I came across this interesting piece from Fast Company this morning, which includes an interview with an extremely successful business executive. The reason I found it so interesting was her reference to how firstly, she doesn’t believe in the concept of work-life balance and secondly, how she describes her own technique for establishing boundaries... read more →
Oct
03
Jan
08
By Dr. Richard A. MacKinnon There has been lots of press attention on a major European corporation’s announcement that email access will be turned off at night, to improve employees’ work-life balance. On the face of it, this is a positive, employee-centric move by a major business. But as usual... read more →
Dec
17
A humorous perspective on home-working from Lifehacker. It’s true however that a move from being office-based to spending more, or all, of your working time at home can be difficult for the person you share your home with. When you start working from home you have to prepare those around you... read more →
Nov
27
I enjoyed this piece by Douglas LaBier in the Huffington Post. He looks at how dissatisfaction with work and an imbalance between work demands and our personal lives impacts both the individual employee, but also the wider organisation. He argues for a change in what organisations actually focus on and the need for sustainability... read more →
Sep
24
Several press articles over the past few months have highlighted the potential for increased flexible working arrangements for employees impacted by the upcoming London 2012 Olympics. Politicians, local and national, have suggested that employers should give additional flexibility to their employees who commute in and out of London. Unfortunately, this... read more →
Aug
25
While few people would still argue that childcare is the only consideration when examining employees’ work-life balance, having a baby obviously has a major impact on any individual and their experience of the interface between work and home. One issue with the life change that parenthood brings is that of maternity leave. This... read more →
May
29
I’m grateful to have been invited to present at an exciting event in London next month. I’m speaking at the Division of Occupational Psychology’s Work-Life Balance One Day Event. It takes place in London on June 10th and you can book a place via the event’s website. The focus of the presentations... read more →
May
28
By Dr. Richard A. MacKinnon I’m going to preface this entire post by saying that I probably fall into the category of ‘digital junkie’ - I never go anywhere without my iPhone or iPad and seem to be constantly connected to email or some social network. I actually found myself... read more →
May
27
By Dr. Richard A. MacKinnon Prof. Cary Cooper recently wrote an article for CNN which suggested that Americans could learn from Europe when it comes to work-life balance. While it’s an interesting piece, the online comments are most illuminating. Two things strike me about this article. Firstly, American readers don’t like being compared... read more →
May
24
By Dr. Richard A. MacKinnon Wendy Casper and colleagues wrote an interesting article in 2007 that I recently re-read. They highlight the need for a single-friendly culture in organisations - that is, whereby the culture doesn’t make single employees feel unwelcome or somehow excluded from the work-life balance debate. The... read more →