The Work/Life Balance Unicorn
This year I’m going to get fitter and healthier.
This year I’m going to make more time for my myself and my family.
I’m going to be less stressed, more productive, totally motivated and smash all my goals.
I will be a finely- tuned, super organised machine.
Sound familiar?
For many of us, with the right mindset, it is totally possible to make these ‘new year, new me’ resolutions happen, however for the average person, it’s very difficult to be that go-getting Steven Bartlett-type unless we make fundamental changes to our lives. To be successful in both our personal lives and at work, we need to find that elusive, seemingly unobtainable unicorn that is ‘balance’.
The WFH Revolution
Over the past few years, the vast majority of us have experienced working from home in some capacity, which has allowed greater scope to positively shake up our home and work life: Taking the kids to school, rather than the early morning breakfast club drop off, diarising a workout rather than being stuck to your desk for eight solid hours, preparing a healthy lunch instead of grabbing a supermarket meal deal. This flexibility of WFH has changed our perception of what the working day can look like going forward.
However, despite the obvious advantages of home working, the negative effects are also starting to show, particularly for those who are creeping in to a second year of the 9-5 slog from the kitchen table.
The Stats
Leading mental health charity, Mind found that the first period of lockdown was particularly challenging for UK workers with 60% of adults stating their mental health deteriorated during the early period of lockdown restrictions (April to mid-May 2020) and 40% of employees reported feeling disconnected to their business and culture while working from home.
These are shockingly high statistics and business leaders simply cannot afford to ignore the many workers still pouring from a proverbial empty cup. With the ‘great resignation’ taking place and remote work opening up career opportunities in different geographical locations, employers need to take some responsibility for their teams wellbeing and offer more to retain their staff and keep them healthy and happy.
It’s work Jim, but not as we know it
Clearly there’s been a shift to how we work and how we think about our work/ life balance. Businesses have to face this new way of life (the cat isn’t going back in the bag guys) and rather than getting back to ‘normal’, should be asking ‘what does the new normal look like? What’s changed? What’s better and what can we do to move forwards?’
For example, many businesses are now exploring the growing appetite for a four-day week and finding positive results reporting no negative impact on their operations, yet increased motivation from their workforce.
Microsoft began using the four-day week as a trial in the summer of 2019. Not only did the company see a 23% reduction in electricity costs, but sales per employee also rose 40% compared to 2018. The trial was just one of the reasons which led to the Japanese Government recommending that companies move to a four-day working week in their 2021 annual economic policy guidelines. They said that they believed that it would ‘help to improve employee’s work-life balance’.
In April 2021, HSBC CEO Noel Quinn wrote that most of the bank’s roles, including his and the executive team’s, will be done in a hybrid way. Executives working in Canary Wharf will no longer have their own offices. Instead, they will hot desk with other colleagues and work collaboratively in a shared space.
OK, that’s interesting, but where’s the unicorn for me?
It’s important to say that if you love what you do, how you work and where you are, the need to split your personal and work life becomes much less of an issue. If your business is also your hobby, if it brings you joy and it doesn’t disrupt other parts of your life negatively, then congratulations. You’re there. You can stop reading now. Thanks for coming.
Based on the stats we’re seeing however, there are a huge amount of people in the UK not so lucky or who haven’t quite got the balance right yet. Now is the opportune time for those people to make a change. Businesses are listening. Governments are listening. Society's view on balance is changing. Take a look at The 4 Day week Campaign movement and The Flex Appeal. It's happening now.
As individuals, we need to take some of the responsibility and ask ourselves ‘what isn’t making me happy’ and then change it. We need to be clear about what we want to do more of (or less of) and change that too. We need to have conversations with our employers/ managers/ business partners about the best environment that will help us be the most motivated and productive, and businesses need to seriously take that on board, be flexible and adjust.
What’s clear is that to make a difference in our personal and work lives, there first needs to be positive change. We need to keep moving forward, striving for better and remember that the best asset in every business is ourselves, the people. Whether we work for a multi-million corporation or we’re a solo start-up, if the balance isn't right, take the opportunity that is happening right now and make the change. Otherwise, you may be facing another year of unfulfilled resolutions.