Best ways to maintain work-life balance in employees

How we work – no matter where you are in the world – has ultimately changed. Some may prefer the traditional on-site working style, whereas others may work hybrid or fully remote. With the various working modes now available to us, it begs the question – how does this affect our work-life balance? 

For many, the lines can be blurred, especially if boundary levels are low or there’s instability in their workplace culture. So how can you help individuals improve their work-life balance, even in the midst of our fast-paced world? 

What is a work-life balance? 

A work-life balance is where a person creates a sufficiently equal level between their professional and personal life. From an HR standpoint, you want to ensure staff can maintain harmony between their working and professional lives. This can look like having access to clear and robust policies, wellbeing initiatives and everything they need to be fully onboarded for successful working.

The importance of a work life balance not only reduces stress and burnout, but it also helps manage employee wellbeing. This may seem simple on paper, but there are many factors that can contribute to poor work-life balance, even if expectations and working hours reflect a balanced culture.  

Why is work-life balance a topic of concern? 

Only 61% of UK workers feel they have the right work-life balance, down from 70% in 2022. The HR Director also stated “Decades ago, people went to work from 9 to 5 and then came home to deal with their personal chores and recreation activity. Now, the workday is less defined, with technological advancements and working from home leading to longer days of blended work and personal activities.”. Clearly the problem is getting worse due to blurred lines in our personal and working lives.

While it’s easy to say we should set boundaries, can you confidently say your employer embodies a healthy working culture that facilitates a work-life balance of our modern-day style of working? If employees feel they can’t balance their work and personal lives, then there is an imbalance somewhere.

• Can the employee access wellbeing tools to manage their mental and physical health?

• Does the workplace encourage open communication and frequent breaks?

• Does the workplace accommodate flexible working arrangements and unique circumstances?

A place of work must help their individuals feel like they can disconnect from work when their contracted hours are fulfilled. And they must certainly make employees feel safe from any repercussions, particularly for circumstances out of their control (such as disabilities or caring duties).

Signs of an unbalanced work-life dynamic 

An unhealthy work-life balance can feel like work is taking over one’s life. It can lead to feelings of exhaustion, disconnection and even burnout. Here are some signs your employees may have an unhealthy work-life balance: 

Overworking 

If we’re passionate about a project or task, we may want to devote extra time to it. But when this is a constant, this can feed into personal time and takeover other goals. Plus, it can take away from time to relax and enjoy life outside of work. If you observe certain individuals staying later at work more than usual, and appearing tired and/or stressed, then this is a cause for concern.

Poor self-care 

Adequate sleep, leisure time and even personal hygiene can suffer if we have an unbalanced work-life dynamic. And with lack of sleep especially, we can experience the poor cognitive effects that can affect our work. You may see an individual looking tired, unkempt and ‘slow’ in their output more than usual.

Poor relationships

If work-life balance is poor, you may observe an employee having a hard time with connections at work. They may even mention frequent quarrels with loved ones that are making them appear preoccupied at work.

Withdrawal

If work-life balance is unhealthy in an individual, they may withdraw from social settings, work, hobbies and the like. They may even find them completely uninteresting, due to having little energy. 

Cynicism 

Cynicism can happen when work and play are unbalanced. It’s common to hear things like ‘what’s the point?’. Overtime, this can lead to feelings of having an ‘existential crisis’ that can feel overwhelming. 

Why is it important to maintain a positive work-life balance?  

Maintaining a work life balance isn’t just about encouraging staff to use their full annual leave entitlement or put on a face mask in the evening. Around 43% of respondents in a survey said they have experienced symptoms of stress, anxiety or burnout brought on by poor work-life balance, and around 54% said they frequently felt overwhelmed by their workload.  

With this in mind, it’s important from an HR and employer perspective to look at the root cause. Not only can this help you identify what’s tipping the scales, but it can also help you rebalance them. By tackling the issues head on, you can give staff hope that things are changing for the better and feel supported. You’ll then observe significantly reduce our stress levels, but it can stave off the effects of burnout.

What are the benefits of maintaining a healthy work-life balance? 

It’s one thing achieving work-life balance, it’s another to maintain it. There are numerous benefits to maintaining work life balance, such as:  

• Increasing concentration at work 

• Increasing quality of life 

• Increased focus on hobbies, leisure, fitness and other activities that add to someone’s life and wellbeing 

• It can help you focus on your goals 

• It can help you build and maintain positive relationships 

• It can help you maintain a positive sense of wellbeing

With all of this in mind, maintaining a healthy work-life balance can reduce absences at work, help employees manage time, and ensure they can bounce back from challenges in a productive way (also known as resilience). 

How to maintain a healthy work-life balance 

So, we know the benefits of maintaining a work-life balance – but how do we implement this in the workplace? Here are some ways to maintain a long-term, healthy work-life balance. 

1. Discover what’s contributing to poor work-life balance 

If you find someone is showing increased levels of stressed, even after a period of good mental health, see what’s going on in your life that could be causing this: 

• Are they taking on too much at work? 

• Are they saying yes when they really mean no? 

• Are they not adhering to the boundaries they’ve set?

• Are their boundaries no longer sufficient at work? 

When you have answers to these questions, you can work on solving these recurring issues.

2. Regularly review where they spend time the most 

Time really is a currency, and if it’s not spent well, it can cause other areas to suffer. Is the employee spending lots of time on non-urgent tasks? What’s making them avoid the more important ones? Do you find they procrastinate when really, it’s because they’re anxious about tackling a specific task (either in or out of work)? 

3. Promote workplace perks regularly

It can be easy to forget what perks our places of work offer. Whether it’s wellbeing initiatives or EAP – promoting them regularly can help improve your overall wellbeing, as well as break up someone’s working day into more palatable chunks.

4. Encourage asking for support 

Asking for support at work is the better alternative to suffering in silence. The latter can cause more feelings of anxiety, as well as contribute to mistakes. If someone has expressed they cannot go to a manager or are unsupported, then there is clearly a communication issue that is affecting staff. Discover what the communication barriers are and offer to step in or refer your mental health first aider.

5. Encourage staff to take regular breaks 

It can be all too easy to power through when you’re on a roll. Over time, this can contribute to overworking, so make sure staff take time to have regular breaks so they can recharge throughout the day. Mindful breaks with minimal technology are best. As after all, compulsive use of our phones (whether it’s checking texts, scrolling through social media platforms or just aimlessly browsing) can have negative consequences on our cognition. 

How an Employee Assistance Programme can help 

Maintaining work-life balance isn’t always straightforward. There will be ups and downs and trial and error until you can find a routine that works best. With HA | Wisdom Wellbeing, our counsellors can support individuals who are finding their work-life balance just isn’t reliable enough to stick to. They can help you build systems that work for you, as well as provide you with healthy coping strategies to ensure you can reap the benefits of a positive work-life balance.

Conclusion 

Maintaining a work-life balance is important to overall wellbeing. If current systems for doing so aren’t working, then it’s always best to reflect on what’s going wrong, so you can encourage others to build better habits and boundaries. Plus, with help from a counsellor or trusted individuals, employees can understand they don’t have to do this alone. With the right systems in place, you can build a positive culture of work-life balance that’s easy to maintain for the long-run.