As businesses continue to feel the squeeze from the economic downturn, so too do their employees.
Staffing pressures have resulted in longer hours and heavier workloads, meaning employers have become increasingly concerned about the work/life balance of their staff.
What constitutes a healthy work/life balance will depend on the operational requirements of your business as much as the needs of your employees and there are no strict guidelines for how it can be achieved.
Flexible working practices are often seen as an ideal solution, helping to reduce absenteeism and increase productivity, employee commitment and loyalty.
Part-time working, flexi-time, job sharing and home working are all potential options which enable employees to fulfil necessary commitments at home while allowing the employer to make the best use of staff and other resources.
Such practices can help companies to adjust staff levels at times of peak activity and cope with periods of particularly high demand.
It is also important to offer staff access to services such as counselling and to carry out stress risk assessments to ensure your staff don’t feel under pressure at work.
A robust assessment programme is key in addressing and resolving problems arising from work-related stress
For more advice on how to help your staff achieve a healthy work/life balance, click here to read the Acas guide. http://www.acas.org.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=661&p=0
For full results from the CIPD’s winter Employee Outlook survey click here. http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/survey-reports/employee-outlook-winter-2011-12.aspx