Last Friday, I had the pleasure of hosting the second Virtual Meeting of the Novarica Women’s Network (NWN) on the topic of Maintaining a Healthy Work-Life Balance. Discussions were led by Britta Schatz, VP and CIO at Penn National and Kimberly Koury, CIO at GE Electric Insurance. We covered topics ranging from what it’s like working from home to how to unwind after a long week. I’ve shared some highlights from our Virtual Meeting below:
Maintaining a healthy work-life balance involves learning to meet your personal needs while maintaining a fulfilling career. Work-life balance is not about splitting hours equally between your job and personal life; it’s about having the flexibility to perform well at work and still having the time and energy to enjoy your life.
It can be all too easy to prioritize one element over the other; professional success often comes with more responsibility, longer days, and higher stress levels. However, you are far more likely to experience professional burnout if you aren’t taking care of yourself, e.g., by getting enough sleep, exercise, downtime.
The first, vital step to developing a healthy work-life balance is to understand your personal needs and wants: These will guide you toward realistic professional goals that won’t force you to sacrifice your physical or mental health.
It is important to promote a healthy work-life balance at the highest levels within an organization; encouraging this balance yields greater employee well-being and productivity. COVID-19 forced businesses to implement flexible remote work options, proving that work-from-home works. In conversation with NWN members, the vast majority responded positively when asked about their work-from-home experiences.
Employers who encourage staff to have a healthy work-life balance will experience greater talent retention and lower rates of absenteeism. Employee well-being dramatically improves when they have telecommuting options and flexible work schedules—and when employee well-being improves, so does work performance, productivity, and at-work creativity.
Lead by example: Model a healthy work-life balance yourself. Show your support through your behavior. Set and stick to reasonable working hours; don’t send emails after hours. Encourage your teams to take advantage of nice weather in real-time; if you have a one-on-one standup scheduled, invite your employee to take that phone call with you while strolling around the neighborhood.
Don’t forget to display a positive attitude. Leaders dedicated to maintaining high morale—through a culture of transparency, frequent communication, and positive team feedback—will reap the benefits of having a more motivated, energetic, and innovative workforce.
The next Novarica Women’s Network Virtual Meeting will take place on June 12, 2020, at 1 PM ET on the topic of “Building Self-Confidence.” Speakers include Deana Lauria, Vice President of Application Portfolio and Development at COUNTRY Financial, and Deb Zawisza, Vice President of Research and Consulting at Novarica. More information at https://novarica.com/womensnetwork.
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