Work-Life Integration
Are you one of the many whose narrowed view of life consists primarily of work and sleep? Perhaps it’s time to step back, take a good look at yourself and ‘get a life’.
It’s sad to see people devoting virtually all their time to the company they work at. What sort of life is that? – Is it really a life? Wives who want to enjoy time with their husbands end up seeing them come home from work at 10pm most days, kids have their fathers only at weekends and suddenly the main purpose of a life is working 15+ hrs a day.
Work-life balance involves trade-offs, so let us call it work-life integration (learn more about this). This integration is achieved when an individual’s right to a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work is accepted and respected as the norm, to the mutual benefit of the individual, business and society. But of course, an individual has to realise that too, and far too many people care more about pleasing their boss than pleasing themselves and their family.
At the core of an effective work-life integration are two key everyday concepts that are relevant to us all, which are:
1) Achievement
2) Enjoyment
Ideas that are almost deceptive in their simplicity.
Smart leaders and managers will know that work-life integration business benefits include:
- Increased productivity
- Improved recruitment and retention
- Lower rates of absenteeism
- Reduced overheads
- An improved customer experience
- A more motivated, satisfied and equitable workforce
Whilst many of the bigger companies such as Bain & Co. appreciate and understand this, there are those that fail to understand and think that squeezing all they can out of their people, with no respect for work-life integration, is productive. These kinds of companies could do better if they followed the example of others that reap the rewards of productive, happy and loyal people.
It’s important to realise that integration is not about having more free time; it’s about living a fuller, richer life that is more enjoyable and more significant. It means putting work in perspective as just one of the many things that you do and aspire to be great at, but not the thing that defines who you are.
A helpful way to gaining integration is making external commitments that appear on your calendar and treating them with the same level of dedication and respect that you give to your work. Rather than letting work expand to fill all your time, set limits. Take advantage of the fact that companies and good managers value results rather than effort. Figure out how to work smarter and get to grips with time management. When someone tries to impinge on an external commitment, let them know how much time you have, and work it out from there.
Those in their early career years have the opportunity to establish their work-life integration and schedule from the beginning. Continue or incorporate the extracurricular activities that you enjoyed before your professional life began. If you eventually get married and have children, you will need to give up some of these activities, but you will have hard-coded a system that will not require you to change companies, positions or a career path to become the spouse and parent you wish to be. Be aware, however, that if you do this, it will impact the companies you choose and the positions you aspire to. Sweat-houses run by unreasonable leaders are not the place to be.
A balanced life may result in the realisation that you are in the wrong job or at the wrong company. But what’s the alternative? For all the passion you put into your work and the joy that you get from creating and collaborating with others, at the end of the day, “it’s just a job”. It doesn’t hug you when you are sad, and it won’t take care of you when you get old. You’re unlikely to think fondly of those long hours at the office and that IT system you created when you’re in the sunset of your life! And remember that we never know when that sun will go down – so live every day you have.
Watch this video interview from Harvard about work-life integration.
