By Ernest Nutsugah
Accra, June 28, GNA – Managers and employees are encouraged to pay attention to personal health and well-being as they strive to meet various demands at the workplace.
Failure to maintain a positive balance between professional tasks and other commitments outside of work, could be counterproductive, said Human Resource Expert, Iris Owusu-Manu.
In a presentation on the topic âAchieving Excellent Work-Life Balance in Competitive Business Environmentâ, she charged employers to explore options to effectively âtake care of the well-being of employeesâ and address âworkplace burnoutâ.
âFlexible work is linked to high productivityâŠNo matter the policies and principles you [employers] put in place, employees, at any point in time, will think that you are not doing enough for themâŠSo as managers and leaders, we need to start thinking about other activities to let people [employers] know that we care about their wellbeing,â she said.
With competition at the workplace, Mrs Owusu-Manu observed that some employees tended to âchallenge themselves so muchâ to the detriment of their physical or emotional well-being.
She said managers should occasionally find out issues âweighing downâ employees as âconflicting demandsâ at the workplace and home could cause stress and affect productivity.
The HR practitioner at Telecel Ghana urged employees to âcheck themselvesâ when experiencing signs of work stress, such as lack of energy, loss of interest in activities, and difficulty in concentrating on tasks.
Mrs Owusu-Manu advised superiors to create a âsupportive environmentâ for employees, highlighting lack of resources at work, inadequate training, poor time management, and unclear expectations from job performance, as factors likely to cause work stress.
Underlining the importance of good work-life balance, she said managers should âset clear expectations, apply effective communication, and establish transparent growth and success criteriaâ to ensure employees were aligned with company objectives.
âWe must make everybody feel part of the team when it [the company] is successfulâŠWe need to monitor and address the minor issues that happen at the workplace because it may pile up and affect productivity,â she noted.
Mr Carlis Arko, Country Director, Horizons Offices, conveners of the forum, stressed the benefit of employee well-being to business productivity.
He said the company, which provides furnished and serviced office spaces, would continue to maintain âan excellent working environment while providing world-classâ services to clients.
âWe are always consumed in our working environment whilst we pay little attention to our healthâŠWe need a healthy workforce to be in business. Without a healthy workforce we cannot offer our services to our business partners,â he noted.
GNA