Informative Speech

Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance is one of the aspects which are highly advocated for by proponents of a happy, healthy, and productive lifestyle. According to Kelly & Moen (2020), it can be defined as the equilibrium between the priority given to the needs of an individual’s career and those of the personal life of that individual.

Thesis- Firms and various places of work should give a greater percentage of work to be done from home and a 5hour workday from the office for the employees to enhance their work-life balance, which will in turn increase the productivity of the employees in various sectors.

This paper will use the Problem- Analysis- Solution pattern which will best suit the style in which my speech is crafted. It is because the pattern firstly, states the problem and then evaluates the problem to provide more information and ideas on the problem and how it can be solved, and finally it gives a solution to the problem (Kelly & Moen 2020). The topic of the paper highlights the challenges which many workers face in work today and which negatively impacts impact the productivity of the employees and hence that of a whole firm. It is a topic addressed to the stakeholders in the employment industry and my fellow students. Solutions to such challenges can boost the productivity of our firms and the nation at large across various sectors. It is my strong belief that this pattern will be the most effective in communicating to my audience regarding the plight of our workforce in the country.

One of the notable effects which have been noted among the employees include like: increased responsibility and pressure from the workplace or the employer brought about by an imbalanced work – life environment. With such effects, the productivity of the employees has been noted to be negatively affected a lot, because the employees focus more on the job issues and at the workplace while they neglect their own personal lives unwillingly, which in turn causes unwanted effects such as work-related depressions and burnouts which ultimately affects the output of most of the employees (Waddill-Goad, 2016). As per Kelly & Moen (2020), about 55 percent of the employees in the country experienced mild to strong depressions coupled with burnouts at work which reduced their productivity in ranges of 20% to 57% between the years 2017 and 2019. Elsewhere Waddill-Goad (2016) notes that Mr. Chancey, the C.E.O of Amplio Recruiting states that “A good work-life balance brings about critical positive effects such as a reduction in risk of burnouts and an increase in the sense of well being among others".

To deal with that, the employees are greatly advised to provide a five-hour daily working shift from the workplace with the rest of the hours from home. It will enable the workers to firstly, the balance between being at home and in the workplace, secondly, it will reduce workplace hours hence a reduction in the work-related stress and its associated pressure and it will also reduce the effects of burnouts and on a more positive note it will increase a sense of well being among the employees all which will increase the productivity of the employees (Kelly & Moen 2020).

Elsewhere according to Kelly & Moen (2020), it is also important to note that with the current challenging times brought about by the Coronavirus pandemic, working from home is coincidentally a recommendation by the health experts, which can help to reduce the spread of the infection. It is therefore very interesting to note that working from home will both lead to a work-life balance and at the same time will help to combat the pandemic, a double advantage enjoyed at the same time.

References

Kelly, E. L., & Moen, P. (2020). Overload: How Good Jobs Went Bad and what We Can Do about it. Princeton University Press.

Waddill-Goad, S. (2016). Nurse Burnout: Overcoming Stress in Nursing. Sigma Theta Tau.