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How Can Businesses Help Their Employees Achieve a Better Work-Life Balance?

By Hugh Fort in Careers, posted April 18, 2024

Achieving a healthy work-life balance is nothing short of essential for employees; indeed, it is something to which a great deal of workers actively strive, and which has fuelled a sea change in the way the working population approaches its respective careers.

Businesses, too, are incentivised to promote a positive work-life balance – and not just as a result of growing pressure from said working population.

Employee wellbeing is indelibly linked to productivity and to employee retention, in turn impacting business culture, profitability and longevity.

As a business owner, finding this equilibrium can be challenging. How, then, can you promote your employees' wellbeing?

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Flexible Working

One of the more immediate ways in which you can foster a positive work-life balance in your staff is through allowing flexible working.

The term has become nebulous in recent years, coming to mean a variety of things – from flexitime, where workers choose their own start and end time each day, to remote working and beyond.

You should embrace this flexibility on as many fronts as you can, by offering remote work options, flexible hours, or even an optional four-day working week.

Empowering employees to manage their schedules around personal obligations promotes autonomy, in turn reducing stress, improving morale and improving performance.

Transportation

Work-life balance can be negatively impacted by worker commutes, particularly where employees are reliant on unreliable public transport, or even simply spending a significant portion of their day travelling to and from work.

Remote working policies can help in many situations here, reducing the cost and time involved; for some, though, remote working may not be a possibility.

In these circumstances, you could offer transportation solutions like a company car policy, in order to ease the burden of commuting and enhance flexibility.

Models like used Volkswagens provide reliable and affordable options, reducing the stress associated with transportation and increasing comfort for the commute.

A lax policy could enable employees to use their company car more freely, too.

Encourage Time-Off

Annual leave is more than a privilege for employees; it is a basic right, and one which nearly 70% of all workers do not use to the fullest extent.

There are many reasons for this, including feelings of responsibility or guilt, and fear of reprisal. In creating a culture that prioritises annual leave over perceived urgency, you can encourage employees to use up their annual leave without fear.

Wellness Programmes

Finally, active investment in wellness programmes as a perk of employment can be invaluable for workers.

There are many that may not have the time or resources to seek help for personal issues elsewhere, and simply providing the means for them to access help can be enough to lighten the load.

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