Modern workplaces place a great deal of emphasis on productivity. Organizations’ expectations from their employees are ever increasing. Such a competitive scenario is a breeding ground for employee burnout as employee job satisfaction gets adversely impacted. Employees experiencing burnout seek work-life balance with a degree of desperation.
The commonly understood meaning of work-life balance, however, needs a new way of looking at it. Work and life are not separate and distinct spheres in one’s life. One’s work is a part , in fact, a very important part, and parcel of their life. So the work-life balance that everybody craves should really be considered as a balance between work life and personal life outside work.
Work is something that one does to earn a living, yes, but just because of this fact, it should not be considered dull and boring and something that needs to be endured. Burnout experienced by people is more often than not directly proportional to their feeling of being stuck in jobs that are uninspiring, dull and boring. They start feeling that they have no work-life balance.
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So what are the factors affecting work-life balance? Plenty it appears. People when stuck in jobs they do not enjoy, experience severe erosion of employee job satisfaction, for one. Secondly, it matters a lot how one’s work day goes starting with the daily commute. A bad commute can impact one’s work day in a negative way bringing down work satisfaction. Longer commutes are not necessarily the only culprit, shorter commutes can also be extremely stressful. Bad roads, traffic nightmares, flooding and poor road management all can make one’s daily commute horrible and affect work.
For greater employee job satisfaction, one has to pay attention to these factors at the time of opting for a particular job. Critical factors that need to be kept in mind when looking for a suitable job, should be the daily work, daily commute and whether the scope of work is appealing. Focusing only on high remuneration, leads to mistakes in choosing the most suitable work. Work that is suitable and enjoyable, gives greater job satisfaction. In such a situation the need for any kind of work-life balance actually becomes redundant because the work is seen as pleasurable and it enhances one’s life experience in any case.
Most jobs, even if well suited and enjoyable in the beginning, tend to become routine and boring over a long period of time, especially if they involve long hours of work. This requires to be addressed on a continuous basis in order to bring employee satisfaction levels up. For great employee job satisfaction, employees have to keep re-imagining their work and abilities. They must learn to do their job in a more interesting and creative manner. One must keep one’s thinking cap on at all times to find out ways in which their jobs can be done more efficiently and smartly by learning new skills. Smarter working can not only save time, it makes one’s job more interesting. Of course the spin-off is that the time saved can be utilized for doing things after work, leading to better work-life balance.
Encouraging and trusting bosses lend a helping hand to employees in making their jobs more satisfying for them. They help employees focus on doing their work in creative ways. Their employee satisfaction soar as they do not fear making mistakes, knowing their bosses are their safety nets. Such an environment for work is wonderful for great employee satisfaction without doubt.
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Even external factors like long and exhausting commutes can be made more tolerable by displaying a little ingenuity. Smartphones and headphones can be put to good use to make one’s commute more interesting. Commute time can be used to listen to good audio books or music or even answer emails. It can be turned into productive time. One can use this time to plan one’s work day or catch up with the news. Commutes have the potential of becoming interesting if one uses this time to socialize. A study conducted on train riders in 2014, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, the researchers found that initially the commuters indicated their preference for solitude during their train rides. However, when they participated in an experiment where commuters in one group rode in solitude and those in the other group were requested to connect with a fellow rider, they were surprised to find that those who connected with others had the most positive commuting experience.
Work satisfaction, therefore, needs to be worked upon constantly. It is not impossible to turn challenges into opportunities. With the right attitude and appropriate skills even a boring routine can be made more interesting.
References:
- The quality of your commute to work may be far more important than a high salary. T N Hari, 12th Jun 2019
- Your horrible commute is causing you to make even worse decisions at work. David Van Rooy, 19th April 2016
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