Work-life balance the number one factor in retaining staff

New research shows that work-life balance is the key factor in attracting and retaining staff and is even more important than salary.

With unemployment in Australia at record lows and skills shortages creating a ‘war on talent’, employees are demanding the implementation of successful work-life balance strategies from their employers.

In his October 29 address to The Safety Conference, Sydney, Converge International CEO Dr Lindsay McMillan will explain how businesses can benefit from increased productivity and reduced turnover with the right work-life balance strategy.

Australians have the dubious honour of working the longest hours of any OECD country, with 20-25% working more than 50 hours each week. Yet recent Converge International research shows that 47% of workers rate work-life balance as very important and another 32% see it as important. An imbalance between work and life can result in declining quality of life, loss of community, erosion of relationships and resentment. Read more

Employees awarded their birthday off from work

How many times have you thought: wouldn’t it be great if I could have my birthday off? In what we hope will be a new precedent in Australia, employees at one association now have the privilege of celebrating their special day as they see fit.

As part of their commitment to acknowledging the importance of work-life balance, C&K human resources general manager Amber Simpson said a paid day off was the best present C&K could provide to their staff.

“We initiated this policy because we all know how nice it is not to have to work on your birthday. It’s a special day for an individual and this way they can spend the day doing whatever they like,” Ms Simpson said. “We want to show our staff we value them.”

One of the first staff members to take up the offer was C&K Kindercraft early childhood teacher Melissa McCabe (pictured above). Ms McCabe said this type of initiative helped create a positive work culture. Staff morale was especially important in the children’s services profession, she said.

“When you’re working with children you need to be upbeat and refreshed or else it affects your work performance, which ultimately affects the children. When we were first told about the initiative we were all very excited. It shows that C&K values its employees. It’s another positive incentive to encourage early childhood educators to join our team.”

Now the precedent has been set, the challenge is to have many more employers across Australia to follow C&K’s example by awarding their employees their birthday off from work.

AAP