Keeping Work-Life Balance for Sustainable Performance

Creativity and productivity is important for a successful career. Businesses that fill themselves with motivated producers are also more likely to succeed. Maintaining one’s career can be difficult unless a proper balance between the employee’s personal needs and career needs are properly balance. All work and no play can make anyone off balance and less productive that will eventually damage corporate competitiveness.

Productivity is sustained when employees have a level of satisfaction with their jobs. Work-life is a major contributor and catalyst to job satisfaction (Rama Devi & Nagini, 2014). Without that balance employees can burnout or become bored resulting in lower productivity and frequent job hopping.

Most jobs can be stressful but some are more stressful than most and therefore maintain higher incidents of burn out. Air traffic controllers and stock brokers are some examples of fast paced pressure cooker jobs. Developing work life balance can help them decompress, relax, and move forward in their careers. 

Sometimes it is the very nature of the job that doesn't allow for proper work life balance. In this case the employer should be designing programs to help in this respect if long hours, fuzzy work boarders, and job demands are excessive. It could save the company a lot of money from improved work productivity and lower illness rates. 

Not all companies agree that work life balance is necessary. To such employers the productivity gains don't justify the cost of implementing programs. Those companies that do have work life programs generally have a higher percentage of women (Konrad & Mangel, 2000). Perhaps they have experienced the necessity from family-work overload.

Work-life balance is beneficial for employees and the organizations in which they work. It is a longer-term strategy that seeks to help employees find a balance that can be sustained for a longer period of time. When an employee obtains an appropriate balance of their time and interest they will be more satisfied and likely to be retained longer in the company leading to higher intellectual capital and skill. 

Konrad, A. & Mangel, R. (2000). The impact of work-life programs on firm productivity. Strategic Management Journal, 21 (12). 

Rama Devi, V. & Nagani, A (2014). Work-life balance and burnout as predictors of job satisfaction in private banking sector. Skyline Business Journal, 9 (1).