How to Help Your Employees Achieve Work-Life Balance 

 

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in the Great Resignation, which many are now calling the great reset. This event was a wake-up call to employers and while Americans still have far to go in achieving the same workers’ rights as in other countries, they’re finally standing up and saying enough is enough. There’s more to life than spending every hour working for someone else — especially when all your hard labor keeps you in poverty or just above it.

The best bosses recognize the cries from their workers’ souls for what they are — a demand to be seen as equally human and deserving of respect. That means honoring that people are complex, with mental, emotional and physical needs the office can’t provide.

Such employers want to do more to keep their best staff members on the team and work together harmoniously toward a shared mission. What should they do? Here’s how to help your employees achieve work-life balance as a small business owner.

 

Encourage or Require Paid Leave

Americans have a sad time regarding paid leave. They’re one of just a handful of the world’s nations to not offer a single day of paid family leave and the only one out of the 41 wealthiest. Despite the pandemic, just 26% of unionized workers and 46% of nonunion have access to a plan that includes paid sick days. Lawmakers seem poised to do nothing to address the issue, even though the virus still poses threats.

In such conditions, it’s not hard to understand why some workers would be reluctant to risk their lives to heed seemingly arbitrary calls to return to the office. However, they might feel like they have little choice when they have rent to pay and simmer with resentment. Plus, many workers used their former commuting time to rediscover hobbies that excite their passions. Far from fluff, activities like reading and journaling are crucial to mental health and can create a happier, more productive workforce when encouraged.

A straightforward solution is to offer paid leave. It doesn’t cost the company bottom line much — you’d be counting that day of labor as a liability on your balance sheet, anyway. But, it can make a massive difference in overall morale.

However, you should take a lesson from companies that have implemented unlimited leave with varying degrees of success. Even those with the most generous policies can find employees hesitate to use them out of fear of falling behind or being perceived as doing less by their colleagues.

Your solution? Require a minimum number of paid leave days each year. You can gently encourage participation by not allowing paid time off (PTO) to accumulate year after year. You can still make it unlimited if it suits your fancy, but you might find you inspire greater work-life balance by requiring two to three weeks of absence yearly. You can always handle longer leave requests individually or build a separate policy for extended illness, maternity and paternity.

 

Set an Example

Your staff members are adults, but are similar to children in one respect — most of them aim to please you. Therefore, you can encourage using PTO through your words, but your best workers are more apt to follow your example. If they see you burning the midnight oil night after night, they’ll assume they have to do the same to get ahead. This perception creates unnecessary stress and can take time away from their families.

Instead, model appropriate work-life balance. Let your employees see you take a week off to attend a destination wedding or even take a mental health day. They’ll often follow suit when you show them you prioritize a healthy attitude toward juggling your dual responsibilities.

 

Allow for Flextime 

Some businesses require in-person work. Running a construction project or restaurant without your on-site staff is pretty challenging. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t give your workers a bit of flexibility in their hours.

One method is to loosen up on start-end times. There’s no need for punitive policies that promise to strip 15 minutes of pay for arriving a minute late. They could open you up for trouble with the labor board and harm overall productivity and morale. Traffic jams and late buses happen.

Furthermore, you could allow workers some freedom over their schedules instead of assigning their hours. Survey staff about their preferred start and finish times. Honor their outside commitments, like attending school or needing to pickup their kids at daycare by a prescribed hour. You might stagger schedules to account for variation in need.

 

Explore Remote Options

If your business model lends itself to it, consider continuing remote options for some staff. Those with autoimmune or other health conditions still run severe health risks from COVID and may not feel comfortable breathing the same air as countless others daily.

What if you’re locked into a multi-year lease and can’t see that office space going to waste? Can you shift to a partial telecommuting schedule where you require attendance only one or two days per week? Does your lease allow you to sublet some space as a co-working area? These have become increasingly popular since the pandemic and could provide an income stream to cover necessary rent.

 

Offer Onsite Childcare

Women bore the brunt of pandemic job losses, often because they couldn’t locate adequate childcare for their littles while they worked. Good help hasn’t gotten any easier — or less expensive — to find.

If you have the means, provide onsite childcare. It’s best if you can give this as an employee perk. However, many of your staff members may gladly pay a stipend to help cover costs if they get to check in on their precious little one throughout the day and feel secure that they’re receiving the best care possible.

 

Help Them With Housing

One of the factors spurring the Great Resignation is hard work no longer gets many people the American Dream. The average home now costs nearly half a million dollars — an impossible goal for someone earning even $20 an hour if they pay $1,500 or more a month in rent alone. What’s all that labor for if it doesn’t get you a home, family or sense of financial security?

Some employers have gone above and beyond with mortgage assistance programs for their staff members. Such a move may or may not be in your budget, but it is worthy of consideration if you have the cash. This model also encourages your employees to live in the communities where they work, forming a better sense of connection.

 

Establishing a Healthy Work-Life Balance

The COVID-19 pandemic caused everyone to reassess what mattered to them — employees and employers included. The best bosses recognize their employees’ need to honor their lives outside the office.

Consider implementing one or more of the six above tips to help your employees achieve work-life balance. You’ll reap the rewards of higher productivity and morale.

 

About The Author

Ava Roman (she/her) is the Managing Editor of Revivalist, a women’s lifestyle magazine that empowers women to live their most authentic life. When Ava is not writing you’ll find her in a yoga class, advocating for body positivity, whipping up something delicious in the kitchen, or smashing the patriarchy. 

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