By John Arenas | December 26, 2013

How to Achieve Better Work-Life Balance

Companies are benefitting from a recognition that health is not limited to fitness and nutrition.

Companies that fail to encourage a work life that promotes employees’ overall mental and emotional health – by offering, for example, flexible hours and the freedom to work from home — may be compromising productivity and workforce loyalty.

Most jobs are made up of many moving parts, those smaller tasks we must perform in order to meet the larger goal of our teams or  projects. And those tasks are only a part of what it means to feel satisfied on a day-to-day basis.

Satisfaction occurs when one feels like his or her needs are met. These include not only exercise, sleep, and time with family, but also downtime and leisure. We need to be able to run on a full tank. If we are running a constant race to find time for everything that we need in our lives — or begin to abandon those things — our mental health wears down and our happiness follows.

By making physical and mental health a priority, companies are not only saving dollars on healthcare, they are also saving on the time and costs of employee turnover. As it is, 48% of millennials say they conduct job search activities at work. All indications are that those organizations who make health a priority will end up with a greater retention rate and more loyalty among its workers.