I couldn’t resist the lead. Truth be told, in our chaotic, sensory overloaded climate, "balance" seems to be a far fetched vault when speaking of working and living in a balanced state of being. Yet, this seemingly elusive goal tops the New Year’s resolution wish-list of people around the world according to research marketing group, ACNielsen. It surveyed consumers in 46 countries and found that more than half want work to play less a role in their 2007 lives.
A quick Google search found that media world-wide picked up the story. I just wonder what the reaction is to the concept of work-life balance in places like India, where a 12-14 hour work day might be the norm, the UK where taking a simple holiday can be a month long jaunt on the coast of Italy, or the U.S. where the 50-60 hour work week is not so unusual. Our working cultures differ greatly, but most workers apparently share a desire to better integrate the work-life experience. The problem is that most office cultures, by design, do not support that notion.
Here in the U.S. we often operate under certain assumptions:
- The more hours we work, the more we get done.
- The more we get done, the greater the financial benefit.
- The greater the financial benefit, the greater the prestige.
The story doesn’t end there however because as that benchmark increases we land more and more in the territory of burnout as individuals. We allow our jobs, bosses, and companies to dictate the work-life design. That profit-first culture is morphing a bit. But not in most workplace scenarios.
It’s not so much that we are slaves to our jobs, but instead to the reaction, acknowledgment, kudos, or criticism of the top brass who run our companies. That’s why I think any talk of work-life balance needs to come from the top. Without being ridiculed we need to know the following:
- We need to know it’s ok to implement anti-burnout strategies or programs in our workplaces.
- We need to know it’s ok to take a break for a moment of reflection, meditation, or faith practice.
- We need to know it’s ok to investigate flex-time or scheduling changes without putting up red flags, thus making our jobs vulnerable.
- We need to know it’s ok to delegate without being targeted as a less than fit employee.
We need to know it’s ok to be human beings and not just human capital.
