These days, for companies looking to compete, attracting top talent means allowing workers to strike a fair balance between their efforts in the office and the management the rest of their lives.
And work-life balance has never been more accessible, with flexible schedule, perks like childcare subsidies and the ability to work remotely that technology provides.
To find some examples of companies that are allowing their people to efficiently and enjoyably juggle their professional lives and everything else, we looked to a list of companies whose employees rate them highly in the category, compiled by Indeed.com, a massive online job search platform with over 10 million company reviews. For a look at Indeed’s Top-10, check out or slideshow below.
How did Indeed put together its roster of best work-life balance companies? According to Paul Wolfe, SVP of HR for Indeed, the company calculated the weighted average work-life balance ratings average for the 1,000 companies with most ratings between April 2015 and March 2017. “Work/life balance is one of the five options we give for reviewers to rank a company,” he told FORBES via email. “Additionally, users describe their experience with a company's work/life balance within their written reviews.”
The top three firms on the list are, in order, tax prep company H&R Block, mortgage lender Network Capital Funding Corporation and, in third place, fast-casual restaurant chain In-N-Out Burger. Other companies that rated highly include Nike, Kaiser Permanente and Chick-Fil-A, to name just a few.
Wolfe says that the industry diversity on the Indeed list indicates that work life balance is achievable in many professional focuses and it’s just comes down to employers making an effort to meet their employees’ needs. “Companies who are empathetic and proactively work to provide the appropriate personal time for employees tend to stand out,” he explained. “One way to achieve this is to empower managers to approve flexibility for their employees to provide a sense of community. Comments we have seen from employee reviews for these companies indicate ‘fair’ and ‘flexible’ work environments. Bottom line is that there isn’t a one size fits all solution to offering balance to employees, but it is possible regardless of how your company is structured.”
Though a healthy work-life balance is becoming essential in the professional workplace, there are risks that things could go too far. “In today's tight labor market, proper work/life balance practices are essential for employee retention,” Wolfe says. “We see technology allowing team members to work anywhere at any time for more flexible working schedules. However, this can quickly blur the lines between work and personal time and create a sense of pressure to always be available. To avoid employee burnout, managers should instill a sense of boundaries with appropriate timing. For example, avoid emailing employees while they are on vacation.”
