The importance of work/life balance to productivity

Your recruitment agency likely has measures in place to encourage productivity in its workforce, ranging from well-designed office floor plans to workflow automation solutions.

However, one of the best solutions to increasing employee productivity lies outside of the office itself – a healthy work/life balance.

The Australia Institute and beyondblue recently teamed up to conduct a study on the mental and physical health of Australian employees and how it impacted their productivity.

The survey highlighted some concerning findings. For example, one in four employees who felt 'overworked' experience anxiety, and 3.3 million of these employees suffered from loss of sleep – one of the main catalysts of decreased productivity in the workplace.

It was also revealed that Australians are generally working longer hours, but there isn't a corresponding boost in productivity to reflect this trend.

Beyondblue CEO Kate Carnell explained how a poor work/life balance affected the business as a whole.

"If you're 'under the pump' consistently, it can lead to sustained job stress which is linked to depression and anxiety," she said in a September 30 media release.

"Depression costs Australian businesses $12.3 billion every year through absenteeism, reduced productivity and staff turnover."

There are several ways you can encourage productivity in your agency and maintain the mental health of your staff, and one of them is relying on the latest technology.

Efficiency software can make tasks like payroll management and candidate search a breeze, helping your staff get their work done quicker and allowing them to leave work on time to get the rest they need.

FastTrack360, the versatile recruitment software package, is one of the best productivity solutions you can use to enhance the health of your business and its employees.