As a leader, it is vital to understand how important a good work environment is to attracting and retaining the best talent. At Dale Carnegie Training it is often referred to as “The New Business Reality: Get more done, better, faster, with less.” For an organisation to stay competitive in today’s fast paced business reality employees have to work harder each day; this lifestyle can take a toll on their personal lives. 

While it is necessary for senior leaders and managers to push their teams to achieve the highest level of productivity, it cannot be emphasized enough how vital employees’ personal lives are to a company’s success. A rested, happy, well-rounded individual will provide more creative solutions to problems and will get more done in his or her time at work. 

In order to adopt useful measures to create a healthy work environment for their people, companies must adopt a structured approach to make the ideal choices for their workplaces. To begin with, leaders must assess and determine what their employees want and then need to look for ways to provide it. It is crucial to first do an analysis of your organisations employees to determine what will eliminate some of the stress and pressures associated with their jobs. Some of the different benefits could include:

On-site day-care

The Dale Carnegie India Employee Engagement Survey revealed that only 39% of working women were fully engaged at the workplace. Companies need to invest in measures to create a work-friendly environment that empowers their female workforce to pursue their professional goals.  Many high-tech companies are discovering that they must keep young women in full-time jobs if they are going to keep their workforce at critical staffing levels. According to CII-IWN (India Women’s Network) report “Second Innings” 37% of women opt out of their job due to maternity/childcare issues. A key strategy for retaining this segment of the workforce is ensuring they have day-care arrangements that allow them to visit their children during the day. In today’s competitive business scenario, an organisation that undermines the value of its female employees and the sheer necessity to encourage their participation in the workforce will fall behind.   

Personal services

We have also begun to see a new form of work culture emerge over the past few years, where companies provide unique services not traditionally found in office settings. These other benefits that are booming these days include free massages, on-site delicatessens, on-site hair salons, dry-cleaning service and virtually anything else you can think of that will help save a stop on the way home. Some smaller companies event partner with others in their business community to provide these services. Often, you can entice service businesses to move to your area with a quick presentation on the number of employees the community has and the fact that the businesses are encouraging use of their services.

Health centred activities

A major factor in stress relief is exercise. However, when people are working hard to meet a deadline and spend time with their families, it is also one of the first things many cut off their priority lists. You can encourage a healthy lifestyle by offering discounts to local health clubs, offering exercise classes before and after work or at lunch time, and setting up support groups for topics such as weight loss, smoking cessation and stress management. 

Flexible Work Hours

One of the greatest struggles faced by full-time employees is managing their time to accommodate personal responsibilities. While every person has different commitments that vary according to their individual circumstances, organisation can adopt certain measures that support their employees, relieving them of some of the stress associated with work-life.  Companies can implement a flexible work hour policy that allows its employees to attend to personal emergencies, health issues and their children. This will not only help employees to attend to both their personal and professional duties, but will also lead to a happier, more engaged workforce. 

Team Outings & Activities

Employee outings are a great way to boost morale and motivate hard-working employees. This helps demonstrate that the organisation appreciates their hard work and values its employees as people, not just resources. Team building activities also foster a sense of camaraderie among employees, creating a culture of support and friendship among the team. This sense of belonging can go a long way in de-stressing employees when it comes to day-to-day work. 

These are just a few of the ideas to help employees keep work and family in sync. Each organisation needs to come up with a unique program that incorporates its business needs while building an engaged, satisfied and motivated workforce to meet its goals.