Work-life balance
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a time management method was developed in Anglo-Saxon countries to counteract professional burnout and workaholism. It was noted at the time that employees who worked longer were not more productive at all. On the contrary, their level of commitment and creativity declined as they were more tired. These observations led to a decision to limit the number of working hours. At that time, the idea of separating professional and private life came up, too.
Over time, it has become clear that it is not so easy to separate these two worlds. Whether we want it or not, our work intertwines with our private lives. At work, we do not stop thinking about the fact that, for example, we have a sick child and need to leave early to make it to a doctor's appointment. In the evening, we sometimes arrange various solutions to business matters or analyse past ones in our heads. The intermingling of work and private life is even more apparent in the world of mobile technologies. Constant access to social media or our work e-mail means that we are never completely in or completely out of work. And we need work-life balance tools just in order to find balance, to act effectively and efficiently and to be motivated.
WLB tools in the civil service
We have prepared an overview of selected WLB tools. The description of each solution includes, e.g., practical examples and a list of selected tools (descriptions of individual tools are available in Polish only)
• Taking care of employees’ mental well-being
• Holiday allowance
• Activities promoting healthy lifestyles
• Individual working time schedule
• Organisational culture
• Possibility of coming to work with a child
• Platform for internal communication and information exchange between employees
• Room for a parent with a child
• Remote work
• Implementation of employee initiatives
• Bike parking space
• Developing a reading culture
• Flexible working hours
• Staff canteen, staff room
• Management system for the Company Social Benefit Fund
• Employee volunteering
• Pet at work