Work-Life Balance problems and solutions of employers and employees are different as their roles are different. This balance is a pursuit that all members of the workforce group engage in either as an employer or as an employee.
An employer is the provider of labor for individuals and in exchange for their time, wages and salaries are paid. An employer’s duty is mainly the management of resources and human power.
An employee is one who takes up labor offered by the employer and in return gets paid either as wages or salary. The employee offers their expertise in a particular area in moving the organization forward.
Though work-life balance means different things to different people, it, however, defines how well a professional is able to create a balance between work and life in order to live a fulfilled life.
Work-Life Balance Problems of Employers
The work-life balance problems that employers encounter are:
- Unreliable employees
- Workaholism
1. Unreliable employees: finding an employee who is loyal and reliable is becoming one of the hardest things to get in the 21st century. Greed has become an order of the day. Employers worry that employees will take money from the organization and disappear, thereby rendering the organization bankrupt. This has therefore become a major headache for employers.
Assuming the role of the employee in addition to the position of being an employer takes a toll on the time, energy, and resources of the employer. Hence, the low pursuit of balance.
2. Workaholism: most employers tend to be workaholics. Workaholism and perfectionism often go hand in glove. Employers who are perfectionists tend to be workaholics as they believe that no one can do that work perfectly like them.
This workaholic and perfectionist attitude is a serious threat to work-life balance as there is already a shift to one end and other parts suffering.
Solutions To The Work-Life Problems of Employers
To every problem, there exists solution(s) and they are as follows:
1. Employers can solve the problem of unreliable employees by doing the following:
- Have a bi-monthly report and presentation carried out with each department presenting a detailed report of their activities.
- Create an environment of flexibility and creativity in the workplace.
- Make policies that support an environment that is void of office politics
- Pay the salaries of employees on time
These are some of the things that an employer can do to curb unreliable employees.
2. A workaholic employer needs to trust the team leaders in his/her organization to carry out tasks. When there is trust, then he can delegate tasks to them. The employer can entrust people with tasks to build their ability to carry out duties in their absence.
The way for a workaholic employer to be able to balance work and life is by learning how to delegate and trust the judgment of the delegates.
Work-Life Balance Problems of Employees
Some of the work-life balance problems that employees encounter are:
- Bad Management
- Poor Staffing
Bad Management: this is one of the major problems of employees. In an organization where employees and resources are poorly managed, trouble looms. Examples of poor management:
- Late salary payment
- Poor training
- Unclear job descriptions
- Poor organizational structure
- Unruly or overbearing bosses
All these are part of problems that affect how well an employee can strike a balance between work and life.
Poor Staffing: This is among the major problems employees face in an organization. An organization, in a bid to cut costs, employs fewer workers or employees than the actual amount of work available, and this leads to each employee having more work that is way more than he or she is supposed to.
When employees are paid a small amount of money compared to the amount of work they do, it affects how eager they will be to pursue a work-life balance.
Solutions To The Work-Life Balance Problems of Employees
To curb the problems listed above, the following are the solution(s) provided:
1. To tackle poor management, the management should:
- Set up a payment system with the bank: The organization should collate all employees’ account numbers and send them to the bank. At a set date, the bank issues out the salaries to the employees.
- Employee Training: There should be a form of training for the members of the organization and this training can encompass their work, health, and balance between work and life.
- Clear Job Description: Upon employment, the organization should clearly state what the job description of the employee is as this will help the employee plan their day.
- Organizational Hierarchy: Employees should be able to know who they are reporting to for any case. Where there is no clarity on the organizational hierarchy, a breach of communication comes into place and an organization with a breach in communication is going to perform low and won’t create an environment where everyone finds fulfillment.
Feedback is an integral part of organizational growth. Any organization without feedback on their performance and on each employee will not know where to make changes. Therefore, a quarterly feedback review will help boost employee performance as it will help determine where changes need to be made and corrected.
2. Poor staffing problems can be curbed by employing more people to serve in the roles which are too much for the employees of the company. This reduces the workload that each employee is carrying and hence, provides time enough for the employee to put in in other areas of their lives.
Conclusion
As earlier stated, the problems that employers face and the ones that employees face are different. The balance between work and life requires a personal determination and pursuit to achieve. Though it is personal, organizations are to provide a supportive environment and resources for the individuals to be able to pursue a balance in their lives and work.
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