The Art Of Being Valued: 10 Small Indicators Your Company Actually Respects You
A healthy work culture is easier to spot than you think.
Peopleimages.com - YuriArcurs | Canva If you're wondering how to motivate employees and improve company culture, it's important to think about the work-life balance of your employees. Work-life balance is important to your employees and should also be important to you. As a leader or manager in your company, it's your job to foster it. And happy people who can balance their life and home along with their work make the best employees.
So, now, the question is: how do you achieve that? First things first, you need to understand what work-life balance is, the main components, and how to go about it. Most people think that work-life balance is about how much time is spent working versus not working. But that's not the case. The amount of time spent working is merely one component of the overall work-life balance puzzle.
Work-life balance is ultimately how your employees feel about their roles at work, their connection to their work (and the people there), and how the company (including management) treats them. It's about how they feel about their work and how it fits into their life and overall happiness. If you want to know how to promote work-life balance in the workplace, you must understand the components that go into how to measure it. When it comes to measuring work-life balance, there are 2 main steps:
- Determine how satisfied, engaged, and fulfilled the employee is at work.
- Determine how satisfied the employee is overall in life while comparing and contrasting the various categories of life, such as work, finances, relationships, health, and spirituality.
You only have control over the work side of the equation, but it's a huge piece when you're trying to balance life and work. So, how do you measure that?
Here are 10 small indicators your company actually respects you:
1. You have the opportunity to further develop your skills and knowledge
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Do your employees have opportunities to utilize and further develop their skills and knowledge? Is that even encouraged? Most people want to feel like they have a purpose and can make an impact. Continually developing your employees' skills and knowledge is how to make them feel this way at work.
In a 2021 Pew Research study, 63 percent of respondents said having no opportunities for advancement is what pushed them out the door, making lack of growth opportunities the top reason for leaving, ranking above pay, benefits, and workplace flexibility. When companies invest in training and development, workers with extra training are highly motivated compared to those with little or no training, and there's a significant relationship between job satisfaction, organizational climate, and training and development.
2. You have the chance to talk about your performance
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How do your employees feel they perform versus how they feel they're being evaluated? Is there a disconnect? Are they motivated to perform to the best of their ability? How engaged are they?
Research shows that when employees realize inconsistency between actual performance and desired standards, regular and ongoing feedback helps them make frequent comparisons between results and standards and timely corrections to yield positive evaluations. Companies that respect their employees' lives outside work understand that fair, transparent evaluation processes are about maintaining the motivation and engagement that allow people to perform at their best without burning out in the process.
3. You're able to do your best work on the clock
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How productive are your employees? This isn't just about whether they deliver a good work product, but about how well they're able to prioritize the right things, get their work done well, and stay focused and motivated throughout the workday.
Research shows that employees with better work-life balance can stay productive longer due to being well-rested and less stressed, with improved focus and concentration resulting in better service delivery. This means that truly productive employees are those who can prioritize effectively, maintain sustained focus throughout the workday, and deliver high-quality results because their company has given them the space to recharge and live full lives outside the office.
4. You receive recognition for the work you do
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Do you compensate your employees based on their performance? Are you promoting people who deserve it (and not those who don't)? And how do you recognize them for the work they do for you — both publicly and privately?
Recognition is the cornerstone of workplace respect, and it reveals whether leadership truly values performance or simply expects endless output without acknowledgment. Career experts note that when your boss regularly commends you on a job well done, it means they're noticing what you're doing, along with the time and effort you're putting into your work, and they see you as a valuable asset in the company
5. You're encouraged to collaborate with your peers
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Collaboration is an important component when it comes to how your employees feel about their work-life balance. How well do your employees work together? Do you pit employees against one another or do you foster collaboration? How do you manage? Is it collaborative or one-way?
When managers foster genuine collaboration rather than one-way directives, they create an environment where employees feel supported, valued, and better equipped to maintain healthy boundaries. Studies have shown that effective collaboration and communication among team members positively affect job satisfaction, with employees in collaborative work environments reporting a 12 percent higher job satisfaction rate compared to those in less collaborative settings.
6. You stay up to date on company updates
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Do you communicate with your employees about:
- The company vision
- Goals and policies
- What's expected of them
- How are they progressing?
Leadership coach Simone Sloan notes that managers must think about their communication style when talking with their team, ensuring there's balance rather than self-preservation and hoarding of information. When companies regularly communicate their vision, clarify expectations, share progress updates, and explain policy decisions with genuine transparency, they're signaling that employees deserve to be informed partners instead of being kept in the dark, and that kind of respect naturally extends to honoring their time and life outside work hours.
7. You have the freedom to work at a pace that feels sustainable
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Are you flexible about where your employees can work from? How many hours do your employees work per week on average? Do you allow for flex schedules? What expectations are there regarding reviewing and answering work emails and phone calls during weekends, evenings, and vacation time?
A Virginia Tech study demonstrates that employees do not need to spend actual time on work in their off-hours to experience harmful effects because the expectations of availability increase strain for employees and their significant others, even when employees do not engage in actual work during nonwork time. Companies that truly value work-life balance establish clear policies about after-hours availability, communicate expectations explicitly, and model healthy boundaries from leadership down.
8. Your mental load is taken into consideration
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Do your employees often feel stressed and/or anxious because of work? Consider the demands you're making of them and whether timelines are reasonable. This component is directly affected by all the other ones. If you score well on all the other components, then this one is likely to be low, too.
According to psychiatrist Dimitrios Tsatiris, employees suffering from chronic stress or anxiety tend to work with employers who make everything "urgent" and "important," even when it doesn't need to be, constantly expecting demands back "ASAP" or making employees drop everything to cater to their needs.
9. You have the space to develop strong professional bonds
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Do you foster effective mentoring programs? How well do your employees trust those they work with — including peers, managers, and leadership?
Research from Gallup reveals that employees who participate in mentorship programs are 66 percent more likely to feel engaged at work, and mentoring is vital for professional success, according to 76 percent of workers, with respect for one another, honest communication, and trust serving as the foundations of this partnership. This trust factor extends beyond mentoring relationships.
10. You're given space to grow your confidence
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Self-confidence is an often-overlooked component of having a happy work culture and good work-life balance. But it's necessary if you want people to be engaged at work and feel included.
How do you promote healthy levels of self-confidence in your employees? Why is promoting work-life balance at work so important?
When reviewing the components above, it should be obvious why work-life balance is so important to you, as a leader in your company. By learning how to promote work-life balance in the workplace, you'll be:
- Investing in your employees makes them healthier and happier at work.
- Increasing employee engagement means better productivity and performance.
- Improving the bottom line of your company since happier, healthier, and more engaged employees means better work product, less turnover, and even less illness.
Not only that, but you'll be known as a great place to work, attracting better people, and garnering more loyalty from your customers and clients. Based on the components above, it's clear that work-life balance is grounded within the company culture.
But how can you cultivate the right company culture? One that makes for a happy, fulfilled, and well-balanced employee?
Heather Moulder is a career and life coach and the founder of Course Correction Coaching. She specializes in helping professional women have both a successful career and a happy home life with real work-life balance.
