Work-life balance, “the great resignation”, and stress awareness are all trending terms in the post-pandemic world. But how exactly do they relate? In this article, we explore how the arculus people team encourages employees to set healthy work boundaries in order to avoid stress and increase talent retention.
The tech stress epidemic
While work-related stress turns into a more discussed topic, more and more employers have become active when it comes to establishing ways of fostering mental health. Still, a significant cause of the worldwide “stress epidemic” comes from work. A study conducted by Yerbo with 36,200 IT professionals across 33 counties found that two in five workers are at a high risk of burnout.
The result is evidenced in another report, published by HR software provider Personio: the top reason why employees choose to leave a small or medium company in Europe is a stressful work environment. “The pressure of working against the clock to feed the global tech frenzy often forces employees to work late hours, leaving little time for personal life and creating work-life conflicts,” say the Yerbo researchers.
What’s the role of work-life balance?
As a result, employees are also re-evaluating their careers, which is, in turn, causing them to rethink their current professional position. The same study by Personio revealed that 71% of the 5000 interviewees from seven European countries consider work-life balance as the most important factor when choosing an employer. As a comparison, salary ranked in third place, with a score of 68%.
How do we tackle the issue at arculus?
At arculus, we recognize that as an employer, it is our responsibility to help employees balance their work and home life. The result is employees that are more able to focus on their work and motivated to develop their careers, not to mention an increased loyalty and commitment to the company. And you don’t have to take our word for it: the acas guide on Flexible working and work-life balance emphasizes it, too.
In daily business, this translates to a few practical measures, which are reinforced as part of the arculus culture. First and foremost is the full flexibility in regards to work hours. Yannick, our Employee Experience Partner, explains that “we have such a purpose-driven mentality at arculus, that it’s easy for us to give people the space to take care of themselves while also being sure that they will reach their work goals”.
Another important aspect, however, is to assure that employees also find well-being inside the workplace, and not just in their personal lives. For that, we encourage our staff to organise themselves into sports clubs, while also providing them with the budget they need for these activities. “We currently have hiking, bouldering, cycling, and triathlon groups, not to mention the monthly exercise session organised by one of our team members”, he highlights.
“Once a month I offer to join me at the After-Work-Workout. Especially after a full day spent at the desk, it’s so incredibly good to move. And, of course, it’s even more fun together, both in person, at the office, or via video call with all the other arculus locations.”
Lisa, content creator and unofficial workout specialist at arculus
The practical results
“We definitely see these measures (positively) affecting the overall performance”, says the employee experience specialist. Assuring employees’ needs are fulfilled leads to higher motivation and, consequently, better results. “This is what makes the arculus culture”, he concludes.
The people team currently expects that the purpose-driven mindset combined with our flexible working policy will also allow for fully remote team members to join.
“We are currently working more on recruiting internationally, which, for now, still means relocation, for which we offer full support. But, in the future, we hope that it won’t matter where colleagues are located. If we want you to join the team, we will do everything in our power to make it work.”
Yannick, Employee Experience partner.