Can You Teach Work/Life Balance?

Most people today value their company's work-life balance philosophy; yet, a lot of us lack confidence in our employer's support of work-life policies, according to survey results released in November by WorkLifeBalance.com, an Atlanta-based company that specializes in work-life balance education and management training.

Despite the fact that 81 percent of employees believe a company's work-life balance policies and training are important when deciding whether to take or quit a job, only 57 percent feel that their current organization is supportive of employees' personal commitments and life outside of work. Almost all employees (99 percent) have felt overwhelmed by work-related stress at times, with 97 percent of these respondents claiming that job stress sometimes negatively impacted the quality of their work and motivation on the job. Stress away from the office also negatively impacts performance on the job. Of the respondents who have felt overwhelmed by non-work-related stress (98 percent), almost all (95 percent) felt that their personal life stress at times negatively impacted the quality of their work and motivation on the job.

What I found most interesting is that three-fourths of workers said they wanted their employers to provide training of practical skills to help improve their work-life balance. Can you really teach people to balance work and life outside work?

"While work-life balance benefits such as flextime and employee assistance programs are important, employers can do more to fully realize the value of their work-life policies and help their workers maintain a better work-life balance," said Jim Bird, CEO of WorkLifeBalance.com. "With work-life balance training, individuals learn to assess their unique work and life needs, which in turn helps them better utilize an organization's existing work-life benefits. Organizations that offer effective work-life training can immediately impact their employees' daily achievement and enjoyment on and off the job, while also realizing organizational improvements such as increased productivity and employee satisfaction."

Hmmm ... I like this idea. Have you taken any classes in balancing work and family? Handling resentful co-workers? Negotiating with three-year-olds about when you're getting home? Convincing a spouse to stay home with sick baby so you can hightail it to your big meeting? Do you think this balance stuff can be taught? What are the top three skills you'd like to be trained to do better -- and what juggling skills would you like your co-workers and spouse to go back to school to learn?

By Leslie Morgan Steiner |  January 11, 2008; 7:00 AM ET  | Category:  Free-for-All
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