All work and no life leads to burnout and high turnover. After studying work-life balance for over 20 years, I've seen firsthand how critical it is to employee wellbeing, corporate stability, and business results. But what does balance really mean, and how does it impact turnover?
Work-life balance is about creating sustainable lifestyle rhythms, not just preventing burnout. It's employees having time for family, hobbies, and rest without compromising performance. And it’s about leaders modeling healthy boundaries first.
Contrary to popular belief, balance actually boosts productivity.
Overworked, exhausted employees burn out and make mistakes. But well-rested teams with full lives outside of work come back energized and focused.
Balance also supports physical and mental health. People need recovery from cognitive heavy-lifting. Time for exercise, relationships and fun recharges the brain. Tired, chronically stressed employees disengage and ultimately quit.
In today's tight labor market, leaders must enable balance to retain top talent.
Rigid environments where employees compete in a "first in, last out" culture drive turnover. People now seek workplaces aligned with their values and lifestyles.
The companies thriving today motivate with inspiration, not fear. They value deliverables over face time, judge performance on results, and respect employees’ personal lives. Workers give their best in return.
By building cultures where balance isn't a buzzword but a daily reality, organizations gain that competitive edge. Their people don't just work hard - they work happy. If you treat employees right, they'll treat you right. That's the payoff of balance done well.
Proven ways to promote work-life balance include:
- Discourage after hours and weekend work
- Model work-life balance in your and other leaders’ behavior
- Track vacation days taken, not to penalize attendance, but to encourage and ensure time off. Have HR follow up with employees who ignore time off allowances.
- Use performance reviews to proactively discuss balance and how each employee can specifically incorporate it into their work. Make it a criteria they are appraised on and it will make a difference!
- Monitor workload and reassign work when trends show too heavy a load
- Respect boundaries around personal time. Don’t be a part of the problem for your employees
Promoting balance provides permission for employees to set boundaries. Leaders should hold themselves accountable first. You cannot pour from an empty cup. Employees need recovery time to sustain excellence.
Work-Life Balance: What Really Works
In many cases over the years, I have seen well-intentioned but ineffective lip service to work/life balance. Some initiatives though can truly transform an organization's culture and improve employee well-being. Based on my own experience and real-world examples, let’s go through some of the most innovative and impactful policies I've encountered. Here are some important considerations for implementing each of these work-life balance policies effectively:
Flexible Work Arrangements
The ability to work remotely or have flexible hours (even post-pandemic) remains one of the most powerful work-life balance perk. Companies that allow employees to design their own schedules and work from home as needed see major boosts in engagement and retention. Take Akami Technologies - their "work from anywhere" policy has been hugely popular, increasing productivity while allowing parents, caregivers, and others to better integrate work with life demands.
Look beyond the work-from-home arrangement and think creatively. Job sharing can turn two part-time workers into a powerhouse fulltime contribution. Play with work-week structures.
How It Can Fail:
- Micromanaging workers' daily schedules and locations
- Lacking the infrastructure and culture for effective virtual work
- Judging productivity solely by "face time" in the office
- Allowing miscommunication or lack of team cohesion
How to Do It Right:
- Establish clear core working hours for collaboration, but otherwise enable flexibility
- Provide appropriate technology, security, and tools for remote work
- Train managers on effective management of remote employees
- Have team norms around communication and availability when remote
"Communicate consistently that output matters more than face time."
Pro-Tip: Consider appointing remote work ambassadors - super-users who can mentor colleagues and help establish remote-work best practices.
Paid Parental Leave
Generous gender-neutral paid parental leave signals that an employer truly values families. The viral parental leave policy at Etsy provides 26 weeks fully paid time off to bond with a new child. Patagonia offers 16 weeks at 100% pay, recognizing this critical life transition. Parents at these companies report much less stress and burnout.
How It Can Fail:
- Outdated policies with limited time off or unfair gender rules
- Paying only partial salaries, undermining the intended support
- Making parents feel they have to return to work too quickly
- Allowing biases against those who take extended parental leave
How to Do It Right:
- Provide gender-neutral leave policies for all new parents
- Offer significant time off at full pay to reduce mental and financial stress
- Guarantee roles for those returning, with a supportive ramp-up period
- Promote and celebrate employees taking this important life opportunity
Pro-Tip: Develop a detailed parental leave toolkit with FAQs, checklists, and guidance to ensure a smooth transition both ways.
Fertility Benefits
A growing number of companies like Starbucks and Microsoft are offering benefits like egg freezing, IVF treatment coverage, and fertility coaching. This supports employees looking to have children while advancing their careers - preventing difficult tradeoffs.
