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 as a defining factor in decision-making.
For me, a lack of sustainability characterises many of the work-life balance problems experienced by employees and their organisations. A focus on short-term targets pushes people into unsustainable working patterns, which ultimately impact their ability to contribute meaningfully. This benefits nobody.
I particularly like this quote from LaBier:
In brief, it’s that management practices, the workplace relationships that result from them, and the overall business model is stuck within a 20th century mindset and worldview. And that’s dysfunctional in today’s world of chaos, interdependency, and transparency. Today, collaboration and openness are essential for generating and sustaining success, both in work and in life outside of work.
The new world environment includes clear shifts in what people look for and want from their careers; and from the organizations to which they’ll commit their creative energies. These new realities are pushing companies to transform how they do business and how they treat people working within them. The push is towards supporting new learning, creative innovation, and long-term vision that promotes sustainability as well as contributes to greater well-being via the product or service.
