When asked what factor is most important in determining your job satisfaction, work/life balance came in at number one with 67.1% of people saying it was most important. Eagle Hill Consulting also reports that 56% of employee who reported poor work/life balance were likely to leave their jobs in the next year compared to only 20% of those with a positive balance. People value their time outside of work, especially when they have families to go home to. By being considerate of your employees’ life outside of work businesses will retain more employees who will ultimately be more productive. Here are 3 ideas for employers to help balance their employees’ work/life.
1. Offer Flexible Working Hours
The problem many employees face is having the same chunk of time reserved for work five days a week. Giving employees the option to work during the night or early in the morning to allow them to pick their kids up from school at 3 pm while still working for 8 hours will help them maintain a positive work/life balance. Multiple surveys have reported that employees would willingly pass up on a raise or a promotion to have this benefit. Want to know more about flexible hours? Click Here to read our in-depth post about the benefits and methods used by other companies.
2. Allow Employees to Telecommute
Employees who telecommute are not only more productive, but much more satisfied with their jobs as well. This allows the employee to use their normal commute time to work and get stuff done without interruptions at the office. (Read our post about Telecommuting and Productivity)We wrote an extensive post a little while ago talking about the benefits of telecommuting, take a look and see if it’s right for you.
3. Offer Family Benefits
Some employers try to help families by providing discounted or subsidized day care services to their employees. A company can help cover the costs of a day care located near the office, by reducing the stress of your employees life there will be a boost to their work performance. Other benefits companies can offer are discounted tickets to theme parks, concerts, and State Fairs. This encourages employees to go out and have a fun weekend with the family so they can return to work feeling fresh and happy after a fun weekend.