Discussion Centre

There seems to me there's something backward about the phrase "work/life balance" that is being bandied about in gay abandon by Government Departments, policy makers, employers, employee organisations, social commentators and other groups at present. It is a catch phrase that rolls of the lips of anyone who thinks they know what it is about.

But surely the phrase should be "life/work balance".

There's been a shift in priorities among workers. Today, people are more concerned about their quality of life than they are about their work. Work is but a component of life. Work by many people is not seen as being their life.

This is a challenge for employers, policy makers, and workers themselves. It's going to be difficult for a lot of managers to adapt to this widespread change in employee attitude - and employee expectations - because they're used to emphasising work, saying to employees: "Sure, you can have a life, but not until your work is finished."

Yet employers who do adapt to the new life/work equation are finding that they actually have more committed workers. These employers are sensitised to the people who work for them and how work can fit into their well-rounded lives in a comfortable way - rather than worrying that "life" is bumping "work" out of first place.

Paradigm shift

This paradigm shift is not new. Many would say that to started in the late 1990s, when Generation Xers observed the workaholic lifestyles of their parents and older co-workers and said, "This isn't for me." At that time, jobs were plentiful and workers could quit if their supervisors placed too little emphasis on the non-work lives of employees. But in reality it is much older than that and goes back to the less industrial times of 200 years or more ago.

Since the economy tanked, it might appear that employers don't have to cater to their employees' new life-first priority. But they do.

Workers who feel they can't quit no matter how the company treats them feel trapped. And like any being that's trapped, an unhappy worker will sprint out of there as soon as there's an opportunity. These are the people who attend their workplace faithfully each day, sit in their seats, say what the boss wants to hear, does the work required of them, but their hearts are no longer there.

A warning

Employers that do not emphasise life/work balance will lose their good people.

Workers (at least the good ones) have a choice about where they work. And employers of choice will have at least these two things in common:

• Their employees/workers believe their work is meaningful.
• The companies are involved in their communities.

Today's employees are motivated by more than just the work that has to be done or how much money they need to make. They're bringing their hearts to work. It's a new kind of motivation.

Respect it. Feed it.

Employers need to find a way to acknowledge the life/work balance, to say: "We think this is important. Let us show you how the work we do here together supports your life."

It's a step toward recognising the old need for life/work balance. And it's a step toward building a work force that's going to stick around, even when the going's not so tough. To bring back some of that commitment to the organisation, some of that loyalty and more importantly a wholeness to the organisation and individuals as they work together for the benefit of the business.

Yes, it is "life/work balance".