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Young Men Struggle with WorkLife Balance Too

Written by: Julie Christiansen

Article Overview: Is it true that women are the only ones in the workplace struggling to maintain a healthy work-life balance? It might seem so because women are traditionally viewed as the caregivers, childminders, and home-makers. Trying to balance all of those roles with the demands of work can truly prove overwhelming, even for the most adept multi-tasker. However, recent research would suggest that men - young men in particular - are also at risk for increased stress due to struggling with work-life balance.

Young Men Struggle with WorkLife Balance Too

Common stereotypes dictate that women in the workplace struggle with issues of work-life balance resulting in higher incidences of stress-related absences and lower productivity in the female workplace. New research from the Shepell.fgi Research Group reveals that in fact, more men are seeking support for marital and relationship issues than women. Younger employees, between the ages of 20-39 years old, are also more likely to seek support.

The report entitled, 'Till Stress Do Us Part: An EAP's Perspective on Marital/Relationship Issues,' released in February showed that 23 percent of men who accessed EAP services did so to get support for issues related to their personal relationships. Only 18 percent of women who accessed EAP services did so for the same problem. This means, that despite traditional stereotyping, men are 30% more likely and willing to express concerns and to work at resolving serious relationship issues.

The study further revealed that when personal relationship issues are addressed effectively, employers could reduce absenteeism by up to 6.5% and potentially save $1 billion per year in direct costs. Considering that stress-related absences and illness cost Canadian employers up to $35 billion dollars per year, this aspect of human resource management can no longer be ignored; especially when employees who are struggling to balance work and family are almost 7 times more likely to leave their jobs to try and regain control of their personal lives.

Most certainly employers shouldn’t assume that women are the only ones that are challenged with balancing work and family. Organizations must recognize that employees, regardless of gender, are experiencing stress. The secret to business efficiency lies in understanding the link between stress, mental health, and productivity, and putting practices into place to reduce workplace stressors. If employers do not see their human resources as whole people who work to live rather than live to work, they will end up paying for their employees’ inability to cope with the stress of work and life. Smart employers will endeavour to assist their employees with finding ways to promote healthy relationships, both at work and at home; the end result will be a happier, healthier, and more efficiently run workplace.

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Article Tags: absences, absenteeism, balancing work and family, business efficiency, canadian employers, common stereotypes, eap services, family organizations, human resource management, incidences, marital relationship, personal relationship, personal relationships, relationship issues, serious relationship, shepell fgi, stressors, struggle with issues, women in the workplace, work life balance



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