Promoting Work-Life Balance: International Week of Happiness at Work and National Work Life Week
October sees two awareness campaigns – International Week of Happiness at Work and National Work Life Week – both of which run from 6–10 October.
You could be forgiven for glossing over campaigns like these perhaps as you may not feel they’re that relevant for you. However both serve as a timely reminder for HR professionals and senior leaders to reflect on the importance of fostering a healthy work life balance within their organisations.
Why does work life balance matter?
Work life balance should be more than just a phrase; it is a cornerstone of employee wellbeing and organisational success. When employees feel they can effectively balance their professional responsibilities with personal commitments, they are more likely to be engaged, motivated, and productive. Conversely, poor work-life balance can lead to burnout, absenteeism, and higher staff turnover. We often see the results of that in the grievances we investigate and the things that are raised during mediations.
Creating a Happier, Healthier Workplace
International Week of Happiness at Work highlights the role of happiness in driving workplace success. For a lot of employees, happiness isn’t just about pay or benefits; it’s about creating a culture where employees feel valued, supported, and empowered. This is closely tied to work life balance, as employees who feel overworked or unable to manage their personal lives are unlikely to thrive. This can then lead to a vicious circle where the employee’s performance is impacted, which in turn impacts on their personal lives and so on.
What can you do to promote these?
Flexible Working: Promote your flexible working policy and any hybrid working models to give employees greater control over their schedules.
Encourage Breaks: Ensure employees take regular breaks and use their annual leave to recharge. These annual breaks are often very useful to employers because it can help employees becoming too siloed with a particular project and allows them to be introduced to the broader team.
Support Systems: Offer resources such as mental health support, wellbeing programmes, or employee assistance schemes.
Lead by Example: Encourage managers to model healthy work life balance behaviours. One example might be to try to avoid sending emails late at night because that can lead to employees feeling overwhelmed when they come in the next day to a full inbox. If you do need to write emails late at night you could consider setting a delay in sending them.
By championing initiatives that support work-life balance during these awareness weeks and beyond, HR professionals can create happier, healthier workplaces where both employees and organisations can thrive.
