Let’s Change the Work\/Life Balance Conversation<\/h2>\n

The Old Conversation<\/h3>\n

The traditional conversation about balancing work and life is like squeezing a balloon. Regardless of what end you put pressure on, you are always worried the other end is going to pop. To make it worse, the \u201clife\u201d piece has multiple dimensions within itself that are difficult to balance – immediate family, extended family, spiritual, service, social, etc… Oh, and let’s not forget self!<\/p>\n

One issue with the work\/life balance conversation is the word \u2018balance\u2019. By its very nature, it implies that we need to sacrifice on one end to gain on the other. It also implies that we can neatly fit work and life into two separate and discrete buckets. While that may be our desire, it typically is not reality.<\/p>\n

We won\u2019t make any progress if we continue to talk about this important issue using an antiquated work\/life balance framework. In fact, we\u2019ll do just the opposite. We\u2019re setting ourselves up to automatically feel inadequate because of what we aren\u2019t<\/em> getting done.<\/p>\n

A New Conversation!<\/h3>\n

Finally, a conversation has emerged that presents a new view that actually gives us a fighting chance to feel good about ourselves. Out with work\/life balance and in with work\/life integration<\/strong>. Let’s figure out how to make it all work together versus setting the stage for a competition.<\/p>\n

What Changes with the New Conversation?<\/h3>\n

\n
1. We give up the \u201cor\u201d driven mentality that requires trade-offs and adopt the \u201cand\u201d driven mentality of abundance.<\/strong><\/li>\n
2. We optimize our lives instead of sub-optimizing the different parts.<\/strong><\/li>\n
3. We deal with fluctuating demands over time.<\/strong><\/li>\n
4. We focus on output and results versus completing tasks.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

   Our approach becomes conceptually aligned with how we really work – checking emails in the evenings, finishing that project on the weekend, attending that mid-afternoon\u00a0baseball game, buying tickets when the box-office opens at 11:00 on Wednesday. And that\u2019s all ok. We trade guilt for gratitude<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

   How to Make It Happen<\/h3>\n

   It takes effort on the part of employers and employees. The employer needs to make work\/life integration OK, formally and informally. That means revised policies, new programs, and possibly a cultural shift. Employees need to allow themselves the flexibility to revamp how they work and respond by increasing performance and adding more value.<\/p>\n

   The Benefit to Your Organization<\/h3>\n

   At a time when most of us are expected to do more with less, allowing work\/life flexibility can seem counter-intuitive. Admittedly, there is a \u201cleap of faith\u201d aspect related to the payback with which you need to get comfortable. But you have more to gain by promoting work\/life integration. The payback is higher profits, reduced medical costs, increased employee retention, and a rise in employee engagement.<\/strong><\/p>\n

   How much does your culture rely on balance versus integration? How much more could be achieved by changing the conversation and the culture?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

   Shoes provide an interesting metaphor for thinking about how we handle the coordination of work and the other elements of our life. While we certainly wear a life shoe when we come to work, we often wear a work shoe during life. For a variety of reasons, this has become the new normal. This article reveals the shortcoming in how we have traditionally thought about the issue of coordinating work and life and presents a different way of thinking that is more aligned to our current work\/life scenario. The results are higher profits, reduced medical costs, increased employee retention, and a rise in employee engagement. Can you afford to ignore that?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8,9],"tags":[25,23,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":657,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions\/657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepeopleadvantage.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}