HR’s Role in Work/Life Balancing Some people think of work-life balance as options for working from home or the freedom to do as one pleases. It is much more than that. “It is the opportunity to work and recharge at our own pace and with some flexibility in regards of what is meaningful (i.e. Kids and hobbies)" (Truitt, 2014). While it is ultimately up to the individual to make the appropriate changes in regards to work-life balance, it is an HR professional's role to help set the standards. One issue that human resources sometimes wrestle with is work-life balance, the distribution of employees’ time and energy between work and family, health, activities, and all of life's other non-work necessities. "Studies have shown that too much work can lead to a variety of stress-related illnesses that sap workers’ vitality, making them more prone to errors on the job, absenteeism, burnout and turnover" (Hakala, 2008). It is beneficial for companies to encourage employees to sustain healthy work-life balances. Below are some tips that companies can use to keep their work forces beneficial and productive: 1. Management support for work-life balance is crucial and it must come from higher up. Having the support of management can facilitate the coordination of technical and information in an organization so that you do not have to, and also people are more susceptible to following orders when those orders come from a more senior entity. 2. Surveys of employees can help a company understand workers' needs and design the proper policies to meet them. By obtaining different views and wants from the source can be a great way to discern if employees are happy and are seemingly able to balance work-home life. 3. Set clear priorities for
