Today is World Heart Day so what better day to talk about the importance of a healthy work life balance? Recent studies have proven that having a good work life balance can significantly help to reduce stress in the workplace and therefore stress on your heart.
A report from Britain’s Healthiest Company revealed that almost three quarters (73 per cent) of those polled are suffering from at least one type of workplace stress.
Time is another major problem for many employees, with many saying that they were not consulted about change at work, and others citing a lack of choice about tasks done at work.
The study also showed that 60 per cent of those polled said their job made organising their life outside of work difficult and more than a third (36 per cent) said they worked in excess of 40 hours per week.
Both of these factors contribute to a lack of work life balance and stress.
Speaking about the study, Greg Levine, director of Corporate Healthcare at VitalityHealth, said: “Britain’s Healthiest Company demonstrates the importance of good worklife balance on mental and physical wellbeing and the benefits to be gained for companies by effectively managing employee stress.
“It is clear that while many organisations are offering excellent worklife balance programmes more can be done to make sure employees use them. Better communication and convincing support from leadership is needed to make employees aware of the initiatives they can take advantage of to help reduce stress and achieve a healthy worklife balance.”
According to the data, 50 per cent of employees surveyed said they were able to work flexible hours and more than 50 per cent were able to work from home, which help to cut back on stress and allow people to fit their work around their lifestyle.
Of course, stress can have a major impact on a firm’s absence rates and result in many staff members taking more time off work.
However, technology can play a major role in not only helping to facilitate flexible working practices that reduce stress and help to promote a healthy worklife balance, it can also help employers to track absence patterns and take decisive action to tackle problems in the workplace.
For example, absence management software can help managers to identify attendance patterns and inform related policies within an organisation.
So why not consider your work-life balance, your company’s abaility to accomodate flexiable working and your company’s abaility to spot sickness pattens today?
