You and work-life balance. part I

Aahhh, work-life balance. That nice little phrase that frequently gets tossed around as we reference the balancing act of a 'happy place' at work that interacts with our 'ideal' and special 'golden' hours we deem "ours". The 'golden' hours mean different things to different people and how we spend them is for us to choose. As if often the case, where things get a little gray is when we examine who truly is responsible for establishing the ideal work-life balance scenario. The simple route is to assume the employer is responsible for establishing and influencing this balance. The assumption that's made is that employers who do more to promote family-life/friendly initiatives will therefore create a much happier, and hence, productive workforce. While this very well may be the case in the short-term, most company initiatives achieve little effect for the long-term and there are a host of reasons why this is the case. The key to ensuring greater success in an initiative focused on achieving true work-life balance comes in a 'whole-istic' approach rather than a 'pieces-parts' approach.

What needs to be considered is the role of the individual in establishing a 'true' work-life balance, the onus cannot solely rest on the employer. 'Work' happens at home as it does in the workplace and it's as equally important to develop a vision and plan for achieving success as a family unit. If we truly break down the work-life balance equation and recognize what is ultimately at play here, we discover a host of things that too often, and understandably, get over-looked as those three simple words become a little more complex.

More to come....