Work/Life Harmony, rather than balance

Work/ life balance as we know it at present isn't working, because it's based on conflicting demands of employer and employee for a share of the 24/7 day. There simply isn't enough time to achieve everything - and its getting worse.

Work is just one of many roles that people perform in their 24/7 week. No matter where they are or what they are doing, day or night, people are carrying personal baggage and work responsibilities. Separation of work and personal life roles has become a blur and, to many of us, almost a seamless link. Family-friendly policies are now only one aspect of the work life balance issue.

Work Life Harmony

• is replacing work life balance in the battle for a competitive edge in the market place, where business wants to be recognized as an employer of choice, that:
  • attracts and keeps good staff in the face of skilled staff shortages and an ageing workforce
  • creates a workplace culture that maximises income and minimises human resource costs
  • improves productivity, commitment, teamwork and communication (vertical and lateral)
  • enjoys having happier staff who attract and keep satisfied customers
  • has an effective stress management program

The individual wants

• a harmonious mix of work and personal life interests/responsibilities

The employer wants

• harmony between the personal goals/desires of individual employees and the corporate goals of the business

Globally, business is in a quandary. The world of economics still sees work as the centre of life, but workers see work as only one part of life. Because workers' goals are wider than just the money, business has to find ways of harmonising the demands of work with the personal goals of its workers.

Work life balance has been based on the "time poor" concept of time management, trying to fit increasingly conflicting work and personal demands into an inflexible 24/7 existence. Our Work life harmony workshop and strategies focus on energy management - the yin and yang of "energy in, energy out" and the concept of "complementary opposite" work/personal interests that mutually sustain and support the other.

People create their own vibrancy, i.e, feeling healthy physically, emotionally and spiritually. Vibrant interests can be physical, intellectual/mental, social, manual, environmental, or spiritual. The workshop focuses on ensuring that each person is building energy-generating interests into a busy lifestyle.

Our limit of 15 persons per workshop helps to unlock each participant's potential in a mutually-supportive group environment. Each person learns how to (re) discover and build into their work and personal life natural interests that

• express personal uniqueness
• release new energy to cope with daily living
• stimulate creative, innovative, lateral thinking
• generate renewed enthusiasm and optimism
• create an empowering ripple effect through all aspects of life, including work
• lift self-esteem, self-confidence, self-belief and a sense of self worth.

THE NEXT STEPS

• You can strengthen staff/management relationships by giving your staff the opportunity to experience one of our Work/Life Harmony Workshops. This can be done by allowing staff to take part in either
  • one of our regular workshops catering for corporate and individual needs, or
  • an internal workshop program designed to suit your organisation's unique needs
• These open the way to developing a corporate strategy to strengthen work life harmony in your unique workplace culture ("the way we do things here").