Who Values Work/Life Balance Anyway? Who Is Responsible For Managing It?

This week Monster.com released a study on the importance that workers and human resource departments place on work/life balance initiatives. The study’s results show that workers place a higher value on work/life balance benefits than their human resource departments.

The Worker's Point of View:

• 89% of employees believe that work/life balance programs, such as flextime and telecommuting are important when evaluating a new job


• More than 75% of workers believe that work/life balance initiatives result in more loyal and efficient employees


• 29% of workers view their employer’s work/life balance initiatives as good or excellent

The HR Point of View:

• 50% of HR professionals believe that work/life balance initiatives to be important for their company


• 61% of HR professionals believe there will be more employer-provided work/life balance initiatives in 5 years


• 56% of HR professionals believe that general work/life balance will improve in future


• 60% of workers say that they spend too much time working
  

It’s a sticky problem. Employers want a few things in exchange for providing a good job and employees want to be rewarded for working hard. Employers want their staff to be productive and loyal, and live happy lives. Employees want their employers to recognize the time and effort they put into making their company successful.

Whose responsibility (the employee or the employer) is it to ensure that an individual achieves a balance between work and “life?" And at whose expense?

Some employees want their employers to offer creative ways to support work/life balance. May be an employer offers flex-time, but in exchange should the employees honor that work/life balance by exploring ways on their own to simplify their lives, so they can work harder at the office?

Employees find all sorts of ways to balance life at home and work. They have grandma or grandpa babysit the kids during the day. They sneak out during lunch to pick up the dry cleaning or have lunch with the kids at home. They arrive very early to work and then leave in the afternoon prior to everyone else. They work a full day then rush out to hit the grocery and department stores before closing. Employees even arrange conference calls in the evening after dinner. It seems with this running around it’s almost impossible to be productive at work and enjoy life away from the office.

The point is most of us can’t do everything that we are expected to and live happily with life/work balance – at least not all of the time.

Sometimes we need to call in the calvary. Concierge companies such as Fini Concierge offer a solution. Employees can outsource those personal projects or everyday tasks that they don’t like to do, don’t feel that they have time to do or realize don’t require their personal touch. It’s a choice to live life in a different way – and a simpler way.

And if you want your company to offer additional work/life balance benefits – make your voice heard to your HR department or your manager. After all, if your company can help you pick up the dry cleaning and get the car serviced while you work for them, then you’ll probably be a loyal and efficient employee.

Tell us: What types of work/life benefits does your company provide? What additional types of initiatives could your employer implement that would make a big difference in your life?

Thanks.

Chantal

Never Enough Time

It’s Sunday morning at 11:00, we have two choices – join our friends, who we haven’t seen in months, for brunch or tackle that long list of errands and huge pile of laundry that desperately needs to get done.

Its 7:30pm on a Thursday night – go to the gym for the first time this week or make it to the dry cleaner in time to pick up the clothes we need for our weekend away…and oh shoot, we’ve been so busy at work that we forgot to make that hotel reservation.

Never enough time and always an endless list of life’s details weighing on our minds.

These were the dilemmas of our everyday lives. And we knew we weren’t alone.

It was on those busy days that we would dream about how great it would be if there was a personal assistant for the ‘everyday’ person. Wasn’t there someone we could call on when we needed some help? Then we could see our friends for brunch and eat pancakes with ease because everything was being handled. Thinking about it was easy, but who was doing it?

We had a vision. We would create the solution.

Since that “A-Ha” moment, its become our life’s calling: helping others escape the torment we often felt . Our model has always been grounded in the idea that we wanted to create a choice, free from hassle or complications, for people to live with less stress and more time to do the things they wanted to be doing. These were and continue to be our motivation for Fini Concierge – a company providing personal assistance on an as-needed basis.

Today, we have three years of experience behind us and know that we’ve helped to change many people’s lives for the better.

We’re excited to share how we’ve helped our clients lead less stressful lives and gain more enjoyment out of daily living. Although we still often struggle to figure out the balance in our own lives (we thought we were busy then!), we plan to share with you what the concierge industry is all about, plus the successes and lessons we’ve encountered on our own journey of building a business.

Can you identify with the torments of busy daily life – with too much to do and never enough time? We’d love to hear your experiences and what solutions you use to minimize your stress and enjoy life more.

Chantal and Eddie