A healthy work-life balance. When you hear that phrase, what immediately goes through your mind? Perhaps you think, “That’s impossible!”, or “That’s just a myth.” Some of you know firsthand the pain of how your work has negatively impacted your marriage, your family, or your personal life. For others of you, this is something that is very fresh and top of mind.
This topic is certainly not new. However, today in our new “work-from-home, constant-zoom-calls, always-online-world” that we are living in, the hard edges between work and home have become even more difficult to define. There is a reason why for job seekers today, a company’s culture is more important than pay and perks, as a recent article in glassdoor.com has pointed out.
How is your organization making a healthy work-life balance a top priority?
A recent hire in my organization turned to me and expressed his sheer excitement about and deep gratefulness for a recent day when a few of us spent an hour skiing some fresh powder before starting the work day. He mentioned to me that this was the first job he has had that not only said it valued a work-life balanced but actually meant it. He also said that by giving him the freedom to spend an hour skiing, communicated to him that I trusted him, believing that he would still get his work done that day. This made him feel not only valued but trusted. I realize living in a ski town is very unique and skiing for an hour with your staff is unattainable for most. However, the principle is finding space in your organization’s culture where you really live out the value you say you believe by finding creative outlets for your staff to be both valued and trusted.