Work-Life Compatibility: Why and How Leaders Should Promote It
Offering your employees optional workshops on stress management, personal finance and work-life balance could be a smart move for business owners.
By Marty Fukuda •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
As employers, it's your duty to equip your team with the resources to be successful, including ongoing training. While I think everyone would agree that investing money and time on leadership skills, new technologies, product knowledge, customer service and sales skills are all important, there's one category I would implore business leaders to add to the mix: life skills.
Over the long haul, I do not believe that it's possible to compartmentalize one's work life from home life and vice versa. Sure, in the short term you can keep the stresses of a high-pressure job out of the home, but if corrosive job demands persist long enough, eventually tension will spill over. Likewise, an unfulfilled home life will soon adversely impact your office productivity.
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Part of the solution is offering employees techniques and strategies aimed to help impact the entire life, not just work life. Workshops structured to help employees both in and out of the office may feel a little uncomfortable for leaders who believe training should be relegated to the conventional. But I would submit they're of dire necessity for your organization's health.
In today's business environment, the line between our professional and personal lives is more blurred than ever. Technology and modern workplace demands put many workers on call nearly 24/7. Look around; notice the many people busy responding to work emails in line at the coffee shop, in their cars at the stoplights or even while walking across the street.
Related: Make Your Waking Hours Work for You
Here are three ways to incorporate life skills coaching into your organization:
What: Offer optional workshops on topics such as stress management, personal finances, setting goals you can keep, organizational skills, work-life balance, self-motivation, healthy eating, etc. Circulate a survey to find out which ones resonate with the team and schedule your first workshop.
Who: Find expert speakers on each subject to educate your team or even better, identify adept people on your own team that would jump at the chance to help impact their peers.
When: Regularly incorporate these workshops throughout the work year. My suggestion is to at least once a month offer an optional seminar for all employees.
Your team already knows that life and work aren't mutually exclusive. They'll find that not only are the workshops a nice change of pace, they will thank you for providing the resources and knowledge, too.
