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Yesterday, Kris Dunn posted an article on HR Capitalist about work/life balance.
The gist: HR isn’t responsible for it.
The truth: Employees are responsible for their own work/life balance, and if they want more money, promotions and fame, they’re going to have to work harder than those around them.
I agree, but I don’t think work/life balance is about working less.
To me, work/life balance is the ability to do great work and get all of your other priorities accomplished, too. That means giving people the freedom to choose when and where to do their work so they can best balance every aspect of their life.
Sometimes you need to be in the office to get something done (I’d argue that’s really the case far less than managers would like to believe). Sometimes it doesn’t matter.
Sometimes all you need is an internet connection and a laptop or cell phone. Sometimes those aren’t options – when you’re at the dentist, for example – and you work at night.
The point is, people are working. Work/life balance isn’t about doing less work. It’s about having the freedom to choose when and where.
That’s something HR can influence.
(So what do you think, am I way off-base here? Are the number of hours worked part of work/life balance, too?)
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Comments
03.10.10
I been asking myself the same thing...but I think I am starting to understand it a bit more. You should have a balance I have to say.
03.11.10
Thank you for this post, because a lot of people are selling "balance" and I just can't buy into it. Our careers and personal lives change as a result of our choices; forgoing one thing for another at various points in time. Perfect balance seems more of a fantasy than an achievable reality.
03.11.10
I know for me, the simple option of working off-site is huge. Some days I need a break and want to work at a coffee shop. When my dad was sick, I worked from St. Louis. My boss trusts that I'll do my job and do it well, no matter the location. I put my location information on my calendar and make sure that during business hours I can be reached. End of story. I still come into the office most of the time anyways. It's all about options, and like you've pointed out before: people who are going to abuse the system already do. That's a performance issue.
03.11.10
I'm reminded of the old joke about 2 hikers who encounter a grizzly bear. They start running, but one of the hikers yells "What are we doing? We can't outrun a grizzly!" To which the other hikers replies "I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you!"
There will always be people who choose to put in longer hours in order to be promoted over others. But I think the baseline is shifting downwards. What used to be considered normal, might now be considered extra effort. Employees are starting to demand concrete reasons for putting in the hours their companies expect. The answer of "well, this is just the culture here" doesn't cut it anymore.
When the economy picks up again, companies will find fewer and fewer employees willing to put in the extra hours that everyone used to be clambering for.
At that point, it WILL be HR's responsibility.
03.11.10
Scott, I love that joke!
I have had the ability to work off site for my past employers with one condition: results had to be shown. If I couldn't provide results, then I was under supervision. If I could make sales, get callers into the home office, and produce reports in a fraction of the time I could work from Fiji if I had felt like it.
The subject of mobile working conditions also extends to managers who will have to learn how to monitor employee performance without sacrificing group performance.
03.11.10
I think this post makes a great point. It is not as much about balance as it is about flexibility. I would also argue that having a job you really enjoy plays a large role.
03.11.10
I still think balance is important. Work is what you achieve, family/community is how you live. That's not to say you can't achieve both in the same building! Some people have such great colleagues, they satisfy both needs while at their job. But a person who primarily focused on achieving goals without developing/stretching their social side would be missing a big part of the joy of life, imo.
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