People have lives outside of work! What?
This isn’t really a shock to anyone, yet plenty of employers act as though they have no idea that people have interests and responsibilities outside of the office. Moreover, many don’t realize that employees’ lives outside of the office are diverse and don’t simply equal children waiting at home. An outside life could include pets, volunteering, training for a marathon, fixing up the house, spending time with friends and more.
In her latest Authentic Organizations blog post, C.V. Harquail details the importance of work-life initiatives in every workplace and tackles three myths about the need for these sorts of programs.
As far as I can tell, the biggest myth is that there’s something wrong with employees who need to balance their work life with their after-work life. In my opinion, something is wrong with the minority of people who make their work life their only life. That’s not healthy, and it doesn’t help produce better work.
My most positive job experiences — and those in which I accomplished the most — were the ones where my employer showed respect for work-life balance. Not just the work-life balance of the people with children or elderly parents, but everyone. The ones who realized that everyone has a different life outside of work that is important to them.
Do you care about your employees’ lives? What efforts do you make to promote work-life balance?
Image credit, lisegagne via iStock