When we’re talking about job sharing and indeed flexible working as a whole, the term work-life balance pops up in every post. It’s so common place in articles and talks on the subject that it’s almost lost all meaning. Everyone has their own interpretation of what work-life balance means for them, some positive, some not so much.
I read a piece a few days ago that put forward the idea that “Work-life balance” is a phrase that’s thrown around by “lazy millennials” that don’t want to do any work. While not only is that ridiculous, it makes a sweeping generalisation of an entire generation and undermines the entire reason why flexible working was introduced. I’ve seen this opinion (or many variations of) crop up a quite a few times now, every time it feel like it’s come from the mind of someone who’s not quite in touch with the world we currently live in.
Work-life balance and flexible working as a whole isn’t an excuse to bunk off. As the world becomes more 24/7 keeping a standard working week for many of us just won’t work anymore. With the explosion of the internet, consumers want services to be available as and when they want them and with each of us working 9-6 Monday to Friday, that just wouldn’t be possible. The work place has had to become more flexible as to adapt to the diversity of the people who work there. Yes it means that some of us will end up working less than a “regular” employee, but for some of us it’s the reason we can make it to work at all.
To me, work-life balance means ensuring that you can both enjoy a career and a life outside of it. It means being able to be a productive member of your team while still being there for your family. It means not needing your children to be raised by hired help because you’re needed in the office. Most importantly, it means not having to sacrifice one aspect of your life for another.
Flexible working is definitely a change for the better. Allowing your employees to find their work-life balance will do wonders for your company. Facilitating your employees with the means to get more out of their lives will make them happier, happy employees are more productive, more motivated and far less likely to leave.
A far cry from the “lazy generation” I’ve been seeing thrown around lately, “work-life balance” and flexible working haven’t arisen from the younger generation becoming lazy, but from a society that demands so much that the existing paradigm had to change. Change often scares people that don’t understand it, so I’m not surprised by these articles that talk down on “work-life balance”, I just hope that those who are disconnected enough to truly think that flexible working is for the lazy have time to rethink.
If you want some more information on what flexible working is and how you can make it work for you please check out our blog here: http://shareyourjob.com/content/flexible-working
