Hi, it’s Angelo G with Central Executive Search and today we’re going to talk a little bit about work life balance. It’s a Hot Topic and it’s been a hot topic for a while. It kind of all started with Tim Ferriss’ best-selling book “Four-Hour Workweek”, and it really picked up steam, and that gave him a lot of popularity and made him famous, and everyone started talking about more work-life balance as something that will help you know productivity as well as you know make a happier life for yourself. You can watch the following video:

As COVID came around we saw everything shift- from working in the office to working remotely- and that gave people a completely different perspective and gratitude for their lives and working from home. Then we saw that shift go back to the office recently, and even more recently, where companies are pulling people to come back to their office. It all makes sense if you look at the timeline.

Work life balance is a pretty hot topic and there’s a lot of people that are advocating for a four-day work week. Now, there’s actually some studies that are going on in the UK with participants who are working a four day work week. Some of the results of the study are that work-life balance has reduced stress levels and increased job satisfaction. The productivity has maintained and stayed about the same. There’s very little difference in productivity and so there’s some benefits here. It’s improving well-being, it’s improving the quality of life.

Let’s face it, we have one life and we do have to work to live; we do have to work to pay the bills. Working hard is an incredible attribute that does make sense for just about everyone because we have bills to pay but family is really important and our mental health is extremely important as well.

So this work-life balance topic is really come to the forefront recently, with the changes that we’ve seen, with covid, and with people burning out quickly, so there is some merit to this topic and I’m seeing it a lot in my practice, in my business as well where a lot of the younger generation when I call them it’s not really all about the job or the company . Sometimes it’s about, “does the company offer work-life balance? What does that look like? And can I work remotely more often?”

I’m hearing this a lot from younger professionals. I understand why, so you know as we’ve pushed through these changes, global changes and in our work life, I’ve seen more of this type of response from our candidates. I’m not really making a judgment on it. It’s just something to observe and I’m surprised that, well, I’m not seeing more of it but it’s increased steadily.

I think the main thing is, if the productivity stays the same, what’s wrong with the work-life balance or a four-day work week? It doesn’t seem like there’s much wrong with it at all. But that’s the key, is the productivity the same? If you have a better quality of life and your productivity is the same and you’re a self-starter, someone that can manage their own time well, pays attention to details, is well organized, knows how to manage their business, and work well then there’s nothing wrong with working less, as long as you’re able to help as many people or generate as much revenue or do your job as effectively.

So I think this is an interesting topic it’s something that we need to continue to explore because there are some benefits to it. I do think there’s some downsides as well, because if the productivity does not increase or stay the same, then companies suffer and I think we have to remember that companies aren’t just an idea; it’s a collective. It’s not a thought, that companies are something that is not us. Companies are a collective of people. It’s not outside of us when we work for a company, we are that company. We are one with that company because what we give to that company helps that company succeed or not succeed so the effort and energy we give is important.

If you can work a little bit less hours and still give the same effort and energy, and have as much productivity, there’s nothing wrong with a little bit more work-life balance in a four-day work week. But that’s the key, can you maintain the productivity? Are you being effective in your job? Are you making a difference and an impact? I think the why is important so when we’re looking at a good work-life balance for ourselves there’s nothing wrong with it if our companies are comfortable with it but I think there’s really nothing wrong with it if the productivity stays the same or increases because of that.

So that’s what we’re talking about here. Please give me your thoughts and comments on this below. You can like it, you can comment on it. I’d like to hear your opinion on it. There’s a lot of varying opinions and they’re all valid. It’s all worth noting, and I enjoy listening to people talk about these interesting topics, sometimes controversial, because every company and every person has a different idea of what that looks like and why. The different perspectives, well, they make the world go around and they’re quite interesting.