You would think that the current tough financial times means that people are willing to work harder given there are less jobs. However several recent surveys have indicated that in these tough financial times people are putting a greater priority on family time. A recent survey in America highlighted that 86% of full-time workers plan to find a better balance between work and their personal lives.

Interestingly, it was the younger workers who were more likely to believe that having a good worklife balance is a priority.

While they are all good intentions, it is obviously a difficult goal to achieve. Most organisations are pushing their staff to work longer hours and meet more deadlines, especially as the economy starts to slow. Long gone are the standard eight-hour workdays. Now we have much longer days at work coupled with taking work home, checking our e-mails at home, and being contactable anywhere anytime on our mobile phones.

While this may result in us getting through a high-volume work, it may have some dire personal consequences and additionally it may not even be what is best to the employer. Long work hours are fatiguing and put the employees health at risk, as well as reducing the time they spend with their family. This means they are less likely to continue living this lifestyle and may ultimately leave the organisation for a position elsewhere that allows them to more evenly prioritise their life.

So my advice is to assist your staff to maintain their health, work life balance and family time. A workplace health and wellness program is an ideal way of assisting your employees during these tough economic times. Not only will it assist them, but it will also assist you.