Alexandra Levits Water Cooler Wisdom Balancing Business Realities with Employee Well-Being

Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom Balancing Business Realities with Employee Well-Being Those who believe starting a business means fewer hours will probably find themselvesmistaken. In reality, small-business ownersmay besome of the hardest working people in the world, regardless of industry or sector. It can be especially difficult to sustain effective work-life balance when yourbusinessisgrowing and it feels as if there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. Additionally, when the pace of business has picked up substantially, youand your employees may be feeling the pinch. According to a 2015Ernst Youngstudy, a third offull-time employees in some of the world’s largest economies say maintaining good work-life balance has become more difficult in the last five years. Since a culture of good work-life balance can be established and encouraged from the top, I asked three small-business owners how they achieve work-life balance during growth periods and also how they model and promote healthy habits for their employees. Here are the insights William Bauer, managing director ofRoyce Leather Giftsin New Jersey, Rob Biederman, co-founder ofHourly Nerdin Boston, and Mike Mannon, president atWD Communicationsin Philadelphia, shared with us. During times when your business is growing like gangbusters and it seems you’ll never get everything accomplished, is work-life balance still a priority for you? Rob Biederman:Work-life balance is always difficult to maintain in hyper-growth mode. However, throughlong-term planning, I aim to maintain an average balance over the course of a year, even if there are certain weeks and months when work takes over a relatively unhealthy amount of time. I’ve tried to align my formal work breaks with periods of customer slownessâ€"typically, August and late December holidaysâ€"to maximize selling time as a percent of my working year, and to be most impactful in those interactions. William Bauer:Work-life balance always has to take priority. The more my employees and I feel as though our lives are out of balance, the more likely we willpay a physical and emotional priceâ€"and so will our business. Mike Mannon:In times of intense growth, work-life balance is a priority, but home life definitely takes a hit. I feel like Im better than I was at 30, or 40. When Im at home, I want to make sure that I look my kids in the eyes as theyre going off to school, try to give them a big hug and an I love you. Same for my wife! It helps me breathe better when I have to duck back in to start the cycle of calls and meetings and decisions. How do you model good work-life balance for your employeesâ€"meaning, how do you show them that as an owner, it’s possible to do a good job and still pay attention to other priorities? Bauer:Especially as mybusiness is growing, I find myselfimmersed in the day-to-day needs of the companyâ€"from finding and hiring talent to marketing the opportunities. It’s hard to break away even for an hour, much less for a vacation. However, I take all of my allotted three weeks of vacation time, and I encourage my employees to do the same. After a vacation, wecome back to work feeling refreshed and more productive. Mannon:I’ve personally stopped cell phone use at family meal times.Also, I take one week of vacation a year to a location with no cell service.The Blue Ridge Mountains are my respite. Biederman:The employees will only have work-life balance as healthy as the executives demonstrate. Consequently, it’s important for executives to spend some of their working time “secretly”â€"e.g., at home and not signed in to office communication software. This way, owners can get in all of their required working hours but without setting an “always on” example for the junior staff who will look to them for guidance. For more where this came from, head over to the AMEX Open Forum for the full piece.