It might seem that, in the current environment, we don’t really have time to think about work/life balance. However, I would argue that this is as critical a time as any to be sure that all of your employees are still able to exercise, spend time with their families and have some down time. Decisions made right now are perhaps the most critical they have ever been to your business. You do not want those decisions compromised by employees whose lives are completely overwhelmed by their jobs.
A recent survey conducted by BlueSteps.com, a division of the Association of Executive Search Consultants, discovered that eighty percent of executives say that work/life balance is critical in their decision whether to join or remain with an employer.
The components of a work/life balance program that have the most appeal to executives are working from home and a flexible daily work schedule.
Healthy and satisfied executives are vital to overall performance. Many organizations are overlooking the fundamental link between a healthy company and healthy executives. Thirty-two percent of executives rate their career as more, or as, important as their health. If bad health equals bad performance then companies have a vested interest in promoting a healthy work-life balance.
Seventy percent of executives felt that technology and globalization have decreased their leisure time. Almost all executives rate their career as more important, or as important, as personal leisure or hobbies.
Despite many executives giving up a good work/life balance to meet the requirements of modern professional life, twenty-one percent would refuse a promotion if it negatively affected their work/life balance, and fifty percent might refuse a promotion.