Work life integration for the development and happiness of self

We are living in times that are exemplified by topnotch connectivity because of technologies available to everyone, giving birth to a new culture that has dramatically changed the equation between work and personal life. The line between work and personal life has blurred dramatically, which allows emotions to flow fluidly between the two and causes and removes any chances of discordance between them.

Extending oneself to think, act and perform during non-work hours or when one is in a holiday is common at present. Business leaders are cognizant of this encroachment and have taken an integrated approach towards an employees’ work and life away from work.

Work life integration is often considered as a benchmark to gauge how employee-friendly an organization is, and employers are recreating the engagement rulebook to measure up with the best practices in the industry. However, the sudden intervention and disruption caused by the pandemic has underpinned it and the new circumstances are acting as a catalyst for further integration. In short, organizations have been able to earn brownie points for championing effective work-life integration and this way differentiate themselves during the crisis.

Work life integration trends by Amara

Data received by Amara an AI backed chatbot by HireXP shows that work life integration is generally the greatest cause of disengagement of employees more than other factors such as L&D, culture, R&R etc.

Amara has chatted with 70,000+ employees and more than 15 percent employees have been unhappy with their organization’s approach to work life integration.

Interestingly, insights by Amara also pinpoint that women workers are more distressed with work life integration strategies in their organization. Thus, it is safe to say that men and women expect different things from employers with respect to work life integration.

Not only this, today’s workforce requires a multi-dimensional and flexible methodology to deal with this subject as employees expectations vary according to their career phase, culture, background and generational identity.

Best practices of work life integration

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  Involve employees in designing the practice

Primarily, employers need to stay attuned to employees want. As a result, strategizing work-life integration based on a sample of the population or annual survey will not result in success. The solution is to gather information at regular intervals by executing ad-hoc campaigns focused on collecting employees’ insights on issues pertaining life and work.

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  Not being rigid with hourslogged-in

While plentitude of progressive companies is already reaping benefits of providing employees with flexible workhours, the not so progressive ones are now getting into their shoes. Apparently, these companies are a testimony to the world that outcome is not contingent to hours spent at work. To that end, many countries have taken the lead to a 4-day work week. By slashing the marriage between productivity and hours, employees have been able to achieve more in less time and in addition use their free time for self or community development.

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  A transparent and trustful culture

The point is that a workplace culture based on trust is like a like the safety belt in a car. Only employers who are able to win employees’ trust by nurturing a transparent culture are handling work-life integration successfully. The crux of a trusting culture lies in the relationship between manger and the team. Apparently, every individual is responsible for her/his performance and self-development whereas the mangers are there for total support.

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  Communicate the organization’s stand in this matter

With the business ecosystem constantly changing employers continuously revise policies and practices modifying them to match the preferences of maximum workers. However that without documenting and communicating will be a futile exercise as employees should at all times be cognizant to the support available to them and the steps the company is taking to enhance their lives.

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  An opportunity to help environment

The steps that an organization takes to protect the environment by implementing sustainability in handling day-to-day affairs of the business has a long-lasting effect in the emotions of the employees. For instance, taking appropriate measures to save power, fuel, electricity, paper and other non-renewable resources and the choices made with respect to materials consumed not only decides the level of content of the existing employees but also helps to attract future talent.

Summary

Stewart D. Friedman is the author of the book, Leading the Life You Want: Skills for Integrating Work and Life. His mainstream idea is that every individual requires skills that enables better living in all four domains of life: at work, at home, in the community, and in the private self (mind, body, and spirit).

“The really good news is that when you give people the tools and the support to pursue what I call "four-way wins" - that is, improved performance in all parts of life - they are actually much likely to achieve these wins and, through the process, develop further their leadership skills.”

- Stewart D. Friedman

As a result, the learnings in personal life help at work and vice versa. The fact is that work-life integration has helped employers offer a more targeted strategy to help workers not only strike a balance but also be their best in the role that they play.