home, it’s almost too easy to say “I’ll get to this later” and add something to your list of things you’ll get done when you get the chance. Missing little details in projects, forgetting to communicate with everyone you need to as a remote worker, and leaving anything for the last minute can definitely cause a problem down the line.

To avoid this, and have everything under control, make sure you have a task list that you can prioritize. If you have small tasks, that can take 5 or 10 minutes, doing them right away will get rid of them and shorten your list – making it look less daunting. For bigger priority tasks, plan some time in advance and work on them consciously during a period of time you don’t have interruptions or distractions. You may have a to-do list with 50 tasks on it, and you should prioritize those tasks into four categories to stay organized and on track.

The four categories are:
Urgent & important
Important but not urgent
Urgent but not important
Neither urgent nor important.

Use PTO to Take Well-Deserved Time Off

Sometimes, truly unplugging and getting away from work means taking vacation time and shutting completely off for a while. Whether your vacation consists of a one-day staycation full of “me time,” or a two-week trip to Bali with your favorite people, it’s important to take time off to physically and mentally recharge.

According to the State of American Vacation 2018 study conducted by the U.S. Travel Association, 52% of employees reported having unused vacation days left over at the end of the year. Employees are often worried that taking time off will disrupt the workflow, and they will be met with a backlog of work when they return. This fear should not restrict you from taking a much-needed break. PTO and vacation days are meant to be taken… and you deserve them! You work hard for them!

The benefits of taking a day off far outweigh the downsides. Especially With proper planning, and communicating fully with your entire team before you leave, you can take time away without worrying about burdening your colleagues or contending with a huge workload when you return.

Set Boundaries

Setting boundaries for yourself to avoid burnout in a very important thing. When you leave your office space, avoid thinking about upcoming projects or answering company emails or calls to your cell phone. Having a separate computer or phone for work can also help with this, so you can shut them off when you clock out and not do work-related things until the next morning. If that isn’t possible, use separate browsers, emails or filters for your work and personal platforms.

It is also important to determine when you will work and when you will stop working, otherwise you might find yourself answering work-related emails late at night, during vacations or on weekends off. Set boundaries of what time period you will work. It’s totally normal and healthy to give yourself some wiggle room, or to work late every once in a while to get something important done, but remember that your mental health is on the line, and you are important!

Notifying team members and your manager about your boundaries can also be very helpful. This will help to ensure that they understand and respect your workplace limits and expectations.

Set a Daily Routine

Setting a daily routine goes slightly hand in hand with setting your boundaries. My setting a daily routine, you can feel more organized and avoid burnout. Implement time-management strategies, analyze your to-do list, and cut out tasks that have little to no value. Pay attention to when you are most productive at work and block that time off for your most important work-related activities. Avoid checking your emails and phone every few minutes, because those can be major time-wasting tasks that derail your attention and productivity. Structuring your day can increase productivity at work, which can result in more free time to relax outside of work.

Setting up your workday as if you were in the office can also help a lot. Start work at the same time you would if you were going in, take scheduled lunch breaks, and schedule meetings at normal times. This office schedule feel can help your productivity and keep you on track.

Have a Designated Work Area

Almost all remote workers (especially right now) use their home as their primary place of work. However, working at home also means they are subject to distractions like children, pets, and household chores. If an employee chooses to work from home, it’s important to set up a designated workspace so that you don’t bring work into spaces meant for relaxing, dining, family time, etc. This helps you to distinguish workspaces from living spaces. If you are working at your kitchen table while eating dinner, it can become easy to forget that you should be logged off. If you don’t have enough space for a separate designated area, simply try to clear off all work related items from the space you are using when you log off, so that you aren’t tempted.

With many employees now working from home, in the middle of the pandemic, while juggling a number of responsibilities, you could definitely be more prone to burnout. Prioritizing your time, setting boundaries, taking much needed time off, setting a daily routine, and having a designated work area can help with this, while keeping you mentally healthy and productive.

The post Maintaining Work-Life Balance: For Employees appeared first on CallHarbor.