Lauren Levine
In order to prevent burnout and ensure that your employees feel good about the role that their job plays within their lives, you’ll want to encourage a healthy work-life balance. When your staffers never step away from their phones, eventually they’ll begin to resent their office and may start to withdraw from work. Here are some easy strategies that a manager can use to promote a healthy balance between life at work and life with family and friends:
Set realistic expectations
If you expect employees to jump at requests made at 10pm, you have to understand that you’re setting them up for burnout. You want your staff members to give 100 percent when they’re in the office, but you also have to respect their personal time at night and on the weekends. It’s okay to make the occasional after hours request, but don’t expect your team members to sit by their phones and check their work e-mail during their free time.
Encourage the pursuit of hobbies and volunteer work
Employees who have rich lives outside of work are happier and healthier than those whose lives revolve around work and only work. To encourage a healthy work-life balance for your employees, support their pursuit of hobbies or volunteer work. Whether it’s hitting the gym, volunteering at their child’s school, or learning to play guitar, you want your team members to be well-rounded individuals.
Be understanding
Sometimes unexpected situations come up and you’ll need to be flexible. Kids get sick, cars break down, or family members need assistance. A good manager is willing to work with their employees to ensure that they’re able to attend to matters outside of the office. By guilt tripping your staff members or giving them a hard time about these occurrences, you’re creating a stressful work situation for everyone involved. Instead, be empathetic whenever possible.
What strategies do you use in order to help your employees to work hard while still enjoying a life outside of the office?
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