MAY 2019 COVER STORY
17
Research has found that over 90% of manufacturing
SME leaders are worried that their jobs are negatively
impacting their personal lives. What can be done to
redress the work-life balance?
BY CHRIS BECK
can boost performance by
maximising their staff. It
recently conducted its own
research and has discovered
what they have christened the
‘always-on con’ – employees
are addicted to their devices.
Three-quarters (74%) of
employees say they
use a work-related
app, such as
LinkedIn, on a
personal device
while at home,
and 36% feel
pressured to
check work emails
while at home. Even
while on holiday, 60%
admitted to checking workrelated
apps.
Lightfoot has a different
term for it – the downtime
obsession. “This is something
that particularly plagues
leaders and owners of
SMEs,” he explains. “On the
one hand, it’s healthy to be
committed and engaged with
your business; the problem
comes when it tips too far the
other way and you become
obsessed – a quick flick
through emails at 7.30pm on a
Sunday becomes hours spent
on them. If you’re not careful,
you end up spending so much
time working that you stop
enjoying your time at home.
Then, you start making poor
decisions in the workplace
STRIKING
A BALANCE
www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk
How often do you find yourself at home
on a Sunday evening, trying desperately
to ignore your phone flashing up with
another email? All too often, you give
in to temptation and pick it up, fire
off a few emails, maybe finish that
presentation you’ve been putting off and idly
scroll through LinkedIn.
It’s no secret that workers today
struggle to fully switch off from their
work. However, research conducted
by Ultimate Finance has found
that the problem is more severe
than previously thought. Added
to that, the manufacturing sector
is the worst for a work-life balance
in the UK. Those running SMEs in
the industry are particularly at risk, with
92% of them admitting they are worried that
their professional lives are negatively impacting
relationships with family and friends.
“Business leaders are finding it harder to
differentiate between work and non-work
environments,” says John Lightfoot, head of
relationship management at Ultimate Finance.
“This has a knock-on effect on performance at
work. Having a poor work-life balance is not
beneficial for either the employee or leader, or the
company as a whole.”
Should this be a surprise, though? Joyce
Maroney (pictured, above), executive director
at The Workforce Institute, says that the
proliferation of technology and changing work
patterns means today’s leaders can never switch
off. “The same advanced technology that has
fundamentally changed and, in many cases,
improved the way we work has also blurred the
lines between personal and professional lives,”
she explains.
A division of Kronos, The Workforce Institute
is a thinktank that explores ways companies
/www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk