ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR III
Work-life balance is typically defined as the amount of time you spend doing your job versus the amount of time you spend with loved ones or pursuing personal interests and hobbies.
It is important to strive for a healthy balance between work and personal life to improve overall well-being, including physical, emotional, and mental health . www. Coursera.org
In the title above, it can be noticed that this writer purposely changed the arrangement of the work-life to life work, to emphasize the need to prioritize and give emphasis on life first before work.
At one side we see, that work realities is unique to the individual. One may be, a Public School Teacher and hers is a sustained day job that requires daily commute. Yet, another one may be a Virtual Assistant who needs to be up all night and recalibrate her body clock and live in painful nocturne for the 5 day week. A Police officer may require a 4 day 10 hour duty per week and an Election officer whose job accelerates come election season and dissipates later on.
The hours on a day has different definitions for one worker and the next. It may be something simple for some but complex for others. One thing is for certain, work life balance is not merely an ambition it is something that people knew that is essential and thus must be strived for.
Over the years, the understanding of what it means to have a good work-life balance has evolved dramatically as new generations (with new expectations) enter the workforce. The benefits of accommodating flexible working are more widely accepted as organizations increasingly prioritize the well-being and happiness of their employees.
Why? Because researchers have revealed that work-life balance is just as beneficial for businesses as it is for their staff.
According to the Harvard Business Review, employee burnout costs the U.S. between $125 billion and $190 billion every year in healthcare. Meanwhile, a five-year study found that employees who work more than 55 hours per week are 1.66 times more likely to develop depression in later life. This is America.
In the Philippines, we barely scratch the surface of work life balance. We are an enduring people who are grateful for the job, we don’t mind putting in extra hours and giving all we got and forgetting the balance of life and work.
We are faced with mental problems and burn out although these are never disclosed in the open, it is as real as it can be.
In the recent Global Talent Trends worldwide a Linkedin study shows that thousands of job seekers has Work life balance as the top priority the figure is 63 % followed by Compensation or Salary and Organizational Culture. This reality proves that Money is subordinate to the work life balance the thousands of workers craves.
Work life balance is not merely about equilibrium, it is about Life. It is about the fact that a faculty, employee and official’s well being is paramount for business and organizational success. Every manager worth his salt must adhere to this.
