The work-life blur: achieving balance for always-accessible employees.

AuthorSutherland, Spencer

Thanks to cell phones, video conferencing and remote access, most office jobs don't really need to be done in the office anymore. The ability to plug in anytime, anywhere, is a huge benefit for workers who are looking for a flexible schedule and the freedom to work how and where they want. But with that added flexibility comes some serious risks. When employees are always accessible, the lines between work life and personal life can easily get blurred, both for workers and their bosses. If not monitored closely, what starts as flexibility can quickly end up as burnout.

According to recent data from the nonprofit human resources association WorldatWork, this "always on" culture has resulted in Americans working longer hours, skipping breaks and lunches, and working more weekends. It's not surprising that more than half of all U.S. workers say they are feeling overwhelmed or burned out at work.

"We have an imbalance in work life currently," says Monica Whalen, president and CEO of Employers Council, a Utah company that provides HR and employment law support to the business community. "The concern from an HR perspective is retaining your talent and keeping them engaged."

Slow Burn

For most workers, burnout is a process rather than an event. "Sometimes employees can get burned out without even noticing that they're on the road to burnout," says Joe Staples, chief marketing officer at Lehi-based Workfront.

The company recently surveyed more than 2,000 adults about work/life balance. The data revealed that more than 50 percent of employees think technology has ruined family dinner because employers or clients can demand responses at any hour.

"Little things, like needing to respond to an email during family dinner time, might not feel like that big of a deal. But your spouse thinks it's a big deal and your kids are wondering why you're doing it. Little by little, that can lead to burnout," says Staples.

Workers are also dealing with much bigger interruptions than calls during dinner. "Fifty-one percent of [survey] respondents also said they'd missed a life event because of work. That's not a kid's soccer practice--it's an anniversary or a birthday or something fairly big," he says. "Those are the things that spark work/life imbalance. If those kinds of things are happening, you're not likely to end up in a good place."

Though some employers have a blatant disregard for workers' work/life balance, he says, most just don't think about the negative...

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