The HRville guide to...

It doesn’t matter how much you love your job. If you have a life outside of it, you should be looking to attain a reasonable work-life balance.

It’s something that’s talked about a lot in HR and wider business, but it’s easy to forget how important it is at an individual level.

And like plenty of other ‘people issues’, this is especially true for HR professionals, who can be so focused on providing a work-life balance for their employees that they overlook their own.

Ask for it

Until the UK gets to grips with six-hour workdays, the easiest way to improve your work-life balance is to set up a flexible working arrangement.

Under employment law, from June all employees will have the right to request flexible working (previously it was only available to parents or carers). The only catch is that you need to have worked for your employer for more than 26 weeks.

Your employer has to deal with your application ‘in a reasonable manner’ and must let you know their decision within three months (or a longer period if agreed between you and them).

Put simply, if you ask for a flexible working arrangement your manager can’t simply shoo you away or conveniently ‘forget’ about your request. They also need to give you a reason if they deny it, and are only permitted to say no for a number of defined reasons.

So, that limits their chances of bombarding you with bull just to make you go away.

Also, the change in the law means there’ll be a lot more flexible working requests in future, which in turn means employers will generally have to come round to the idea of it even if it’s something they would prefer not to do.

State your case

Put together a business case detailing how any change to your working pattern won’t negatively impact your work. We’re not talking a formal, bound document here – just build a one- or two-page picture of what you do over a given time period, and point out what you can do without needing to be in the office during regular hours.

It’s not just about your output – how will you interact with your colleagues and managers, or how will you generally keep in touch with office stuff if you’re working in a different way? These might not seem like dealbreakers, but they’re all relevant factors in a managers’ decision-making process.

Think about how you can use other offices belonging to your employer or partner companies, or how you can use technology to work smarter.

Chances are, you’ll have your own devices that mean you don’t need to be chained to your desk for five days a week to carry out basic functions of your role. Your employer might not even need to invest in any technology for you to work more flexibly, which should makesthe decision even easier.

Point to successful examples

Fortunately, plenty of employers are aware of the benefits of flexible working. A survey by the Institute of Leadership and Management found 82% of managers believe flexible working helps their business by improving productivity. Many organisations also quote cost savings as a benefit.

Even if your employer is switched on to the idea, it won’t harm your case if you can point to places where it’s been a success. While you can use overarching data like that in the ILM report, also speak to peers in your sector to find out what their companies are doing and how they’ve benefited.

Be bold

Sometimes the responsibility for work-life balance lies with you rather than anybody else.

Whether you’re a 9-to-5er or not, your contract will define the hours you’re expected to work. Aside from a few exceptions – depending on your job – you should be able to stick to these. You can keep an eye on the time without being an inveterate clock-watcher, and even basic steps like getting out of the office at lunchtimes can ease the weight on your shoulders for a while.

Say no to extra work. You’re within your rights to push back against increased workload. We all know this can be difficult, but it’s pretty essential if snowballing work requires you to stay late or even worse, take work home with you.

Decide on what’s important. Does that voicemail need a call back? Does that email need to be replied to? Do you really need to be in that meeting? (Clue – the answer to all of these is very often No.) Don’t allow your time to be swallowed up by non-essential drains.

If you’re having trouble doing any of this, speak to your manager – there might be wider structural or workload issues that need to be resolved. In some cases, your manager might simply be unaware of how much you’re doing.

This also has the beneficial side effect of reminding your managers of just how much work you’re putting in – and that’s no bad thing.

Negotiate

Think about a trade-off. For example, if your boss can’t offer much of a salary increase this year (let’s not forget we’re still in comparatively straitened times), how about a compromise in which instead of a pay rise, you get an arrangement that helps your work-life balance?

Perhaps you could do reduced or compressed hours. Would a job-share be out of the question?

Speak to your manager about this trade-off option; you might be pleasantly surprised by their response.

And take a look at our article on changing your boss’s mind if you need some tips on negotiation.

About the author

John Eccleston

John is a writer and editor who has written about HR and recruitment, among other topics, for as long as he can remember. If he's not at his keyboard, you'll probably find him in the kitchen, at a pub quiz, or buying more trainers.