Life Balance to Amplify Employee Success

Life Balance to Amplify Employee Success Finding the Perfect Work/Life Balance to Amplify Employee Success When it comes to enhancing employee success, supporting work/life balance is a great place to start. Although this delicate dance is important for all generations, millennials emphasize the need mora than most,and todays workforce is filled with such Gen. Y-ers seeking better balance.Here, well dig into some key strategies to help you encourage the perfect work/life balance for your employees1. Support Self-CareWe all need to be reminded from time to time of how important it is to take care of ourselves physically and mentally. You can start promoting work/life balance by encouraging your employees to ask for help when they need it and seek resources that fit their needs.No matteran employeesrole, stress is a given at some point.Its important for employees to find ways to de-stress both at work and at home. Meditation can be one way to cope. The University of Southern Californ iasonline Master of Social Work programhas compiled a list of mindfulness resources that may be helpful here.2. Create a Guilt-Free EnvironmentIts important that you empower employees to be mindful of their limits, which means you need to show understanding and support when someone says enough is enough. As executive coach Rebecca Zucker notes in an article for Harvard Business Review, guilt-free self-care is mora than a luxury its an essential tool to optimize creativity and productivity.According to Zucker, more than 40 percent of our creative ideas come when we are taking breaks or allowing our minds to wander. Tell your team to rest when they need to, and remind them that they cant be at their best if theyre not taking time to decompress.3. Promote OptimismResearch shows that optimisticpeople can actuallyhelp teams be more productive and support work/life balance. Business consultant Joe Robinsonclaims that, on high-performing teams, positive statements outnumber negative ones by six to one. On low-performing teams, the ratio of positive to negative statements is under one to one.Citing mindfulness as one key to recognizing the power of negative emotions, Robinson says its essential to focus on the positive instead. Or, as he quotes Mark Twain, Drag your thoughts away from your troubles by the ears, by the heels, or any way you can manage it.4. Lead by ExampleAnotherimportant thing Zucker emphasizes is the fact that, as a manager, you need to lead by example. When you stick to exiting the office at a reasonable hour and the world doesnt fall apart, your employees will see that they can do it, too. Setting your own solid boundaries for work/life balance benefits both those and all who are watching you.Get Started TodayEmpowering your employees to achieve great work/life balance is good for them and for your companys well-being. You can start today by askingemployees what they need, providing more education about work/life balance, and reminding them that quality not quantity is the key to success.Colleen ODay is a digital PR manager and supports community outreach for 2U Inc.s social work, mental health, and speech pathology programs.