Keys to reconcile work and family

Currently, the idea is still widespread that a man or a woman who wants to be involved in the family, neglects work, and vice versa. However, the family and work environments must be compatible. No one should have to choose between being a parent and their profession. The objective of achieving a good formula for conciliation between family and work is to be able to develop satisfactorily in both areas, without either of them being affected.

• Productivity can improve if there is conciliation because the worker is more motivated, committed and more efficient.
• Dedicating quality time after work to your partner and children is a priority so that the family environment is not affected.
• The division of domestic tasks if both members of the couple work is essential to avoid "double shifts", which usually fall on the woman.

Three actors involved

But conciliation should not be understood in a simple sense of compatibility of time, but in a broader sense, referring to a full development in people. The objective is to be able to maintain a balance in the different dimensions of life to improve well-being, health and personal work capacity.

Achieving this ambitious goal is the responsibility of the entire society. The main actors involved are: family, company and State.

From the State it is essential that real options for conciliation are guaranteed such as reduction of the working day, leave of absence for childcare or maternity and paternity leave, as well as the creation of a sufficient number of nurseries, toy libraries and economic rewards, among other social benefits.

In companies

In the field of companies, it is also necessary for them to really enhance work-life balance, ceasing to see it as a foreign issue, an unnecessary cost or a threatening event.

Some proposals include offering stable jobs, flexible working hours, intensive hours, not penalizing leave of absence or providing possibilities such as teleworking. The objective is not to work less, but to do it in a different and modular way to the individual situation of each person. The challenge focuses on making people aware of their involvement and performance, appealing to individual responsibility and allowing people to manage their time. A worker without headaches for balancing family logistics will generally be a more efficient, loyal and committed worker with his company. In this way, productivity can be significantly improved if workers are motivated.

On the contrary, the conflict between work and family can have negative consequences for workers and companies, such as: job dissatisfaction, poor performance, greater absenteeism, demotivation, loss of qualified people and lower productivity, among others. .

There are innovative companies that have added aid to their employees such as providing services for the children of workers in the same workplace, aid in studies or the enjoyment of vacation days or permits to attend special events such as end-of-year festivals or school meetings.

In the family

Within families, this conciliation is fostered by equitably distributing household chores and raising and caring for children between both parents, so that the woman is not forced to work a “double shift”. It can be very useful to be able to have the collaboration of certain members of the families of origin, such as uncles or uncles, as well as belonging to certain associations or groups of families in similar situations.

Parents must be aware of the urgent need for time, affection, care and attention that their children need from them, and should not try to substitute or evade this dedication through the use of television, the computer, video games or extracurricular activities. Establishing priorities and limits, reviewing obligations, showing good faith and avoiding the search for perfection in everything that is done are some of the skills that can be developed if you want to optimize the family and work conciliation.