Work-life balance (WLB) is a common term used by many companies attempting to lure the best talent available to join their team. It certainly sounds cool and has a relaxing ring to the phrase every time I hear it. The way WLB is sold to potential recruits is the promise that as an employee they will somehow have more control of their working life which ultimately should lead to increased productivity, lower absenteeism, a happier, less stressed workforce, and improvements in employee health and well-being. At least that’s the pitch!
So how can companies that guarantee a true WLB opportunity live up to the expectations they are selling candidates? It’s actually not that hard to implement. As a small firm of 12 employees, we mandate WLB in every facet of the employee experience and have taken pages from many of our client’s playbooks to make the employee experience real. In my opinion, providing a real WLB environment mostly involves trust. The old-school ways of measuring productivity that include hours worked, when an employee starts and ends their day, and calculating traditional time-off pay, all go out the window. If your organization is planning to map its employee experience with the way employees of the post Baby Boomer world think and view life, changes must happen.
According to recent research, by 2020 86 million millennials will be in the workplace, representing 40 percent of the working population; according to Intelligence Group, that same demographic is projected to make up more than roughly 75 percent of the workforce by 2025. That’s a massive shift!
Any employer seeking to attract and retain top-notch talent must understand what motivates this new generation of workers born between 1980 and 2000. I used to think many millennials I interviewed were job hoppers based on the number of employers listed and the short stints on their resumes. I now believe I was incorrect in my assumption. After educating myself on the way this new generation of workers think, it became clear that many started working for a company that simply did not fit or meet the goals that this group of workers cared about. There was a total disconnect and the millennial workers left to seek an employer that was more allied with their goals and aspirations.
Here is what millennials want according to a recent survey I read on Hatchbuck:
• a company with a clear mission
• a collaborative and innovative culture
• a management team that is committed to employee success
• flexible work schedule and remote work opportunities
• healthy work-life integration
So how do you get there? Changing the way CEOs think about creating a true WLB is not that difficult, especially for small to mid-size organizations. It’s probably a lot more challenging for larger organizations, but it’s definitely doable over time.
I think it starts with embracing the new realities of today’s workforce and what they care about. Again, we took ideas from lots of our clients and started to create a real WLB culture in our firm. While we can’t afford some of the high-end benefits many larger companies offer, here are a few benefits that we do offer:
• flex time (this is critical to young moms and they love it!)
• unlimited PTO (and we do mean unlimited)
• 401K with an employer match
• bonus plans for all employees
• health insurance stipend
• incentive trips for those that meet their goals
• pH balanced water or soft drinks (unlimited)
• weekly team lunches
• mandatory leave the office no later than 5:30 p.m., with very few exceptions
• bucket list of fun goals developed by each employee to which each department can contribute
Many companies have embraced the new generational workforce by adding some very creative benefits that are impacting hiring and retention numbers in a very positive way.
Offering a WLB culture really matters—especially in hiring and retaining the millennial workforce. Walking the walk is always far better that thinking about or talking about it when it comes to truly having a WLB culture.
