All work, no play leads to low productivity

THE Holy Grail for most employees in the world of work is the equilibrium between work life and the life outside of work.

This equilibrium is what is referred to as work life balance. This is sought after by employees because they have many obligations that are outside of work.

These obligations may include family and other social obligations. At work you will have tasks, meetings, trainings, workshops and trips which have to be balanced with life outside work.

If there is no such balance, there is bound to be problems as there is a void created in the life of an employee. This void is referred to poor work life balance.

Poor in this context does not refer to financial depravity but rather from the French word Povre which means inadequate, weak and dispossessed. The employee will simply have inadequate freedom, feel weak to do their duties, and feel dispossessed of any control that they may have of their life.

It is worth noting that a person’s attitude is directly linked to productivity, thus if an employee feels they are not getting enough time for their personal issues, they might develop a negative attitude towards work.

This poor work life balance is mainly caused by increased responsibility, both at home and at work. If you have many responsibilities at home, such things require so much attention such that you will need time from work to properly take care of your children.

At the same time, you will need time to go to work and complete your tasks in a proper manner. If there is no balance, an employee will feel deprived of their time with family.

Increased responsibility at work might also mean long working hours and less time spent at home and by the time you get home, you will be exhausted, both mentally and physically. This might have a direct impact on your relationships outside work as there is no time to bond with family and friends.

Humans are social human beings and our culture emerged due to group living and socialising, thus if you take away the social relationships, it will be like taking away water from a fish. This will inevitably lead to its suffocation.

Depriving employees from adequate time outside of work is literary tempering with nature as the social fabric of society is torn apart.

The downside of having a poor work balance is that there is a high chance of getting depression as you will be less mindful at work as you think about life outside of work.

Whilst there is loss of concentration, the number of on the job injuries tend to increase.

Increased burn-outs will be prevalent as employees will become fatigued, both physically and mentally from too much work.

This fatigue may also lead to high absence and high turn-over as employees attend to their personal issues.

Poor work life balance also leads to negative impacts on relationships, be it family relationships, romantic relationships or friendships. A person might not have the time to fix their personal problems or time to see their loved ones as they will be busy with work.

All this leads to one road - which is the loss of productivity and effectiveness, which in turn will affect the profits of the organization. All this can be avoided if the work life balance is at equilibrium.

This issue of work life balance is very essential as the legislation also encourages employers to give employees time from work. The Labour Act talks about the provision of 90 days of fully paid sick leave (Chapter 14 Section 4a).

It also talks of annual vacation leave days which can accrue to 90 days (Chapter 14A), 12 days special leave days (Chapter14b).

Weekly rest and remuneration for working on holidays (Chapter 14c) is also crucial, while 98 days should be availed for maternity leave days (Chapter 18).

Chapter 6 and 7 looks at employees’ rights to fair labour practices.

Employers should create an environment that allows for a work life balance as the benefits outweigh that of a poor work life balance.