Warwickshire WLB - What is Worklife Balance

What is Work-life Balance?

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		What is Work-life Balance? Put simply, Work-life Balance is a way of balancing the demands on workers from their home-life and from work. It's a way of working that gives staff the freedom to pursue activities and responsibilities outside work (such as childcare), but without impinging on work responsibilities and productivity. Why? Research consistently shows that if staff are happy at work and can live a balanced life, then they are also more productive which is a benefit to the business. The demographic profile of the population is also changing, and with it so too are people’s expectations. Shifts in attitude mean that people are more likely to work for companies that have good WLB practices and policies rather than those that don't. This results in companies recruiting, training and retaining more easily the staff with the skills they need.

This will increasingly become an issue for employers and it is clear that we will have to change the way we work over the next 20 years and have a positive approach to flexible working practices.

What should I do?
Successful work-life balance strategies can be achieved by changing attitudes and improving on existing initiatives which may have been introduced on an ad-hoc basis. The key is to listen to your staff, ensure you understand the profile of your workforce, and to come up with solutions which are not only appropriate to your business needs but which help your staff to balance work with their home responsibilities and aspirations.

For free assistance on what policies and practices may be suitable for your business and how to implement them, please contact Merle Bayliss, the County Work-life Balance Advisor.

Work-Life Balance Work-life balance is now a key component of running a successful business with benefits often directly increasing business profit, as well as staff well-being. It has never been a better time to improve your business performance by simply offering flexible working opportunities and benefits to your staff through good work-life balance policies. Benefits of having good WLB policies in place: can help individuals to manage their personal priorities, which helps reduce stress, and enables you to recruit a more diverse workforce. can help managers with performance improvements and they will benefit from a more committed workforce. can help managers comply with legislation, assist the development of good working practices, and save on recruitment and training expenses. can help facilitate the development of a change in culture, improve the corporate social responsibility and community image of your organisation, and at the same time will improve employee relations. By looking at your business and workforce profile, policies can be developed to help staff balance work and home responsibilities. By tying this into your business priorities you can ensure that work-life balance policies have a positive effect on the success and profitability of your company. The Government recognises the importance of work-life balance and has introduced policies such as The National Childcare Strategy, Paid Paternity Leave and 'The Right to Request - flexible working' to help parents, in particular, achieve a better quality of life.

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