Work-life balance is critical to any engineer. It is important to maintain a clear balance between work and personal life.
However, the increasing use of gadgets at both work and home makes it hard to draw a separating line between the two. Adding small facilities, like human-scale keyboard systems, for instance, does make the long day at work a little less tiring, as the desk is more organized, ultimately facilitating the employee’s completion of the work fast.
Something more than just physical facilities is needed to ensure they have a happy and balanced life outside the office premises. A few tips below can be useful:
Respect Time Off
Treat people’s breaks and time off as sacred. It is inhuman to call people from their time off to work for you unless it is unavoidable. Most people hate jobs that take over their life. Encourage employees to use their time off constructively. Taking proper breaks within the day also helps to relax and recharge a tired brain. Relaxation creates new energy. That free time also allows employees to focus on things in their lives. Proper work-life balance can only be attained through respecting the time allocated to work and that created for rest.
Support Family Time
Realizing that employees have a life outside work and supporting them to enjoy it is important. Respect other people’s commitments and honor them as you would your own. Parents may sometimes need to get off work early to pick up their children from school. As an employer, it is important to show you understand such things and ensure this does not flow into work performance. A caring employer creates a good reputation for your business and increases employee retention.
Encourage Time Off
Most people want to work the extra hour to earn a little more. However, the holidays are a necessity and not a luxury. Encourage employees to take their time off work seriously. This helps them switch off and enjoy themselves, reducing the possibility of work-related stress. Light exercises are also highly recommended during time off. It does not have to be a vacation break. Even short breaks from work within the day should be highly encouraged. They recharge employees’ energy as they return to work.
Establish Boundaries
Employers should create a strict forum working hours. Most employees may not be thrilled about staying over for extra work hours,, but some may need the extra portion. It is therefore important to ensure working hours are respected and that extra hours are scrapped. Also, when work communication is passed on to employees, boundaries should be set. It is best to use only working hours to send company messages. Let workers leave early enough to be well rested by morning and review personal issues.
Overtime Is not a Culture
Working for long hours in most businesses, even at night, is normal. This should not be the case. The human body requires rest to perform. Overtime tires workers over work that can be done the next day. Most employees are forced to work extra hours because of unreasonable work sharing. It is best to encourage teamwork if the work is too much for a single person. Encourage task sharing within departments.
Effective Work-Life balance promotes employee performance and morale at work. It is important not to breach their privacy by giving them work during their leisure or sending them work emails during odd hours. Better yet, be an example to them. If you tell employees not to work at certain hours, it is unreasonable for you to send them work emails after long overdue hours.
