4.

Management of work-life balance

Many businesses have introduced a range of policies to foster the reconcilability of work and
non-work life, especially for families. They recently started to create better work-life balance for
employees by teaching attention management skills. Here are some work-life balance initiatives
currently being implemented by some very successful companies:

Attention management: It is a set of actions that supports busy workers in achieving better
work-life balance. It educates staff members on how to optimize their capacity for concentration
by setting the proper conditions for a certain job.
Allow employees to take a brain break: It is about encouraging them to fully disconnect from
their job so they can get more clarity and rest their brains to promote more productivity and
creativity among employees. This is a hedge against employee burnout.
Synchronous communication: It helps businesses enhance the work-life balance of their staff
members (meaning, there is a lag between the message and the reply). As result, employees may
concentrate on critical activities without being diverted by pointless interruptions.
Prioritizing productivity over hours worked: People work at a different pace. Although
scheduling flexibility is vital to employees, organizational success also depends on productivity
and the caliber of the work produced.

When it comes to workers, they deal with WLB by playing with what time scale feels most
relevant to them, because truth is, there’s no prescription that fits everyone. Individuals elongate
the time frame upon which they judge the balance in his/her life. However, there are certain job
and career choices fundamentally incompatible with being meaningfully engaged on a day-to-
day basis with a family. For instance, doctors, being a doctor means giving up parts of your life

to care for others. Nevertheless, these busy professionals try as best as they can to keep their
personal life active by being honest with their loved ones, establishing boundaries, and being
aware of their professional situation and they also enjoy to the fullest the little to no time they
get.

5. Research example

Founded in 1928 in the U.S, Motorola, an American manufacturer of wireless communications

and electronic systems, currently employs more than 100,000 people worldwide. They employ
1,530 staff in its East Kilbride, Scotland operation. To maintain its competitive advantage, it
operates its plants 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They have included several work-life
balance options such as, working part-time, taking dependency leaves, job sharing, and taking
study or emergency leaves in order to help employees achieve good work and life stability. In
2000, employees were offered job sharing, either on the day or night shifts. "Job sharing allowed
us to retain our pool of highly qualified and well-trained talent," says Neil McKinven, a senior
line manager.

Mary McDonald, an employee of Motorola and a single mother of two submitted an application
for a job share during the day. Given her family situation, she thought the full-time shift pattern
was too demanding. Her written application to the HR department which contained her personal
and operational reasons was successful and she now works with her job partner, Heather
Chalmers in the water fabrication production area. This method, according to McDonald

"has worked really well for her. 'I have plenty of energy for the days I work'; 'Motorola gets my
entire attention'. She is really optimistic about job sharing, especially for those who have families
because it is beneficial to family life.

Most of the job-share employees are women who are unable or prefer not to work full-time due
to family responsibilities. Job sharing has significant benefits for individuals and that many
women returning from maternity leave value this layout. It helps them to maintain an equilibrium
between their professional and personal life.

6. Recommendations

Work-life balance is crucial in one’s life but how it should appear depends on them. You don’t
have to have it all figured out in one day; start small for it to last long. You must first accept the
fact that there is no perfect work-life balance, and that life can sometimes get out of hand.

Nevertheless, to make sure that you are fulfilled in your professional and personal life, you must
first prioritize your health; it will make you a better person and employee. Then, you find
yourself a job you love doing or at least find exciting enough that you don’t dread getting out of
bed every single day. Not being afraid to unplug; cutting ties with the outside world from time to
time allows you to recover from weekly stress and gives up space for other thoughts and ideas to
emerge. One can also set goals and priorities and stick to them; Structuring your day can increase
productivity at work, which can result in more free time to relax outside of work. One can
furthermore take breaks, and make time for their self, and loved ones. A career is important, but
it shouldn’t be your entire life. No matter how hectic your schedule might be, you ultimately
have control of your time and life.