One of the biggest changes we are seeing during the unfolding technology communications revolution is in how we work. With mobile email and instant messaging, we are now contactable around the clock, meaning the working day doesn’t stop simply because we are not in the office.
In the UAE, we are almost addicts to our devices. Many of us check our emails well into the evening and just accept it as our duty.
But there is the danger that the line between our work and personal lives is not just becoming increasingly blurred, but being erased altogether.
A recent survey by research service WorkplaceTrends.com found that 67 per cent of employers believe their workforce has a good work-life balance, while only 45 per cent of employees answered positively.
And it is not just about technology delivering messages to us round the clock. For many of us workloads have expanded. What we are being asked to complete in a day is beyond what we have the capacity for.
In the same WorkplaceTrends.com survey, 64 per cent of HR professionals said they expect employees to be reachable outside of office hours by email or phone. But just because an employee can answer an email at 10pm doesn’t mean they should.
A better balance means a better bottom line.
The logic is that the more hours an employee works, the more productive they are and therefore the more value they bring. This line of thinking massively overlooks the damaging effects of longer working hours.
A study by Bowling Green State University in Ohio found that psychological detachment from work during non-work times was vital to employees’ health and had a huge part to play in how productive they were at work overall. It found that employees who do not take time to unplug find it harder to focus at work.
Long working hours and lack of a sufficient work-life balance are two of the main causes of stress, and it is stress that is responsible for more than one million American’s calling in sick every day. This is thought to cost employees between US$2,650 and $3,600 per employee per year.
On the other hand, according to a study by America’s Corporate Executive Board, workers who have a good work-life balance work 20 per cent more than those who do not.
Promoting a better work-life balance.
The main reason for struggling to switch off outside of work hours, according to Bowling Green State University, was the worry of not being considered “always available”, for fear of being overlooked for promotions and pay rises.
The onus is on bosses and workers to help staff find a balance and dispel the fear.
An effective solution is “flexible working”. This doesn’t mean allowing staff to entirely dictate where and when they work, but rather giving them flexibility to decide how best to fit their work commitments in with their personal lives.
Remote working has many benefits too – employees are less likely to call in sick as they do not have to drag themselves to the office. What’s more, remote workers cut out the commute, which is a time saver and removes a major source of stress – the travel to work.
According to a Vodafone UK survey of 500 key business decision makers, remote working can help organisations save up to £34 billion (Dh180bn) a year.
Building a happy, healthier, more productive workforce.
An appropriate balance creates a happier and healthier workforce.
The New Economics Foundation’s recent report showed that people who are happier at work are more productive, more creative and able to concentrate better. The report also suggests that the difference in productivity between happy and unhappy people can range between 10 and 50 per cent – 10 per cent for non-complex tasks and up to 50 per cent in service and creative industries.
Companies need to get away from this old-school focus on hours put in and not the quality of the final output.
So where to start? The human resources decision-makers need to take the lead on how this issue is addressed at the corporate level – with buy-in as high up as the C-levels. Start with whatever is necessary to get a picture of the work-life balance at your organisation. From there the work begins on the efforts towards building a healthy culture. Without that, it’s hard to be considered a responsible employer.
Stephen Maclaren is the head of regional sales employee benefits at Al Futtaim Willis.
business@thenational.ae
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