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Need to boost retention? Set better work-life boundaries.

Effective leaders should encourage a healthy separation of work and nonwork time. But the right approach to this may be different than you think.

By Sarah Coley, PhD and Patrick Gallagher, PhD

There’s no doubt that the white-collar workplace looks different these days. For one thing, offices are emptier, as more (mostly salaried) employees work from home at least some of the time. Even white collars are rarer, with relaxed expectations for business attire.

Remote work does indeed offer professionals more flexibility in their day to gain back time lost to a commute or attend meetings away from their desks. It makes it possible to run errands or spend time with family midday more easily and make up that time outside the usual 9-to-5 slot.

Leaders may be under the impression that flexible work helps retain their team. After all, isn’t work-life balance better than it was in the days of 40 hours a week in the office?

In many cases, the answer is no.

Home is where the office is

When COVID-19 sent millions home to fashion makeshift offices, the workplace changed forever, and that seemed like a positive transition. People say they appreciate their newfound flexibility—even if it turns out it isn’t altogether healthy. While remote work and flexible schedules continue to be effective methods for attracting and retaining employees, research has shown that the perk comes at a cost: a lack of healthy work-life boundaries.

Loosely defined, a work-life boundary is the line that separates work life from personal life. And technology has blurred this line. It’s now possible to work from home, and it’s tough to stop working from home. When the workstation is just steps away, it’s difficult to, well, step away. A 2022 study showed that 62% of workers reported working more hours (McClean, 2022), with home-based workers putting in more hours than their on-site counterparts (Felstead & Henseke, 2017; Wu & Chen, 2020).

Of course, individuals experience the stress of this differently, and the idea of boundaries differs from person to person and even from day to day. It doesn’t always mean completely separating work and nonwork. Boundaries manage how they interplay—so work stress doesn’t infiltrate nonwork time. But be aware that even those who say they enjoy integrating work with life—taking business calls at a soccer game or answering emails after everyone’s in bed—are increasingly stressed by this integration, studies show (Allen et al., 2020; Mellner et al., 2021).

Leaders assume that this new, flexible schedule keeps teams happy and engaged. But flexibility and healthy work-life boundaries are not synonymous, and leaders shouldn’t rely on flex time to keep their teams happy. Flexibility is only weakly associated with better outcomes for workers (Truist Leadership Institute research; French & Shockley, 2020). If an employee is dialing in to a meeting during dinner with the family, for example, they’re likely distracted and disengaged. This overload can lead to burnout and even illness, which can result in quitting—or its alternative, quiet quitting, where workers do the bare minimum to keep their jobs.

Flexibility and healthy work-life boundaries are not synonymous.

 

Leading by example

Leaders should be encouraging—and modeling—healthy work-life boundaries. That’s harder than it sounds. Leaders who send emails on Sunday morning are indirectly telling their teams that weekend work is normal—and expected. Leaders whose out-of-office emails read, “Here’s my mobile number if you need to reach me while I’m on vacation,” send the message that PTO is just “pretend time off.” Teams will do what you do, not what your organization’s policy says.

Instead, set companywide policy around healthy boundaries, and keep an eye out for managers who cross them.

Informal support, like a casual check-in or a lighthearted exchange, helps reduce stress among teams. Train leaders—of both in-office and remote workers—to be better at offering this kind of low-key communication, and look for outdated thinking from leaders who don’t understand or fail to honor the importance of work-life boundaries.

Take some time to self-reflect to make sure you aren’t the leader blurring healthy work-life boundaries.

How to help your workers draw a line in the sand:

  • Don’t assume flexible work will curb burnout. Flex time and other corporate wellness initiatives don’t necessarily enhance workers’ well-being, especially for those who are overworked. To protect your team from exhaustion and burnout, help bolster their work-life boundaries.
  • Talk about healthy boundaries. Work with other managers to create educational tools that help your team understand and establish boundaries.
  • Watch out for those who undermine healthy boundaries—including you. Discourage managers from actions that suggest workers need to be on call or work extended hours.
  • Support boundary management for everyone. Even your in-office team is dealing with new, redefined work expectations. They need your help as well.
  • Offer informal support. Leaders should provide opportunities for workers to share tips or just informally chat. Remind your team of the importance of work-life balance when checking in.

Learn more about the psychology of today’s worker in Truist Leadership Institute’s newest Purple PaperSM