How to Cultivate A Healthy Work-Life Balance

The unique nature of each of our lives and fluctuating responsibilities means that work-life balance may look different for everyone. It's an ever-evolving negotiation about how—and where—you spend your time.

In 2023, a study from Indeed and Forrester showed that 29% of people were thriving at work, while 71% reported low-to-moderate wellbeing at their jobs. As businesses transition to hybrid or fully remote schedules, a healthy work-life approach is vital for employees to stay productive. Here's what you need to know.

The importance of work-life balance

As companies implement employee engagement strategies to help attract and retain talent, it's important to review what work-life expectations are working or not currently working for employees.

While work-life integration is more of a blend of work and personal tasks, work-life balance is about keeping work and personal tasks separate.

Here's what you can do to help your employees get their personal and professional lives in balance.

Implement flexible schedules

Today, employees need more flexibility than ever before. Depending on the nature of your business, you could implement flexible schedules instead of the standard 9 to 5.

Compressed workweeks

If you institute a four-day workweek ahead of major holidays or during slow periods, you'll create more three-day weekends throughout the year. This would encourage employees to enjoy breaks and avoid burnout.

Another approach is to let employees set their own eight-hour stretch. You could offer 10 to 6, 11 to 7, or even split the day between 8 to 12 and 2 to 6.

If your employees are performing quality work and meeting deadlines, hours matter less because everyone works at a different pace. A McKinsey Global Institute report predicted that by 2030, activities that account for 30% of hours currently worked across the US economy could be automated.

Go hybrid or remote

If it's feasible for your company, consider implementing a hybrid work model where employees work some days in the office and some at home. Around 22 million employed adults in the US work from home all the time.

Talk to your employees about what kind of flexibility they want and collaborate with your team to implement changes. You can send out a survey to gather information about the flexibility employees want or offer an internal poll with options.

This way, you can use real-time feedback to balance your employees' needs with those of your business. Chances are, you'll find some middle ground that works well for everyone.

Encourage time off

For most of the pandemic and with the shift to remote work, many employees began working even longer hours.

Reduce Stress

You can ease stress by adding self-care, health and wellness, or mental health holidays to the company calendar. This way, employees can get a day off each quarter or every couple of months to unwind or recharge.

You also could do mini-versions of these holidays or create a couple of designated health and wellness hours each week. Be sure to communicate or emphasize that no meetings should be scheduled during these times. Employees can use this time to meditate, go to the gym or take a walk—whatever helps them achieve a better work-life balance.

Manage workloads

Through workload management, assign work to employees that get the most out of their skills and abilities. Be mindful of workloads and bandwidth availability across teams. Employees will perform better as they gain confidence producing the highest quality deliverables.

While you can't guarantee employees will take time for themselves, supporting workloads and encouraging breaks will help cultivate a healthy work-life balance. Just letting them know you're considering their needs can make a difference.

Improve benefits packages

If you're unable to offer benefits that include health insurance or paid leave, you can still provide support or resources to encourage better mental health and the overall well-being for your employees.

Many of your competitors are. According to Fidelity's Employer Sponsored Health & Well-being survey, mental health, physical health and financial well-being are well established within employers’ well-being strategies.

If your company already offers health insurance, talk with your benefits provider about what it would cost to expand your benefits to provide these services to employees. If it's too costly, consider finding a couple of local mental health providers or representatives from mental health organizations to host a webinar or seminar for employees on better stress management.

You could also sponsor virtual fitness or meditation classes or pay for the first month of a gym membership.

The bottom line

A huge part of business success is having healthy, efficient and productive employees. Shifting priorities within your company that improve the way employees work will help you attract and retain talent as your business grows. Any of these work-life balance strategies may benefit your business plan.