The following are five business practices that can help you build a greater work/life balance:
- Encourage employees to “own” their work area; arrange desks and chairs however they like; listen to CDs or the radio; and surround themselves with pictures, clippings and other visual images they enjoy.
- Urge employees to manage their time so well (never missing deadlines) that you wouldn’t dream of trying to manage it for them, and discourage managers from giving employees more tasks than they have time to accomplish (support employees who “just say no” when they don’t have enough time).
- Offer flexible work arrangements (compressed schedules, flex-time, telecommuting, part-time, job sharing, or sabbaticals).
- Support employees’ instinct to “just do it” when they are in need of a morning stroll, a midday workout, an afternoon nap, a day off or a vacation.
- If you expect employees ever to take work home, realize they may sometimes bring home into work (support child care, elder care and other family needs).
Source: Bruce Tulgan, RainmakerThinking, Inc.