Perfect balance

Perfect balance

The holiday season has almost come to an end, so you should be feeling relaxed and de-stressed after a week or two away; but recent statistics indicate otherwise, as Vesna Siljanovska reveals

This summer, the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) released its findings from the National Management Salary Survey and discovered that one in four executives fail to take a proper break and do not use their full holiday allocation. Similarly, the Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank carried out research amongst the UK’s small business owners and discovered entrepreneurs are taking less time off than they did three years ago and one in 10 has entirely sacrificed their holidays for their business. To make matters worse, nearly three quarters of entrepreneurs who do manage to take a break say they still keep in touch with the office while they are away and worry about their business while on holiday.

All work and no play
The reasons given for the lack of holidays being taken include fears of redundancy, pressure to deliver result,s and ‘belt tightening’ where employees prefer to exchange unused holiday for cash. And for the entrepreneur, nearly a fifth said that they cannot find appropriate cover and nearly half say that getting someone to cover for them is expensive.

Inevitably, stress levels will rise and, arguably, productivity can decrease as Steve Jennings, Director of Business Banking at Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank, comments: “It is understandable that business owners feel the need to be around 100 per cent of the time to keep their business on track, not only to ensure the success of their business but also to cut back on costs. However, it is important to have a break and by not taking time out business owners run the risk of being less efficient, which could cause more harm than good in the long-run.”

Ann McCraken, Chair of the International Stress Management Association, explains that stress is the outcome of pressure and pressure increases when people do not take breaks: “The expectations of people are very high as well, for example, if you’re not at your desk all of the time you are not committed.” The truth of the matter is “people are just not effective working 14 hour days; you need to take regular breaks.”

The desire to move away from the ‘all work and no play’ mentality can be seen in the numbers of people who want to run their own business, many of whom perceive being your own boss as a way of gaining better work-life balance. Linda Parker, Press and PR Manager of Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Clubs, says: “Many of our franchisees join the organisation to help them achieve the perfect work-life balance and have found it works perfectly for them! Some have young families and find the flexibility of running the franchise fits perfectly with looking after their children.”

Linda adds: “We encourage franchisees to take sufficient time out from running their businesses to allow them to spend quality time with their families. Franchisees run a minimum of 10 classes each week and these are normally held on four evenings a week, usually Monday to Thursday, as well as some day time classes.”

Steps toward a better balance
Ann recommends that any organisation with six or more employees does a risk assessment for stress: “They should be doing a risk assessment for stress looking at the six risk factors – this is the responsibility of the employer. If the risk factors are being exceeded then they need to look at how to reduce the pressures of people on any of these risk factors.”* However, the franchisee/employee also has a responsibility to present themselves in the work place fit and well so “they need to look after themselves”, adds Ann.

Your mental approach is also crucial for stepping towards a better work-life balance. The “habit of worry”, as Ann explains, is “a huge wind up for people; it is pointless and a very ineffective use of energy.” Overcoming this is about how you think: “If you see something as a problem then you’re likely to spiral down into negativity, but if you see it as a challenge then you will be more excited,” continues Ann.

The ability to prioritise is also a key step: “If you have a family and want to see them grow up and spend time with them, you need to be very clear that is a priority, otherwise you’ll become highly pressurised,” says Ann. It is important to be realistic about what you can achieve as well as managing other people’s expectations of what you can do.

A healthy work-life balance is essential, especially if you are experiencing high pressure at work. Whether you take your lunch hour, not check your emails at home or take a few days off, your mental approach and ability to prioritise will ensure you take your breaks and enjoy them and when you finally switch it off it means relax!

* To obtain further information visit the Health and Safety Executive website www.hse.gov.uk