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. Continue reading for more insight on this topic.
What Is Work-Life Balance?
Did you know that 70% of employees attribute their work-life balance challenges to personal perfectionism, company culture, or burnout?
Work-life balance means different things to different people. However, it simply entails having an equal proportion of work and life. Worklife balance defines how well a professional can create a balance between work and life to live a fulfilled life. It can also be seen as maintaining or gaining equal amount of satisfaction from both work and outside the work environment, ensuring that no one is suffering for the other.
Benefits Of Having Work-Life Balance
There so many benefits, advantages or importance associated with having work-life balance.
- Having a balance between work and life can increase your productivity.
- When your mind is not clogged with irrelevant things, you will become more creative.
- You will be able to build a stronger bond and camaraderie with your family and loved ones
- It also brings about a stable mental health
- Fulfilment and sense of accomplishment will come.
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Work-Life Balance Problems of Employers
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.
This section and the next will talk about the work-life balance problems and solutions of employers. Now let’s begin with the work-life balance problems that employers encounter:
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.
3. Compliance:
This refers to the matters that concern law enforcement agencies, their rules and regulations, and tax payments. Although this is not directly related to the work environment, it can still have a negative impact on the employer. For instance, having to pay numerous taxes or being asked to evacuate the office location because it is part of the buildings the government wants to demolish. to demolish.
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.
3. Ensure to have a company lawyer who can advise you on matters relating to the law. In a situation where you can not afford the services of a lawyer, make sure you know your civil rights in society.
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Work-Life Balance Problems of Employees
An employee 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.
Similar to what we discussed few sections ago, we will review the work-life balance problems and solutions of employees beginning with the problems employees encounter:
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Technological Advancement:
You may be wondering how this negatively impacts work-life balance. For employees who are slow to adapt to new technologies, constantly being introduced to them can be overwhelming and hard to grasp.
On the other hand, a company with little to no new technological changes for a long time will reduce employees’ productivity and also their general mental health.
4. Lack Of Motivation:
Any work environment where either the employer or colleagues do not support each other is going to be less productive. Teamwork, pep talks, etc., are necessary to energize employees and give them the strength to grow.
Imagine having an employer who believes in your dreams, someone who encourages you and watches out for you to be the best in your field. Without motivation, some people lose interest in doing certain things.
5. Job Insecurity:
An employee may become worried if they discover that they are going to lose their job through no fault of their own. This situation can lead to a lack of concentration as they become preoccupied with thoughts about how to navigate life if they were to be fired, and it can also lead to forgetfulness due to excessive worrying.
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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.
2. Poor staffing problems can be curbed by employing more people to serve in the roles that 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.
3. Inform employees on the latest technological improvements and also ensure to always be updated with the industry trends so as not to over labor employees.
4. Provide a safe space for everyone. As the employer, you are seen as a leader, therefore ensure to always give words of encouragement to your employees whenever they exceed your expectations by delivering excellent service. However, for those that couldn’t meet up inquire why that happened and help them do better next time. Don’t only be a boss, but also be a guide.
5. Take disciplinary measures where necessary and always make sure that you are passion the right judgment.
Conclusion
In conclusion, 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 individuals to be able to pursue a balance in their lives and work. Also, read our ebook on Work-Life and Mental Health Balance below to gain more insight on this.
