Page 42 - BusinessWest June 23, 2021

Balance leaving that room
healthy work-life balance.
To that end, it offers education and trainings to
improve work efficiencies, as well as communication regarding company benefits workers can utilize for personal purposes. Supervisors also work closely with employees to coach skills like prioritizing tasks, set- ting realistic goals, and time management.
“Wellfleet believes a healthy work-life balance fos- ters a culture in which employees are able to perform their job duties in a productive manner,” she added. “Good balance and increased flexibility in the work- place can help prevent burnout, reduce stress, and promote overall wellness.”
The company also offers employees the flexibility to adjust their work schedules to attend appoint- ments and encourages them to use paid time off for their personal well-being, Coughlin said. “We saw the need to internally emphasize this message through- out the pandemic, although the ways we promoted this adapted to the circumstances.”
Wellfleet isn’t the only company re-emphasizing the need for workers to take time off, even if they’re not taking as many week-long vacations as before. HR Daily Advisor recently published a story on work- life balance that included input from several employ- ers across the U.S. noting that employees have been de-emphasizing long vacations in favor of three-day weekends, staycations, and mental-health days off — as well as taking less time off overall.
“We have always focused on promoting a healthy work-life balance, and I don’t think remote work will change the way that we encourage our team to pay attention to this balance,” Roberts said. “Some of the ways that we promote this balance is our official work week being 38 hours, generous time-off plans, and fun team events and activities throughout the year. Our managers also do a good job of making sure they balance their expectations to ensure that a healthy
work-life balance is a real thing.”
At the same time, Bean said, workers at any num-
ber of companies may have begun seeing those remote and flexible work models of the past 16 months as a permanent aspect of work-life balance — or, at least, they hope so. That could cause tension down the line, as employers, already struggling to retain talent in many industries, may have to negoti- ate such arrangements moving forward.
“However, another part of me knows behaviors and habits don’t change easily,” he added. “We, as a country, have 200 years of working 8 to 5 and going home. I don’t know if the pandemic was long enough to permanently break this muscle memory.”
If he’s right, companies adopting hybrid models now may eventually shift back to the typical, on-site work schedule of the past.
“Maybe people will work from home more than before,” he said. “But I don’t think this was that dis- ruptive that we’ll fundamentally change the way we do work. It comes down to a lot of factors.”
Those factors range from employee desires to company needs and what type of culture an employ- er wants to promote. And the day might come when the current job surplus lessens and employers feel they have more leverage.
“How comfortable are you with making a decision, if an employer tells you to come back to the office or find new employment?” Bean said. “We’ll see how those things play out, and we’ll find out if the changes are temporary or long-term — and, if they’re long- term, how impactful they’ll be.”
Until then, employees will continue to get their work done in whatever way their company allows — and, hopefully, not take it to bed. u
Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]
Continued from page 37
behind and closing
the door — in other words, stick to the set work schedule.
“Obviously, if a customer issue occurs at the end of our day, we aren’t walking away, but in most cases we have seen that people have done a good job main- taining their normal work hours from any location — home or office.”
Understanding employee needs helps them to create balance while meeting the company’s needs, Coughlin added.
“When people have the flexibility to manage
their schedule — for example, to attend a personal appointment and make up time later in the day — that can have a really positive impact on productiv- ity. And everyone’s different; some people are more productive early in the morning, some are more pro- ductive in the evening, and others work best within a very set schedule.”
From a company perspective, she went on, it’s important to establish general standards that allow all employees the opportunity to achieve a healthy work-life balance — and it’s important to engage with employees to better identify what is meaningful to them.
“Work-life balance, and what that means, can really vary from person to person,” she noted. “One employee might be driven by the satisfaction in com- pleting a task, while another takes satisfaction from counting hours ‘clocked in.’”
Creating a Culture
The bottom line, Coughlin said, is that Wellfleet’s people are fundamental in creating its culture, so it’s important to engage with them, through various plat- forms, to identify and implement ways to support a
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