Work-Life Balance in the Consulting Industry and its Influence on Employee Performance

Choosing a career in consulting presents its own set of challenges, one of which is maintaining a work-life balance. Though the consulting industry offers benefits like competitive salaries, extensive learning opportunities, access to professional networks, and attractive post-consulting prospects, consultants' work-life balance significantly impacts job satisfaction and employee turnover rates within the sector.

Recognising this issue, managerial teams and human resources departments have dedicated efforts toward finding solutions.

A Broader Picture of the Challenge

Consulting firms often face criticism regarding the work-life balance of their employees. The demanding nature of the job often necessitates consultants to demonstrate immense dedication, resulting in workweeks spanning from forty (40) to eighty (80) hours. While overseeing talent remains crucial in consulting businesses, consultants frequently encounter significant work-life imbalances. This imbalance not only hampers employee performance but also leads to low job satisfaction and, consequently, high employee turnover.

Current Norm in The Consulting Industry

The consulting industry is increasingly recognizing the importance of a sustainable talent strategy that addresses work-life imbalances. Many firms within this sector are swiftly implementing policies enabling consultants to take breaks for rest and rejuvenation. These workplace dynamics underscore essential considerations when evaluating work-life balance in corporate settings:

Remote/Hybrid Working

Employees who work in an environment that fosters remote or hybrid work styles are better equipped to handle competing demands. Whenever employees are given the choice to work remotely or hybrid, they tend to exhibit greater job satisfaction. In addition to greater job satisfaction, e-workers demonstrate less turnover and lower intensity of life conflict. Offering remote and hybrid options has advantages such as enhancing employee engagement, morale, and company loyalty, which are in short supply in most organisations.

The demand for work-life balance is a key motivation for Millennials and Gen Z employees. Various studies have revealed that Millennial and Gen Z employees increasingly want to work for organisations that prioritise their personal well-being.

Childcare Facilities

The evolving workplace demands facilities that alleviate employees' hectic schedules, benefiting both their professional and personal lives. Essential among these is access to childcare services. It's crucial to emphasize the importance of achieving a strong balance between family and work life, which significantly impacts job satisfaction. Studies indicate that employees with on-site childcare tend to perform better. Hence, organizations should offer such facilities and consider reducing working hours for nursing mothers. These steps will foster satisfaction both in family life and the workplace.

Flexible work hours

According to a Forbes article titled "Why Flexible Work Boosts Employee Productivity," organizations embracing flexibility can significantly enhance employee performance, potentially quadrupling it. Flexible work arrangements empower employees to tailor their schedules, promoting both their physical and mental well-being. This flexibility might involve attending a yoga class, spending quality time with family, or hitting the gym. When granted more control over their time, staff can effectively manage work-related tasks alongside personal responsibilities. Employees enjoying flexible working hours often demonstrate a willingness to invest

extra time to accomplish more tasks. In today's competitive climate, companies should consider adopting flexible working options to attract and retain top talent. Such arrangements benefit both employees and employers, leading to reduced operating costs and increased profits.

Significant strategies consulting firms should consider

• Modification of success metrics: The present success metrics should be modified or revised by talent managers in consulting businesses. Staff evaluations should be less dependent on billable hours and work-life trade-offs; instead, improved criteria for employee evaluations relating to performance, quality service client and team satisfaction should be incorporated into these success measures.
• Changing the culture of glorifying overtime working: Over the years, the consulting industry has presented extended work hours and face time as an integral part of the profession by glorified working overtime. Organisations should consider changing this narrative and emphasise the wellness of their employees.
• Greater utilisation of collaboration and productivity tools: Presently, there is an increased utilisation of collaboration and productivity tools in consulting firms. Such tools help employees collaborate effectively and work efficiently. Instances of productivity tools are solutions for slide beautification, summarisation, translation, and chat-based services. In terms of collaboration, the most common tools are solutions for communication, file sharing, to-do management, knowledge management and process visualisation. While many consulting firms are adopting this strategy, there is still a need to improve in this aspect.
• Encouraging a "Holistic Health" culture: Prioritising health and wellness are an essential component of work-life balance. Firms should implement policies that provide clear boundaries between work and home hours. Such policies include but are not limited to, encouraging employees to take regular breaks, and placing a premium on physical and mental health.

According to a recent study by Gartner, the workplace environment will change in the next ten years. Human resources managers should assess how the future of work will likely evolve in the coming years. These highlighted points below provide a glimpse of how the future workplace will look:

• Our coworkers will be intelligent machines: Smart machines are becoming smarter and more prevalent, doing work typically handled by humans and accomplishing feats previously believed unachievable for machines.
• Constant upskilling and digital dexterity will be a greater priority than tenure and experience: According to the World Economic Forum, one-time reskilling and upskilling efforts will not suffice to deal with long-term developments. Firms and their ecosystems must foster a culture of lifelong learning that allows employees to continually enhance their skills. The most valuable work in the future will be analytical in nature. In addressing complex problems, employees will need to use creativity, critical thinking, and continuous digital upskilling.
• Employees will work for a purpose and not just for a paycheck: Smart organizations will make themselves more attractive not only by paying higher salaries but also by providing people with opportunities to make a significant impact.

Organisations have done a sterling job of adopting digital collaboration and productivity tools, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, there is still a long way to go in terms of digital assistant tool usage.

Leadership teams must provide workers with the appropriate digital smart tools and promote their use in the workplace. Organisations can assist their employees in conserving time on repetitive and non-creative tasks by expanding their use of these technologies and consequently, improving their work-life balance. 

Conclusion

Considering the shift from the conventional mode of work that used to be the "order of the day", there is an Ornos on both the Top leadership team and the Human resources team to take strategic and proactive measures to ensure that the employees do not have to work at the expense of other important aspects of their lives as these could pose significant threats to both the employees and their employers. Such significant threats could result in low employee performance, reputational risk and loss of revenue.

At Mazars in Nigeria, we foster a work environment that emphasises employee wellness. The HR department aligns with the best global trends by implementing various initiatives each year. Such initiatives are designed to enhance employee performance and promote a work-life balance for our people.