How well do you support your team’s work-life balance?
Work-life balance issues have become increasingly important in recent years – particularly since the pandemic. They are a big source of employee satisfaction and engagement.
Supervisors play a huge role in how well their teams navigate work-life balance issues. Following is a sampling of a survey developed by researchers that can give you an insight on how well you are doing. On a scale from 1 – 5, with 5 being a very positive YES, how do you think your team would rate you?
*My supervisor is willing to listen to my problems in juggling work and nonwork life
*My supervisor makes me feel comfortable talking with them about my conflicts between work and nonwork
*My supervisor is a good role model for work and nonwork balance
*My supervisor demonstrates effective behaviors in how to juggle work and nonwork balance
*My supervisor thinks about how the work in my department can be organized to jointly benefit employees and the company
*My supervisor asks for suggestions to make it easier for employees to balance work and nonwork demands
*My supervisor is creative in allocating job duties to help my department work better as a team
*My supervisor is able to manage the department as a whole team to enable everyone’s needs to be met
So how did you do? If you are unsure, perhaps you can actually give the survey to your team and ask someone else in your organization to calculate the results so it is anonymous.
The survey is designed to give you insight on how you can do better – which all of us can do. The more you support your team, the better they will perform. And you would hate to lose talented employees who feels that can’t achieve their work-life goals working with you.
*Survey questions taken from Hammer, L. B., Kosseck, E. E., et. al., “Development and validation of a multidimensional measure of family supervisor supportive behaviors (FSSB),” Journal of Management, 35, 837-856.
