SMART WORK & JOB-LIFE BALANCE

Working hard without working smart is working hardly. Promoting work-life balance of employees, promotes smart working.... Master Mentors

Successful companies recognise the rights of their employees to have a balance between the time spent at their work and the time they have to spend on other aspects of their life like family, hobbies, passions, recreation, religious pursuits, self care and a need for proper rest.
Leaders of great organizations like Infosys, Coco-cola have consistently been ambassadors of the employee's approach to achieving a work life balance.
In many family owned and not so professional companies, employees are judged by the number of hours an employee works as against his/her standard working hours. It is a taboo in a number of organizations to go home while the boss is still around in the office. This encourages a rat race among the employees to stay more hours than their colleagues to get better chance for increments and promotions.
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion -  Parkinson's law.
Great companies hold the employees responsible for their performance against goals as against the number of hours they work. While as a matter of discipline, employees are expected to stick to the work timings, standard number of hours at work etc., the performance of the employee in these hours spent on official work that counts. This encourages smart work and not just working hard. Quality and not Quantity is more important for success.
Some organizations frown at their employees when they are seen to be working over time and they treat this as a matter of inefficiency on the part of employees, rather than the urge on the part of the employee to contribute more.
Encouraging the employees to work within the boundaries of their work timings is a smart and successful habit by great organizations because:
i) Employees will stay focused on their job during their office hours leading to lesser distractions to others,
ii) Employees stay refreshed and energetic every day as too much of work may lead to burnouts and severe stress, having a bearing on the performance,
iii) Organization need not incur higher operating expenses to take care of electricity, food, maintenance expenses, safety while travelling by employees during late hours etc.
iv) Organizations can attract smart employees at competitive salaries if they are known to encourage employees to work smartly.
v) Avoid financial losses due to inefficiency creeping in because of stress at work.
vi) Employees get more support and encouragement from their families when they are taking care of their families and spending quality time with them. This will have a huge impact on their on the job productivity and job satisfaction.
Successful organizations take a number of steps to promote the work life balance of their employees:

a) Train their employees regularly to ensure efficiency at work that leads to higher productivity,
b) Encourage to go on family outings with their colleagues or on their own to stay refreshed,
c) Encourage employees to utilise their allocated leaves fully and discourage monetisation of the same,
d) Conduct periodic 'Work Environment Surveys' and link the performance of the managers to the results of the same by taking the scores arrived as an indicator of the hygiene in their respective departments,
e) Actively discourage taking their work home, unless the employee is expected to work from home
f) Have an active policy of compensating for extra work hours put in under emergency situations

In exceptional circumstances, organizations allow working beyond the the regular hours when it is must for the organizations to keep up with certain deadlines or commitments.For such bursts of excessive work, successful organizations have a special compensation policy in the form of compensatory off-hours and extra remuneration.
Successful Organizations that promote a hygienic work environment are respected by the community and the investors, earning them good will, as their employees become not only great ambassadors of their company, but also deliver consistently great performance.