Worklife balance, NO

Work/life balance, NO; life/work balance YES

There has been a great deal written and spoken about work/life balance in recent years . It was taking off in a big way as a trend just prior to this last recession . Parlous times buried it before it really kicked in. Good thing too, it was the wrong way around! By that I mean that to our employees (these people we say we want to engage and earn respect from) the ˜life' bit comes first and the ˜work' thing second. The reason we got it the wrong way around was that it was written from the corporate, not the individual's, perspective. It is imperative to realise that, if we are going to make this engagement thing successful, it begins with the employees ' lifestyles, and what they consider worth investing in. Stressing work as the starting point doesn't begin to get close to any kind of balance as far as individuals are concerned . Trying to sell a concept of work/life balance only disconnects the employee, imposing a concept that is not his or her reality or view of life.

Sensible managers I have discussed the work/life balance view with don't agree with it anyway. Most believe, and have told me, that if you hire smart people they will find, define and execute their own work/life balance equation whatever a company may feel to the contrary. My view is that the equation begins with each individual's lifestyle and that this governs all the workstyle issues. So, if there is any balance it is lifestyle/workstyle. If we make this the starting point we might just have some chance of engaging people who have an increasingly independent approach to life and work. True, there may be times in a person's life when the balance isn't there. Due to circumstances they are overworked and stressed. But rarely do these periods last for long. Today's employee knows how to make the choices that get their chosen lifestyle/workstyle back on track.

Within this context, flexibility at work means just that. Eight to four, nine to five doesn't work anymore. Well not all the time, at least. Virtually everyone I know has some kind of flexible schedule, to meet their lifestyle/workstyle needs. And it might not even be the lifestyle/workstyle they have chosen, but one forced on them by external circumstances. The big one is childcare. The arrival of a bouncing baby has the equivalent impact of an H-bomb on the average family. But if the employer values the employee, they can resolve the situation. Similarly, elder care ( especially with people living longer) is becoming a major issue. Again, with goodwill on both sides this can be worked out. With available technology employees in even the most sensitive jobs can work from home or another remote location.

The alternative is they quit and go work for someone who can provide the flexibility they need.

We have talked for years about empowering the employee. Guess what? They have empowered themselves . They are empowered and they have done it all on their own.

The commuting issue is a similar one. Main business centres (Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, London, Frankfurt, New York, Zurich and so on) are practically at gridlock status. Any sane employer who wants productive employees must see that one, two or three working days spent at home is a very wise alternative. Again, as employees formulate what they want, not what you want, they will make choices based on their own real-life ambitions. Whether that includes a future with your firm depends very much on your attitude. Your attitude to them fulfilling their lifestyle/workstyle scenario, which, remember, is unique to each person.

But one word of advice. Please, please, please make sure that in defining flexible work practices that you have a policy. Don't do ad hoc deals with employees. These breed resentment and accusations of favouritism. I have even seen protests in offices from single women saying that those that have children get better treatment ˜because they are allowed to work from home if the child is sick.' So make it a formal option, then everyone knows what the rules are. And remember there will always be those who want to be ˜in an office', if only for the social cohesion it brings to their lives. Which of course is yet another individual's lifestyle choice. Some years ago I wrote a book about telecommuting ^[3] and made the huge error in an early version of suggesting that remote working would be terrific for handicapped people, particularly those confined to wheelchairs, as it would allow them to do a normal day's work from home. Furious wheelchair users complained bitterly. The last thing - it emerged - they wanted to do was be stuck at home. They wanted to be in an office with other people for the buzz of social contact!

^[3] (1997) Teleworking in Brief . Butterworth Heinemann.