Work and Life, continued

Jason-

Well said. Perhaps my favorite line was this, "If you life is out of balance because you have a crappy job, change jobs." I agree that nearly all of the work/life balance conversation is horribly misinformed, misdirected and largely irrelevant. A lot of it, as you said, is about making the decision to change the things that you can change, rather than complaining about the stuff that you might not be able to change.

In addition to the individual responsibility and free choice involved, I do think there is an opportunity for employers to do a better job of supporting their employees. It is not an obligation, but a real opportunity to have a more attractive and engaging culture. I don't think organizations can actually do much to provide "balance," but I do think that organizations could support more fluidity and flexibility for their employees and how they create value. And this is a philosophy, not a program.

At the heart of this issue is an organizations ability to manage for results instead of activity, rather than the perks it can provide. Hire the right employees, tell them what needs to be done and then get out of the way. Do this, and employees will find their own "balance." Perks are nice, and can even be important, but they are not necessarily about balance.

When I hear an organization bragging about their commitment to work/life balance because they have dry-cleaning service for their employees, I know that I am listening to someone who does not know much about work, life or balance. I think that approaches such as Results-Only Work Environment are much more effective for this than much of what is done in the name of work/life balance.

Balance is a personal thing, and it will not be provided or created with a program or a perk. Organizations need to set their employees free to do their work and those employees will find whatever balance they need.

-joe

Work and Life

Joe,

I'm going to revisit this flawed idea of Work-Life Balance again because it has come up in a couple conversations for me lately. As I have thought more about it, I am convinced (as you are) that the whole idea of balancing work and life is complete nonsense. Life is what you experience 24 hours a day so long as you are breathing. Work is part of it. Play is a part of it. Sleep is a part of it. We don't talk about sleep-life balance, nor do we talk about play-life balance. So why work-life balance?

Here's my theory. I think it's because most of America hates their jobs (or at least is working in the wrong job). Sure, organizations do a lousy job of hiring the right people into the right jobs, but I think this is more about the individual taking accountability for their own personal happiness. If you are in a job that you hate, the best way to change that is to find a job that you like. To do that requires some work. You have to spend some time thinking about who you are and what you want to do with your life (issues most people run away from). No, most people would rather just spit venom at their employer for having them out of "balance" with their life (the things they do when they aren't working in the job they hate).

It's not wrong to think about balance in your life. That's a very worthy endeavor, but there are a lot of things that provide balance: health, growth, relationships, meaning, etc. I think most people would be better served to focus on life balance. If you life is out of balance because you had a crappy job, change jobs. Find something you like to do and your work-life balance issue will go away.

-Jason

Work-Life Balance 2

Joe

i am awakening from my long winter's nap to finally reply to your post. At least this time, I don't think you are too far into left field. I agree that work-life balance is a flawed premise, but it's one that I think we need for now. It is my opinion is that each person should pursue work that fits with their passions and interests. Employers should also seek out individuals who "fit" well with their jobs and create environments where individuals can bring their talents, passions and interests to the job. When both parties do their part, it brings balance because work doens't feel like work. It feels natural and energizing.

Unfortunately, I think we find ourselves talking about work-life balance because neither party (the individual or the employer) is holding up their end of the bargain. I am disheartened daily to talk with people who are "trapped" in jobs they dislike, working for companies they don't care about. The troubling part for me is that they are only trapped by their lack of courage to do something about it. I recognize that we are in tough times right now and jobs are hard to come by, but that doesn't mean that an individual shouldn't be networking and building contacts or maybe going back to school right now. Both of these actions create forward momentum towards a better job situation.

On the employer front, we need this work-life balance discussion for now. While it's flawed, it at least keeps the issue top of mind. Organizations need to continue to think about the individuals in their company and try to create a culture where people can bring all of themselves to work. Only when this happens and organizations realize that it's about capturing the hearts and minds of people will this work-life discussion end. In the mean time, we need to continue to fly the work-life balance banner to ensure that employers continue to struggle with this issue.

-Jason

Work-Life Balance

Jason

Maybe this is one of my semantic hang-ups, but much of the conversation around the issue of work-life balance is becoming a bit of a pet peeve for me. I am in absolute agreement that employers need to do more accommodating to meet the unique needs of an increasingly complex workforce, but in my perspective "work-life balance" is a flawed framework. To me, "work-life balance" speaks to an antiquated belief that I have two separate identities...."work Joe" and "home Joe", and that my employer needs to support me in balancing the two.

I may keep it to myself, but I am going to bring whatever is going on at home to work with me. And today we have more going on at home than at any time in the past. There are more families with two wage earners in the workforce now than ever before, and there are more people in the workforce now that have dependent children and / or parents at home than ever before...so, as employees we have "stuff going on."

While it is easy for employers to support employees spending time working while they are home in the evening or over the weekend, it requires a greater understanding of human capital for those organizations to support employees taking care of "personal stuff" while at work.

To me this issue is really about:
-fluidity
-measuring productivity rather than activity
-hiring the right people

I think that it is about these things much more than it is about on-site dry cleaning or oil changes, but it seems that most of the conversation around this issue is about "programs and perks" more than the org culture and the actual employer-employee relationship.

Maybe I am out in left field on this, it would not be the first time. Interested in your perspective on this.

Joe