It is common knowledge: happy employees perform better than unhappy ones. But success does not necessarily make people happier. So what does? According to many studies, the answer is the magical phrase: “work-life balance”. The challenge here is twofold for both employees and employers. Firstly, how to make more money and still maintain healthy work-life balance, have family time, to relax and have fun. Is it possible to have it all? Secondly, how can employers make their employees happy and retain them?

Interestingly, some consider the “work-life balance” phrase a cliche that does not exist because work and life are not “separate entities”. Instead, they suggest to rename it to “work-life fit”, “integration”, “interface”, or work-life sway”. Some days this balancing act might work, some not. It is a constant challenge and a work in progress. “Work-life balance” is important for both males and females. However, gender sometimes does not matter. In some families, in the end it comes down to who takes home more money and what makes more sense.

Tips For Employees: Set Boundaries And Stay Positive

Make clear distinction between family and company time. If you set clear boundaries for your availability, others will eventually respect that. Do not constantly answer emails on weekends, nights or vacations. Occasionally that may be the case, but do not make that a rule. Although it is hard to maintain this consistently, it will pay off eventually, gaining more time with your family. When you are not working, stop thinking about work. Relax, especially after a rough day.

Employers: How To Retain Happy Employees

Companies have to work hard to retain talented employees. It is hard enough to find a perfect candidate with soft and hard skills, experience, and education. But it pays off to pick the right candidates and keep them happy, because “the cost of losing a potential candidate is far less to your company’s success than the cost of a bad hire”, according to Adecco’s Best-in-Class Workforce Management Insights report. How to achieve that?

According to this report, the most compelling thing an employer can offer is happiness. They asked more than 500 C-Suite executives about the most and least effective workforce management efforts. The executives stated that keeping employees happy is achieved through a positive work environment and culture, engagement, productivity and loyalty.

Top Reasons To Stay Or Leave

Top 5 reasons to stay with a good employer, according to female millennials:

  • opportunities for career progression
  • competitive wages
  • flexible working arrangements
  • good benefits packages
  • and training and development programs.

Top reasons to leave employment are:

  • not enough opportunities for career progression
  • low salary
  • the work is not interesting or meaningful
  • not enough opportunities for learning or development.