All organizations have the responsibility of making sure their employees are able to strike work-life balance. Overworking your employees is self-destructive for the organization. There are many tangible benefits for employers of workers with good work-life balance. Una Byrne gives the following examples in her article, "Work-Life Balance."

• Makes employees feel valued. Showing that you care about your employees will go a long way to making them feel more content in their jobs. Giving proper attention to your employees' work-life balance will make them know they are important to your organization.
• Enables you to attract a wider range of candidates, such as older part-time workers and carers. If the perfect person for the job also has an aging parent to care for, you'll still want that person working for you. Enabling your employees to juggle their personal life with their work life will allow you to hire the best in the profession.
• Increases productivity. Happy employees are much more efficient. Overstressed employees make mistakes.
• Reduces absenteeism. Stressed workers will call in sick more often.
• A reputation of being an employer of choice. Be voted to best library to work in! You'll attract the best and brightest.
• Retain valued employees. Happy and contented workers will stay with your organization for a longer time, an important goal for any library.

So you've seen the benefits of having employees with work-life balance. But what can you do to realize that goal? A few strategies:

• Educate your employees about work-life balance. Discuss work-life balance with your employees. Give them some resources. Make them think about how important work-life balance.
• Arrange flexible work schedules. This can include telecommuting, flextime, shift swapping, and job-sharing. If you work with your employees to manage their schedules in ways that allow them to meet all their obligations, they'll be much more productive.
• Encourage employees to take breaks and vacations. Make sure employees take their allotted lunch time and breaks -- a 15-minute break can do much to decompress a frazzled employee and make them much more able to deal with the rest of their day. Many employees do not take their allotted vacation time, preferring to take the extra cash for untaken leave. But vacations make us feel recharged and ready to return to work with more enthusiasm. Make sure they know that you encourage them to take advantage of vacation time.

These strategies will help you to create a better work environment, with employees who are happier and more efficient. Want to learn more? Visit our Resources page to find websites, books, and journal articles that will provide you with more information.