Ask the experts: tips for employers who wish to improve employee retention through better work/life balance

Employee burnout is on the rise. According to a study by Indeed, over half (52%) of survey respondents are experiencing burnout in 2021—up from the 43% who said the same in Indeed’s pre-Covid-19 survey. Employee burnout has begun to equally affect the employer. Losing an employee to burnout is costly and it can become a major strain on the other employees as they are forced to pick up the workload. This fatigue is seemingly a reflection of workers’ struggle to find work-life balance during the pandemic. What 3 tips do you have for employers who wish to improve employee retention through better work/life balance?

At College Recruiter, we recently asked our Content Expert Board that same question. Here are three tips from Joanne Meehl, a career and job search strategist.

1. Provide child daycare

I’m seeing, on neighborhood-focused social media groups, stories of candidates landing great jobs but then are unable to accept the job offer because of a lack of child care. Employers would be smart to take that load off the minds of employees by providing on-site child day care OR reimbursement “credit” to the employee so that their whole salary doesn’t go to paying for day care. You’d be able to take on many more younger candidates by doing this. If the company has a vaccines-required policy, it would apply to the parents of the children in their day care center, appealing to many. Offering this option — or even a similar one for older employees who have elderly parents who need day care — would help the work-life balance picture immeasurably.

If you’re a company leader who thinks this is beyond the scope of your employment “contract” with your people, your thinking is out of date. Companies that provide this option increase the value of their company in the marketplace because everyone wants to work there!

2. Have an on-site medical clinic

Companies did this years ago because it meant their worker would be back on the job sooner, not waiting in an Emergency Room with its higher cost (and of course, it helps the employee with a minor medical issue). You see companies offering take-out dinners, on-site dry cleaning or laundering (drop off/pick up), and other services for employees. Why? Because it means that employee is likely to be at their desk if these things are taken care of. This should include a medical clinic for minor injuries or a sudden need to refill a prescription. This saves the employee time and the aggravation of making several stops on the way home, when they’d rather spend that time with their families. You could even provide pandemic booster shots to the employee’s whole family, taking that chore off their minds as well — and making them very thankful they work for you.

3. Assign “coaches” to employees

Especially those right out of college. This would be someone more senior to them, someone not in the “chain of command”, someone who’s seen it all, and who can be to some extent a confidant/e to the employee, someone who can urge them to try new things, who can interpret the company culture, and who can suggest solutions when the work seems to be too much. Many companies instead adopt an unofficial sink-or-swim policy. Or they say “talk to your manager” if an issue arises — but what do you do if your manager is part of the problem, and doesn’t offer helpful suggestions? Having this neutral “guide”, at least earlier in one’s career, will help prevent fatigue or reduce it.

–Joanne Meehl is a CAREER and JOB SEARCH Strategist. The Resume Queen® – 𝑨 𝒍𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖! Helping new grads (and older folk) land your next, BEST role, faster. A real coach/partner who gets you to focus, see your value, communicate who you ARE so that you get that choice #job. Former hiring manager, college career center director.
“Each of you – regardless of color, gender, background – presents a unique set of talents and successes. My purpose is to help you get hiring managers to SEE those talents and successes.”