Vinayak Mahtani is the CEO and cofounder of bnbme Holiday Homes.
Work-life balance, I believe, is a myth. I think striving to find a balance between work and life can lead to compartmentalizing these two aspects of your life and suggests work and life cannot coexist. In today’s startup world, where founders have to match their pace with a constant increase in demands and changing environments, I believe work can not be bound to a number of hours.
As I see it, you can’t have the life you want without working, and there is no point in working if you cannot have the life you want. So, instead of placing work and personal life as rivals against each other, there can be a perfect union—a harmony—between the two.
Work-Life Balance: A Fad Of The Past
I am a non-believer of hourly projects or time-based work because, to me, that pays for inefficiency. For instance, if a vendor charges me by the hour, my instant reaction is to stop them because of one simple reason: Two people won’t run a race at the same speed. If one person is running at 10 kilometers per hour and another would do it at 12 kilometers per hour, for me as a buyer, why should I pay for inefficiency? Why should a super-efficient person suffer because someone else might take longer?
This perspective has informed how I view work-life balance. I’ve found that, often, when people talk about work-life balance, they involve rigid schedules like a 9-to-5 job and a 5-to-9 personal life, which is what I don’t believe in. That type of approach doesn’t always work for everybody.
Harmony: A Form Of Self-Care For Better Productivity
Happier workers have been found to have higher productivity rates. It’s as simple as that. Instead of work-life balance, I recommend leaders embrace “work-life harmony,” which can be achieved by letting your people execute their responsibilities how they deem fit.
You can’t expect someone to be productive at work if their mind is elsewhere. If an employee has a family lunch, their thoughts are likely to be there, so it’s better to let them attend it. Similarly, if you’re on vacation but need to join a critical virtual meeting, your mind will likely be preoccupied by that meeting. Peace of mind is crucial, whether at work or on vacation. I’ve found that allowing people to attend to these important moments enables them to return to work happier and more focused, which fosters a more harmonious and productive environment for everyone.
Work-Life Harmony In Practice
Leaders who want to embrace work-life harmony in their organizations should try to avoid questioning employees about where they are during the day. Instead, establish very clear key performance indicators so everybody knows what is expected out of them and what their priorities are.
At my company, for example, we don’t state in our employment contracts how many hours an employee has to work. What is important for us is their deliverables. For instance, if our sales team hits their targets in the first 10 days, they are free to spend their next 20 days elsewhere. It is on them to decide at what commission payout they want to take it easy or in how many days they want to hit their target. We also allow flexible work-from-home policies; employees’ birthdays and anniversaries are mandatory paid days off; and for spouses’ and children’s birthdays, we offer half-days off for quality time with loved ones. We encourage team members to prioritize loyalty to themselves over the organization.
Your Inner Voice: The Key To Harmony
Every morning, workers should ask themselves, “What’s in it for me?” Are they learning and growing at work? Do they have friends and colleagues that they enjoy working with? Is this the right career path for them? By being honest with themselves, they can ensure mutual benefit for both their personal development and the organization at large.
To support this, you can offer various activities to enhance personal growth. These include providing reading time, attending seminars and conferences and offering opportunities for further education if desired.
Going Against Social Norms
I believe workers are often programmed to believe that they constantly need to strike a balance between work and their personal lives. But working is not just about finishing a task; it is about engaging with the person sitting next to you; it’s about debating with the person behind you; it is all about interactions. A lively workplace is supposed to be filled with collaborations and conversations. And when workers’ personal and professional lives are in harmony, I believe they’re better positioned to have successful interactions that help the company grow.
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