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Guide to Balancing Work and Life
Your organization will be more successful if employees balance their lives
By Meagan Francis
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Extremely Useful
8.0
out of 10
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Small businesses often have a small staff and employees wear several hats at once. Absence due to illness, childcare emergencies or personal issues can present a problem. How can you afford to let a prized employee have extra time off to care for a sick child or reduce hours during a personal crisis? But research shows that the best workers are those who aren't "all business, all the time." Promoting a balance between life and work obligations at every level of your organization will attract employees, encourage a loyal and happier workforce, and make your business more effective and successful. To be productive and satisfied, workers need: - Flexible schedules that accommodate personal interests and family
- Convenient, affordable, high quality child care
- A workplace that allows them to be physically and psychologically healthy.
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Help employees find good childcare
Workers need to be confident that their kids are well-cared-for. Reliable childcare – including backup or emergency care – also can reduce absenteeism.
I recommend: KLC Child Care and Management Consulting provides on-site and emergency childcare, holiday care, corporate discounts, and partnerships with existing child-care centers.
Promote health and wellness
Healthy workers create an effective workforce.
I recommend: Wellness Corporate Solutions offers health risk assessments, health fairs and screenings, seminars, wellness coaching, consulting and services that can help employees maintain healthy habits.
Offer telecommuting or flexible schedules
When employees can skip the commute and work from home some of the time – or alter schedules to meet childcare or other needs – they'll save money and be better able to attend to family and personal matters.
I recommend: Career/Life Alliance Services offers a software tool for detailed planning of flexible schedules.
Find out how other companies are dealing with the work-life issue
Attend a seminar or conference to help you incorporate work-life initiatives in your own organization.
I recommend: The Alliance for Work-Life Progress offers members discounted registration to its conferences and courses and a wealth of information and resources.
Get help from a consultant
Helping your employees balance their lives and careers shouldn't mean a lot of extra work for you.
I recommend: LifeCare can help you manage employee benefits like assistance with child and adult care, financial and legal services, and more.
Use scheduling software that looks at the whole picture
Help employees manage work tasks and guard "off" time with a program that keeps track of it all.
I recommend: Llama Graphics' Life Balance software is a time and task coaching software that takes a user's unique goals and priorities into mind and helps them manage the many demands on their time and energy.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- Don't micromanage. Research shows that companies that offer employees autonomy and team decision-making have a happier and more effective workforce.
- Be flexible. Whenever possible, allow employees to create schedules that fit their own unique needs.
- Provide a comfortable, ventilated and smoke-free break room — and allow employees the opportunity to use it.
- Promote health. Provide frequent fresh-air breaks, organize lunch-hour walks, and serve healthy snacks during long meetings.
The official source of Balancing Work and Life is the Work and Life page at Business.com
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Recommended Solution Providers | Back to top |
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Helps individuals and organizations achieve better balance and work-life harmony through training and seminars.
Work/life services keep your organization competitive by creating a healthier, more effective workforce. Reduce expenses and eliminate multiple vendors. With these work/life services, employees get immediate, confidential access to interactive online resources and in-depth consultation — by phone, in person, online or by referral.
An international corporate assistance company, provides a variety of work/life programs to top local and global corporations. Work/life programs offer an innovative blend of referrals and services designed to make each employee more productive and successful at home and in the workplace.
Provides work/life effectiveness services, which has become a synonym for excellence in work/life program development. Possess dynamic, unique, methods for satisfying real-world work/life management needs. This service is committed to providing tailored, fresh, innovative, effective work and family solutions, which are totally responsive to the unique needs of your small business.
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Best Sites to Learn More | Back to top |
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Is balancing work, life, and family a priority for your business? These resources will assist to balance work, life, and family issues, needs, and concerns. They will help you help others in your organization.
Dedicated to providing resources to staying organized, reducing stress, managing your time, and motivating you to achieve your company's goals.
Get advice on how to reduce stress at the workplace and other things you can do to improve the work/life balance struggle.
Includes information along with a how to guide for balancing work and life for the small business owner.
Includes articles on various work/life issues, with tools and links to help you balance work and life.
This organization is dedicated to bettering the balance of work and life. Find many articles, books, links, tips, and advice to help guide you.
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Best Blogs and Forums | Back to top |
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See many posts about issues involved with the work/life balance topic and read what other think.
One author voices an opinion about work/life balance. Includes comments from other readers.
Small discussion about working from home and the stresses it can cause in the search for a balance between work and life.
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