Work-Life Balance: A Shared Responsibility Between Employees and Employers

In our new post-Covid world, maintaining a work-life balance has become increasingly important to employees. However, this concept may look different for each person and organization. While some employees are seeking work-life balance, others prefer a work-life integration. Although these two means of achieving equilibrium between personal and professional responsibilities are similar, the two terms are very distinct. In both cases, working to achieve these goals should be a collaborative conversation between an employee and their employer to agree upon the most effective solution.

What is Work-Life Balance?

Work-life balance is when an employee can effectively manage their work responsibilities with their home life without sacrificing time and energy from one for the other. A healthy work-life balance allows an individual to fully engage in their job while also having enough time and energy to devote to their personal and family life. 

In a proper work-life balance, the boundaries between work and personal life are very defined with actions such as designated “work hours,” silencing work notifications after hours, and not checking work emails at night, as a few examples.  Additionally, those same boundaries are set with personal time during work hours by turning off social media notifications, refraining from group texts with friends, and focusing solely on work.

What is Work-Life Integration?

Work-life integration is the blending of both personal and professional responsibilities. Rather than compartmentalizing work and personal time into separate buckets, employees and employers can find areas of compromise. For example, working from home to care for children when schools are closed or loading the dishwasher while listening in on a conference call. In contrast to work-life balance where lines are drawn between work and personal life, work-life integration seeks to bring work and personal life closer together to coexist.

A New Way of Thinking About Equilibrium Between Work and Life

Jeff Bezos, founder, executive chairman, and former President and CEO of Amazon, referred to the term “work-life balance” as “debilitating” in a recent Insider interview.  He believes that the ‘balance’ part of it implies that employees are equally dividing time and energy, which isn’t necessarily the case.  Rather, he tries to teach his employees that work-life “harmony” is a more realistic and achievable concept.  Finding harmony between work and home can create better energized employees and colleagues.

While employees are looking for that perfect equilibrium or harmony to meet the needs of their personal lives, it’s important to note that as employers, the needs of the organization and continuity of business must also be met. Both the employee and employer play a role in determining the best harmony for the employee, while also meeting the needs of the business.  The amount of flexibility given to employees may vary based upon their position, the organization, and the industry, and will likely never look the same for two different companies.

For employees, the evaluation process for the needs of harmony in work and life will likely be an ongoing, fluent process. On the other side, employers need to regularly evaluate their business needs against what flexibility they can offer their employees. “Companies who are empathetic and proactively work to provide the appropriate personal time for employees tend to stand out,” says Paul Wolfe, Senior Vice President of HR for the job search site Indeed.

No matter what decision is made by employees and employers about the needs of equilibrium in work and life, it has never been more important to prioritize and think about ways to achieve the most balance and freedom for employees while not interrupting the continuity of the business.