Seriously, Work-Life Balance?
by Aaron Strecker ~ June 16th, 2009. Filed under: Features.
June 21st, along with being Father’s Day, will be the longest day of 2009. I am well aware that all days are 24 hours long, and as such, are all the same length, but as measured by the amount of time from sunrise to sunset, June 21st will be the longest day of the year. Of course, since this is a smart crowd, you knew that already since that is the first day of summer, otherwise known as the Summer Solstice. With Memorial Day as the official start of summer, and the technical start of summer coming up on Sunday, that turns the mind to vacation. Oops, maybe not! A recent CareerBuilder article about the results from their annual vacation survey stated that 35 percent of the 4,400+ respondents said they would not be taking a vacation in 2009. What might be worse than that is the bullet that says that employers will expect 50 percent of the people who take a vacation to check in while they are away!
I think we can all agree that this is no longer your father’s workplace. Technology has taken us to a totally different place. FedEx and UPS made it possible to send information overnight, fax machines got it to us faster if you could pass it through the machine, and then came e-mail – instantaneous delivery with attachment capabilities. A big leap forward, but still pretty much only deliverable to a home or office based desktop computer at the time. Now with the proliferation of laptops, wireless internet access, PDA’s, Smartphones, iPhones, and the like, we are accessible wherever and whenever if we choose. So I ask you the question, what does work-life balance mean in today’s environment?We have to look at balance as not necessarily meaning equal, but rather offsetting. Employees need to find an equilibrium (I liked this definition – a state or situation in which opposing forces or factors balance each other out and stability is attained) that works for them. For each person, that will be different. Be sure that as much as companies are asking a lot from employees, they are also providing a lot. For someone going into their first full year with us, they could expect to have around 31 days off during the year (and that’s if they stayed healthy and didn’t take any sick days). There is a reason on why companies give employees time off, more than just that employees expect it. It is the acknowledgement that there needs to be a break from work demands. There needs to be a time to relax, refresh and recharge. What happens when there is no break? Burnout and a drop in productivity are two easily noted outcomes, but also included is the potential of increased health concerns and workplace conflict too.
I have seen work-life balance renamed work-life management or work-life integration. Call it whatever you like as long as you are actively pursuing it. Employees need to enjoy the work they do, they need to enjoy where they work, and they need to find a way for work and life to coexist. Long gone are the times of the 9-5 workday.
So as we approach the longest day of the year, my challenge to you is to use some of that time to enjoy the life part of work-life, and later on, think about your plan for work-life balance/management/integration.
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June 17th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Mr. Strecker:
At a time in our world, where our economy appears to be in a dismal situation, I think that people often feel that they cannot take a break or a vacation from work. By doing so, they fear to be perceived as a weak link in the work place. Putting in longer days, or working on the weekends, often is a way to show the employer their commitment to their job, or a way of valuing their position in their organization. Just some food for thought.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Thanks for the comment Ms. Sobocinski! That is a great counterpoint and not one that I disagree with. However, that is exactly the time when employees need to gain some form of balance between work and life. Again, not necessarily equal, but a balance that works for them. With the current economy being what it is, employees are being asked to take on greater responsibility in many cases, which makes the need for them to separate work and life, and recharge the batteries, even more important. Here’s the kicker if that is going to work though, employers must understand this need and help to promote an environment where employees are not fearful of reprisal if they take off time. Work-Life balance has to be a two way streeet!
June 17th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Good post Aaron. Definitely appreciate where you’re coming from here. Personally, I’ve given up trying to find that balance and have embraced the fact that I’m Type-F — living each day fluidly and prioritizing on the fly among my family, my job, and everything in between.
Here are ways to tell if you too are Type-F…
http://digitalseachange.blogspot.com/2008/08/are-you-type-f.html
June 18th, 2009 at 7:34 am
A very interesting classification Aaron, I like that. In a way that is the point though. For you (and probably many others) Type-F is your balance. I’m sure that you know when that balance might have to shift one way or the other to make it work for you. I think we are rapidly approaching that style because of the constant connectivity, but you still hold the key in determining what your balance is.