Is your business ready for National Work Life Week? | myhrtoolkit

It's National Work Life Week 2016 - giving employers the perfect opportunity to focus on work-life balance and wellbeing in the workplace!

The brainchild of the UK’s leading work-life balance organization, Working Families, National Work Life Week gives businesses a great opportunity to check that their existing work-life policies are being effectively communicated and adopted.

In addition, it’s the perfect time to put new work-life balance initiatives in place and find out more about the changing needs of your workforce.

Getting the most from National Work Life Week

If you are looking for ideas for getting involved in National Work Life Week 2016 then there are a lot of options.

• You can remind staff to leave the office on time all week and refrain from checking their mobile phones or email for work messages outside of working hours.
• You can run a team discussion or staff survey to get feedback on any existing work-life balance initiatives and gather new ideas that could be put in place.
• You could ask if any of your employees would like to be the organisation’s Work-Life Balance Champion. Somebody with the authority and enthusiasm to make things happen can be a hugely effective sponsor, helping ensure that ideas actually get translated into action.
• You can implement new initiatives to help boost staff health and wellbeing outside of working hours. For example, you could offer subsidised gym membership, implement a cycle to work scheme or set up an in-house fitness room for use at lunchtime.
• You can look at a flexible working model for any of your employees that feel they could benefit from this sort of arrangement. Reduced hours can sometimes prove more cost-effective for employers whilst also giving staff the flexibility to look after children or older relatives when they are needed.
• You can also consider home working for employees that do not need to be in the office but would have a very long commute were they to come in to work everyday. Provided they deliver the work you want them to, there is no point them sitting in a car or on a train for several hours a day, coming in to work exhausted and wasting otherwise valuable free time.

These are just some of the things you can do to make the most of National Work Life Week over the coming days and there are plenty more. Just click here for more information and advice in the form on this handy toolkit for employers from Working Families.

Why work-life balance really works

Getting work-life balance right for employees can be hugely important. By treating people with respect, helping them to minimise stress and better organise their lives, you can create a work culture that is truly collaborative and community-focused.

What’s more, there are also hard and fast facts about the negative impact of poor staff wellbeing on business performance.

For example, Legal & General found that poor workforce wellbeing accounted for over 25% reduction in productivity. It also found that workplace presenteeism, where staff turn up to work unwell, can cost employers three times more than sickness absence.

What’s more, the outlook on presenteeism is not improving. Only last year, the CIPD’s Absence Management Survey found that 31% of businesses interviewed reported a rise in presenteeism over the previous 12 months.

Of course, that doesn’t take into account all the work days lost to absenteeism caused by work-related stress, which according to the Mental Health Foundation is already costing British companies around 10.4 million working days a year.

In other words, supporting staff wellbeing through a healthy work-life balance makes brilliant business sense for employees and employer alike. So don’t miss your chance to shine a spotlight on this important issue this National Work Life Week 2016. It could make 2017 a whole lot more enjoyable and productive for everyone involved.

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