Post #5 in a series of 6 posts on balance: Creating a Culture of Balance

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It’s one thing for the owner and CEO of a company to structure his work to accommodate his life, and quite another to consciously build a business culture that allows employees to do the same. But without being boastful, that is exactly what we have done at Intertech. Our efforts have been rewarded with an extraordinarily loyal group of employees, many satisfied customers and a growing number of “Best Places to Work” awards.

In my book, Building a Winning Business, I dedicate eight takeaways to building a people-centered business culture, as well as multiple leadership chapters dealing with this important topic. Some of our strategies include offering job sharing options, giving our employees a three-month sabbatical after seven years of consecutive service, work from home, and nine, nine-hour days.

We also strive to “think first to work smart.” In my book, I dedicate takeaway #47 to this concept, reminding readers: “Don’t get caught in a mindless activity trap. Instead, take time each day to think about the project and make decisions thoughtfully. Encourage your team to keep balance by working smart during the workday and saving “crunch time” for the real crunch periods. It’s consistency over time that makes the real difference in the end.”

Respecting employees as people who need work/life balance, we have created a productive, upbeat culture where people and business can thrive. Sadly, many organizations do not value work/life balance and they are paying a price. A Gallup poll taken two years ago said disengaged employees are costing industries $416 billion a year.

At Intertech, it’s just the opposite. We completed 2012 as our our best sales year ever. Helping employees find balance actually appears to be quite good for the balance sheet! Next and last post in this series will focus on finding balance between business and community.