How It Can Fail:
- Offering limited or inadequate coverage that still leaves high out-of-pocket costs
- Lacking educational resources, leaving employees to navigate it alone
- Making the benefits difficult to access or claim
- Allowing insensitive comments that make employees uncomfortable using the benefits
How to Do It Right:
- Offer comprehensive coverage for IVF, egg freezing, fertility drugs, and other treatments
- Provide fertility coaching/education as part of the benefits package
- Ensure the benefits apply equally to all employees regardless of marital/relationship status
- Promote the benefits openly to destigmatize using them
Pro-Tip: In addition to medical benefits, consider offering services like fertility mentorship programs or subscription discounts to fertility apps.
Relaxed Vacation Policies
Traditional vacation policies are being flipped on their head. Software company Ibotta has "unlimited" paid time off with no tracked days. Meanwhile, LinkedIn forces employees to take at least two weeks consecutive vacation per year. Such policies trust employees while prioritizing mental health breaks.
How It Can Fail:
- Having managers that still frown upon extended vacations
- Making employees feel guilty or worried about being away
- Piling on work before/after vacations, negating the break
- Allowing work emergencies to frequently disrupt time off
How to Do It Right:
- Truly encourage people to use their allotted vacation days without questioning
- Have leaders model good behavior by taking real vacations themselves
- Consider "use it or lose it" type policies to prevent endless accruals
- Provide ample notice and support for managers to plan around vacations
Pro-Tip: Implement required minimums, not just maximums. For example, LinkedIn's policy of taking at least 2 consecutive weeks off.
Sabbaticals and Ramps
Surprisingly, giving employees extended time completely off can pay huge dividends. McDonald's offers a rare 6-month paid sabbatical every 10 years. More common are "ramps" like Deloitte's, allowing new parents to temporarily work part-time schedules. These creative policies prevent burnout while showing immense goodwill.
How It Can Fail:
- Making it unclear who qualifies or how to take advantage of the policy
- Not allocating sufficient resources to handle the work redistribution
- Allowing managers to discourage or deny requests without just cause
- Stigmatizing those who use it, signaling it may hurt their career
How to Do It Right:
- Clearly define eligibility requirements and application processes – Publicize the benefit!
- Have a plan to cover the workload while the employee is on leave
- Offer the sabbatical/ramp as a guaranteed benefit, not something that is at management's discretion
- Communicate it widely as a valued perk, not an accommodation
Pro-Tip: Develop and follow a comprehensive operations plan for how work will be redistributed when someone goes on sabbatical or ramps down. This encourages utilization while preventing the overburdening of co-workers.
Of course, work-life balance is more than just policies - it requires a true cultural shift to overcome hustle mentalities ingrained in many workplaces. But forging ahead with innovative, trust-based initiatives like these can give companies a powerful competitive edge in attracting and retaining top talent.
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Joseph Campagna, SPHR, SHRM-SCP is president and owner of My Virtual HR Director, a human resources outsourcing company serving small and medium sized businesses nationwide. My Virtual HR Director provides an executive level HR advisor to companies that can’t afford or can’t justify hiring a fulltime HR professional on staff.
With twenty years of experience dedicated to the HR profession, Mr. Campagna has honed his skills as an expert in compliance, talent management and employee relations. Bringing human capital management experience from start-ups, IT and biotechnology companies, employee leasing, and fortune 100 behemoths Mr. Campagna has filled his tool belt through generalist work, executive positions, and consulting opportunities with companies such as ADP, Merrill Lynch, and Johnson & Johnson. As Vice President of HR for biotech company Hemo Concepts, as well as the head of HR for the global IT solutions company, the Galaxy Group, Mr. Campagna created rich and successful organizational development and employee engagement programs.
Having worked with a diverse group of companies and clients in a broad spectrum of industries and environments, he brings a unique HR philosophy to every organization he works with. “HR is not the picnic department,” he says “but instead bears the full responsibility and the unlimited potential for a highly productive and efficient workforce. If HR systems are successful, the organization’s revenue should be increased.” From mergers and acquisitions, to IPO’s, to new product development, to divestiture Mr. Campagna has a true business background to support his HR Architecture.
Mr. Campagna is certified as a senior professional through both the Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI) and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). The HRCI designation of Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) is an experienced-based examination certification. The SHRM certification is a competency based examination certification. Each is a premier designation in the world of HR and recognized by the Society for Human Resource Management of which Joe is a national member and former chapter president.
Mr. Campagna brings decades of helping small and medium sized businesses create HR structures such as employee handbooks, performance systems, talent management, training programs, and employee engagement. He knows how to deliver business results through HR aligned objectives.
Nearly 30 years of expertise and HR executive authority combined with a group health insurance license and certifications from the Society for Human Resource management and the Human Resources Certification Institute have given Joseph Campagna the guru status that has earned him leadership roles, board of director roles, and speaking engagements related to human resources.