Work / Life Balance.... What's That??

"All work and no play...."

Good question and one far too many employees probably should be asking themselves.  Many full time employees struggle to find a balance between making time for themselves and working as hard as possible.  Many for instance feel obligated to at least check emails or phone messages whilst on leave or on their days off, or after hours.

A recent study of 2,257 full time employed adults over 18 years of age in the US discovered that nearly half felt guilty if they didn't at least do a little bit of work during holidays or outside working hours.  One quarter of those surveyed also admitted that they felt guilty taking all their leave entitlements.  Around half said they felt obliged to put in a bit of work even when on sick leave.  Sound familiar?

The Rise Of 24/7 Employer/Employee Contact 

This compulsion amongst employees to remain connected with work even when they are meant to be 'off duty' is becoming a real problem for many companies.  The growing use of technology makes it easy to 'leave the mobile phone on just in case'.  Or check emails on the company laptop or smart phone which just has to go home with them every night, or even on holidays.  

This invariably means that employers increasingly have 24/7 contact with their employees.  And if employees are in the habit of taking work home with them, it becomes all to easy to create an expectation in other employees that they should be doing the same or at least making themselves available should the 'boss' require their assistance.

"Managers should clarify expectations regarding after-hours communication and encourage teams to develop daily routines that respect work and personal boundaries," Link said. "Imbalance can easily lead to stressed and disgruntled employees, negative health and morale issues, and diminished worker productivity."

....companies will need to create protocols that thoughtfully address work-life boundaries to meet both organizational goals and employee needs and tendencies."

Jim Link is the chief human resources officer for Randstad North America which conducted the survey.