Public speaker, business mentor, and angel investor Mark Lyttleton provides pro bono and paid services to companies across a broad range of industrial sectors. In addition to offering financial and strategic support, Mr Lyttleton often provides entrepreneurs with personal advice on managing the pressures of running a business. You can learn more about the most common challenges faced by businesses by viewing the attached infographic.

As a certified Pranic Healer and experienced business coach, Mark Lyttleton is an advocate of businesses promoting a positive work-life balance. This article explores different ways that businesses can help staff to strike the right balance, exploring the benefits for both employees and the business.

The term ‘work-life balance’ is more than a buzz phrase. According to analysts, the millennial generation will account for 75% of the workforce by 2025. To make themselves more attractive to the next generation of workers, as well as increase retention of existing staff, many business leaders have revisited the issue of work-life balance.

Chronic stress is one of the most widespread health issues in workplaces today, triggering physical health problems such as digestive conditions, hypertension, chronic pain and heart problems, as well as negatively impacting mental health. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is an important part of any healthy working environment to reduce stress and help prevent worker burnout. To learn more about the impact of stress on UK businesses, please view the attached PDF.

Managing work and home life was challenging for many families even before the arrival of COVID-19. Now, there is even more pressure on employees to meet rising expectations, both at work and within the home. Against this backdrop, prioritising wellness and mental health has become more critical than ever for employees and employers alike.

Businesses can support staff by building a working culture that prioritises the following:

  • Trust: Increasing transparency, reducing ambiguity and providing employees with the information they need to appreciate how their work contributes to the company’s mission and goals.
  • Health: Nurturing the physical and mental health and wellbeing of all employees, setting boundaries to ensure employees do not feel they must be ‘always on’.
  • Flexibility: Recognising that a sustainable work-life equilibrium hinges on a healthy balance of give and take. Many forward-thinking organisations have invested in creating adaptable work environments, offering employees flexibility in terms of the hours and days they work. After all, provided staff work the required total number of hours each week, hitting targets and goals, does it really matter which hours they choose to work?

Discover how businesses actually benefit from showing employees increased flexibility by viewing the attached video.