Wellbeing and work-life balance
Workplace stress occurs when the demands of the job and the working environment on a person exceeds their capacity to meet them. Work-Life balance ensures “the divisions of one’s time and focus between working and family or leisure activities,” writes Caroline Reidy
Print31 July 2024
Throughout the course of our working life, each of us will encounter varying degrees of stress. It is important that employers take proactive steps to ensure that employees’ wellbeing is prioritised and a healthy work-life balance is encouraged. It is crucial that initiatives are put in place within organisations to ensure that all employees are aware of the supports available to them should they have any concerns, employees should also be aware that they can openly communicate their concerns with their employer.
Duty of care
Employers have a duty of care to their employees. This is emphasised and reinforced within the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005. It is advised that employers have a procedure in place to tackle the issue should they identify an employee who is experiencing a high level of stress or showing concerning signs that they are not maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Having these procedures in place empowers the employer to take action to help the employee, and also reassures the employee experiencing issues and other colleagues that the organisation cares for their wellbeing and are willing to help alleviate such instances whilst promoting a healthy balance between work and life.
Benefits of improved wellbeing & work-life balance
Improved workplace wellbeing can lead to sustained improvements within the workplace including increased creativity, improved employee loyalty, improved productivity and better overall customer satisfaction. More and more employers are now concentrating on workplace wellbeing initiatives which in turn allow employees to better improve their work-life balance. Ensuring wellbeing within the workplace is inherent and will give rise to benefits such as retention of healthy happy employees, decreased rates of illness/injury, reduced absenteeism, increased productivity, increased morale and satisfaction.
Ensuring that employees maintain a healthy work-life balance is critical in assisting in ensuring the wellbeing of your team, and also the overall productivity of the organisation. It is important that employees are encouraged to manage their time efficiently and are provided with the know how to do so, to ensure a clear separation between work and personal life, the implementation of set start and end times each day can ensure that employees manage their working hours effectively to create a clear division between work and personal life. A healthy work-life balance enhances the creativity of employees whilst also improving relationships and the quality of life of employees outside of the office.
Top tips for managing wellbeing in the workplace and maintaining a work-life balance
- Awareness and proactiveness: Employers should ensure that demands which are placed on employees are fair and reasonable. It is best practice that if employers become aware of employees suffering from any work-related issues or where an employee is showing any concerning signs in relation to their well-being, that the employer takes immediate action to ascertain the cause and identify ways of helping the individual, if appropriate and possible.
- Policies: Policies and procedures can be put in place to protect and support employees, such as a Dignity & Respect at Work Policy, which again promotes a positive culture that all complaints or concerns in relation to an employee’s Dignity & Respect at Work will be dealt with appropriately and as set out clearly within the procedure.
- Employee assistance programme (EAP): An employee assistance programme can be beneficial to employees in ensuring wellbeing in the workplace but also in ensuring employees can maintain a work-life balance. An EAP is a positive approach to proactively promoting wellbeing within the workplace by offering support and help required to each of the employees, most often than not, 24 hours per day, 365 days a year. An EAP is a free and confidential service to employees and usually are a low cost to the Organisation.
- Communication: Regular communication between the Organisation and employees can make an employee feel more involved within the decisions made in relation to their role and more comfortable and at ease in confidently expressing any concerns they may have at an early stage. Communication is crucial in preventing concerns and issues from escalating.
- Clear boundaries: It is important that the organisation establish and set out within each employees Contract of Employment the expectations of them throughout their employment. This is crucial in preventing work time from spilling into the personal time of employees.
- Flexibility: Where possible, it is important that organisations utilise flexible working options such as remote work and flexible hours such as varied start and finish times can often ensure that employees can accommodate personal responsibilities and reduce unnecessary stress linked to these personal responsibilities. Organisations who allow their employees to adjust their work schedule to fit their personal life from time to time where necessary such as attending dental/medical appointments encourage a healthy work-life balance for their employees, preventing personal commitments and stresses from compromising work quality.
These are just a few examples of activities that can be adapted in your workplace to maintain and increase wellbeing in the workplace. It is important that employers are proactive in managing employee wellbeing to ensure the overall health and wellbeing of staff and to ensure staff are engaged and enjoy work and also maintain a healthy work-life balance. Proactively looking after your employee’s wellbeing also increases retention of staff within the Company.
If you require further support or advice relating to HR, please do not hesitate to contact The HR Suite at info@thehrsuite.com / (066) 7102887.
For more information visit www.thehrsuite.com or read our blog.
Read more: Navigating redundancy in Ireland: Legal obligations and best practices
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