The-Accountant-Sep-Oct-2017-Final

Work Place
ago. For instance, in the past a
professional would leave home, clock
in at a certain hour, work and during
that time spend the contractual hours
only doing work related activities,
they would then clock out in the
evening and spend the time strictly
on other life matters like family and
would totally disconnect from work.
In today’s life with the increase
of technology and new ways of
working, employees find themselves
working outside the contractual
hours; it is common to receive a call
over the weekend and the expectation
is that you attend to work-related
concerns that arise at whatever time.
It is also common to find employees
taking care of ‘personal’ matters like
planning a vacation or talking on
phone to friends and family members
during working hours. Indeed, it is
true to say that work is a part of life
and therefore the traditional idea of
work-life balance which revolved
around the concept of being able to
‘balance’ your daily hours between
your work and your personal life is
impossible.
The recent, exciting approach
known as work-life integration is a
more fitting and realistic alternative
for the ambitious, determined
worker who not only places equal
importance on the success of their
work and personal lives but seeks to
handle both simultaneously. Work
life integration is a new concept, in
which work and life are intertwined.
Work Life Integration creates
more collaboration between all areas
that define “life”. These areas are;
work, family /relationships, Spiritual
growth, Physical/mental health and
Personal interests. All these areas
are intertwined and influence our
thinking and decisions.
Given the advent of work phones
and video conferencing this change
in approach is inevitable. Few of us
completely unplug when we return
home, or even when we’re on holiday.
Employees will constantly check
work emails during vacation. Today’s
workers believe that they should
be given freedom to define their
work schedule and believe that the
traditional working hours (8 am – 5
pm) are out dated.
According to Stuart Hearn a
leading UK HR consultant; work-life
integration can be of particular benefit
to working parents. Fifty percent of
employees say work conflicts with
family responsibilities at least twice
or three times a week. Forty percent
of women delay having children as a
result, and 33 percent of parents are
worried they aren’t spending enough
time with their children. Rather
than forcing your working parents
to choose between their family and
their career and risk losing a valued
employee, work-life integration could
be the answer. HR managers should
bear in mind that working mothers
are generally more productive than
those without children and, as such,
every effort should be made to keep
them on board.
Introducing flexibility in the form
of work-life integration may appear
daunting to organisations at first,
but it is a great move forward for any
company. For work-life integration
to work, rules need to be enforced.
Though it might be important for
employees to decide their own hours,
within reason, managers should be
firm about their expectations. For this
reason, goal setting is essential. Have
employees set SMART objectives,
which can be easily tracked by modern
performance management software.
This will ensure everyone is on track
and nobody is taking advantage of
company’s flexible nature.
Communication needs to be a
priority. Leaders need to organize
frequent one-to-ones with
employees to monitor performance
and obtain feedback regarding
progress. This will give employees
the opportunity to express any
concerns or discuss relevant issues.
On top of this, organizations
should embrace technology and
introduce a company-wide means
of employee communication, where
your workforce can receive realtime
feedback and interaction when
needed.
Managers need to accept that each
employee is different and, in order to
maximize their efficiency, they may
have different working hours. Some
are morning people and get the bulk
of their work completed before noon,
while others are more productive in
the evening. This may take some time
to adapt to, but as long as employees
are adhering to expectations and set
goals, exercise trust and take a step
back.
To cite my own experience, my
family is the joy of my life, at the
same time I am a career person. This
means plenty of time spent in the
work place with a number of late
nights and early mornings, but I must
make the time for family priorities.
For me the answer has been work
life integration since work is part of
life, not something that needs to be
balanced. Many people feel that work
is in conflict with some greater good,
but I couldn’t disagree more. Work
is a large part of what we are made
to do [Genesis 2:15] The Lord God
took the man and put him in the
Garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
Rather than having a discouraging
attitude on how work operates in
contradiction to the rest of my life, I
choose to embrace my work and make
it an integral part of what I hold dear.
It is not uncommon for me to attend
to my daughter’s school activities,
attend a funeral or other pressing
personal matters during ‘work time’,
neither is it uncommon for me to
work past my contractual time to
ensure that I meet my deadlines and
stakeholders’ expectations. Integrated
life is however full of challenges. It’s
an ongoing struggle to adhere to my
priorities. What helps is choosing to
live one moment at a time, deciding
what particular aspect of life needs
and deserves attention at any given
instant.
If you love both your family and
your career, bring them together
instead of fighting to keep them
separate. You’ll enjoy more success
professionally and personally and
have a lot more fun along the way.
When we stop and look at it, work
life balance is a myth, we don’t need
that balance sheet and if we try the
two silos (Work and Life balance)
we will fail, it is an impossible task.
The idea of work-life integration is
having far-reaching repercussions on
morale, productivity and performance
management which should be
embraced by all organisations and
individuals.
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