Do your employees have a good work life balance?

There’s new research that has found that 43% of employees would happily take unpaid leave to get more time off work.

A massive 32% of British employees admit to still checking their email when they’re on holiday, and 34% say it’s difficult to put their workload out of their mind when away, due to the thought of what will await them on their return.

This, therefore, means that even when we are taking a break from work, we’re not benefitting from a proper break, which is so needed. But, how do you give your people more balance when it comes to this? 

There are a few things that you can do though.  I would suggest that the first step would be to look at your flexible working policies. Is it working for your people? I’m betting that it isn’t if they are typical of the people surveyed above. Plus, what effect is it having on your business and productivity if your people aren’t properly rested after a break?

My advice to you is to make sure you have great communication with your people. Chat with them regularly to find out what they think, feel, need, and of course if there are things that they are struggling with. If they aren’t shutting off whilst on leave, then you have issues. But you can’t put these issues right if you don’t communicate.

You and your managers need to lead by example too. You may be sending emails outside of official office hours, or at weekends. Maybe your people feel that they have to respond as you are the boss? It’s all about making sure you set the right tone. 

If you email employees out of hours, it might be the case that they feel obliged to respond. Save emails to send during working hours, or if you really must do it, make sure your people know that you don’t expect a reply until they are next working.

Again as a business owner or manager, make it a regular part of your communication with your people, perhaps at regular meetings and reviews to reiterate how important it is to book holidays, and switch off whilst on them.

You need to set the tone, so similarly when you are on leave, you need to set an example and do the same. sure your employees are making the best of their annual leave too. If someone hasn’t booked any holiday time for a while, ask them about it. If they have no plans, you could suggest they take some time for a break to recharge, even if they don’t go anywhere.

Finally, make booking annual leave simpler. Hopefully, you already have great HR software that
allows employees to see what leave they have remaining, and to book any required time. But if
not, perhaps creating an easier way to request time off would encourage people to take a break
when they need to!

Can I help you give your staff a better work/life balance? Please do get in touch if I can.

Do you have a current grievance issue? Would you know how to deal with it in the right way? Why not read my blog on this now?

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