Creating Balance
Since individuals have limited waking hours, extra minutes spent at work or thinking about work and not enjoying life, often lead to guilt and dissatisfaction. Building positive work-life balance necessitates preventative and proactive measures on both the individual and company levels.
Dr. Grodnitzky believes the most important thing employers can offer is flexibility. By allowing employees to manage their own time, to a degree, certain stressors are alleviated and individuals feel more control over their own lives. Some positions may also offer the opportunity to work from home on occasion, granting a modicum of freedom.
According to Kriss Zerr, chief financial officer at Domex Superfresh Growers in Yakima, WA, “each person (employee) has to be treated as an individual regardless of his/her role in the company or job title. When we can’t allow flexibility in its perfect form, we try to provide alternatives that accomplish the same thing.”
As an example, Domex Superfresh helped fund a walking trail around the facility, as well as bringing in a trainer to hold group exercise classes during lunch hours. This gives employees an opportunity to exercise even when schedules are tight, while still respecting time in the evening allotted for family. “The trick is being creative and trying to find a way to accomplish both the desires of the staff and the goals of the company concurrently.”
Positivity, too, can influence the general culture of a workplace. Scheduling a few company-sponsored excursions or in-house activities goes a long way to increase contentment and decrease stress. When most employees feel their stress level is manageable, others in the office may adopt similar attitudes.
Conversely, just one or two individuals handling stress poorly can undermine an entire organization. Such instances may have nothing to do with workload at all, or can be caused by a worker ill-equipped to handle a particular job. For employers, this can be an equally stressful situation, to provide relief through counseling, guidance, or further training, or to find another position within the company for the employee.
Balance & Perishables
Though it may seem elusive and certainly takes effort, Rod Sbragia, director of sales and marketing for Tricar Sales, Inc. in Nogales, AZ, firmly believes a “work-life balance is possible in our industry. We as individuals, and leaders, need to commit to providing opportunities for staff and ourselves to unwind and refresh our minds.”
Due to the very nature of the produce industry and its required level of engagement, Sbragia finds most buyers and sellers have good friends among their industry peers. Such spillover can be both beneficial and detrimental. “We take time away from work with our colleagues from the industry,” he notes, “but never really get away from business. While I always enjoy spending time with my friends within the industry, I try to spend as much leisure time with friends outside the industry for a fresh break.”
