Employee retention is one of every organization’s and HR department's biggest challenges today. Since 2020, organizations have faced employee turnover in droves, on a global scale: quiet quitting, the Great Resignation, the Big Quit, the Great Reshuffle.
But when you shift perspectives and look at the WHY behind this, it’s a Great Opportunity. Simon Sinek argued: “The Great Resignation is, I think, a market correction… For too many years, let’s be honest, companies have taken advantage of their people, especially low-level employees. Because they could. They actually had attitudes like, if you don’t like it here, just get a job somewhere else.”
We’d argue that this is a time for organizations to correct their culture to improve employee retention. It’s an opportunity to make meaningful changes that not only will positively impact the employee experience but also your organization’s bottom line.
How? Start with your employees’ lives.
How to Improve Work-Life Balance for Employees
Here are five strategies and meaningful low-cost actions to honor your employees’ work-life balance:
Flexible Work Arrangements
Strategy: Offer flexible work hours, remote work options, or compressed workweeks to accommodate employees' personal needs.
Follow-up Actions:
- Regularly review and adjust policies based on employee feedback.
- Train managers to support and manage flexible teams effectively.
- Monitor productivity and employee satisfaction to ensure the arrangements are working.
- Flex-time can change throughout the year – implementing special summer or holiday hours to accommodate people’s personal schedules.
Encourage Use of Paid Time Off (PTO)
Strategy: Promote the use of vacation days, personal days, and mental health days to prevent burnout.
Follow-up Actions:
- Track PTO usage to identify employees who may not be taking enough time off and encourage them to do so.
- Implement mandatory time-off periods where possible, especially after intensive projects.
- Create a culture where taking time off is respected and not penalized.
Set Clear Boundaries for After-Hours Communication
Strategy: Establish guidelines that minimize after-hours emails, calls, and work expectations.
Follow-up Actions:
- Communicate the importance of disconnecting from work to all employees.
- Utilize tools that schedule emails to be sent during business hours.
- Establish policies and timelines to return emails and phone calls. Step back from the NOW NOW NOW mentality.
- Make meetings matter – keeping them on-track, on-schedule, and within the workday hours. Be mindful of remote workers who are in different time zones.
- Avoid the Good Ol’ Boys, after-hours business.
Regularly review and enforce these guidelines to ensure compliance across the organization.
Promote a Culture of Work-Life Balance
Strategy: Lead by example, with leadership prioritizing work-life balance and demonstrating healthy behaviors.
Follow-up Actions:
- Share success stories and testimonials from employees who effectively manage their work-life balance.
- Recognize and reward managers and teams that model a balanced work culture.
- Conduct pulse surveys to measure the effectiveness of the work-life balance culture and adjust accordingly.
Provide Resources for Stress Management and Well-Being
Strategy: Offer programs and resources that support corporate wellness activities , improving the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of your staff.
Follow-up Actions:
- Provide access to wellness programs, counseling services, or fitness memberships.
- Organize workshops on time management, stress reduction, and mindfulness.
- Provide your employees with meaningful benefits packages that include dietitian, mental health, women’s health, and medical services.
- Regularly assess employee well-being through anonymous surveys and make necessary adjustments to available resources.
Work-life balance can’t be just “another policy”, insteady a lived value within the institution. This has to start with top management and constantly be evaluated and adjusted.
"Balance is not something you find. It's something you create." - Jana Kingsford