Finding a healthy balance between your professional and personal life without neglecting one or the other is no mean feat.
Work-life balance is personal, and fluid
Frustratingly, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to achieving an optimum work-life balance, and your own balance is bound to fluctuate depending on your workload and personal commitments at any given time.
Nevertheless, for technology contractors, work-life balance is now the most important factor when assessing whether to take on a new contract IT job, writes James Hallahan, chief strategy officer at Hays.
How important to IT contractors is work-life balance?
In fact, close to half (46%) of IT contractors say work-life balance is the top consideration when weighing up a temporary opportunity, according to our research. The second biggest chunk of respondents – nearly a third (30%) – said they believed finding a temporary IT role that is challenging enough was the critical factor.
But many end-users and employers seem to have flipped the script, revealing a disconnect between themselves and contractors. As reported by ContractorUK, our research shows that 44% of organisations believe a challenging role and challenging projects (44%) is the best way to attract IT contractors, making work-life balance the second most important factor (23%).
Jumping ship to find better work-life balance
So achieving a satisfactory work-life balance is front of mind for the majority of tech contractors today and some organisations are failing to take this on board. Organisations are therefore losing out on top talent, as IT contractors unimpressed with their work-life balance credentials potentially jump ship.
Considering nearly three quarters (74%) of employers found it difficult to hire contractors over the last 12 months, it’s more important than ever for organisations to acknowledge what contractors value most. And then outfits must incorporate this into their talent attraction and retention strategy or, again, risk many jumping ship.
Interestingly, the overwhelming majority (71%) of tech contractors are content with their work-life balance, which has slightly improved from the year before last (69%). But by prioritising work-life balance when they consider a technology contractors, clearly IT contractors believes there is always room for improvement!
Top three work-life balance hacks to stop IT contractors jumping ship
Here are three effective ways we’d advocate to organisations looking to help support computer contractors in their pursuit of a positive work-life balance:
1. Allow flexibility where possible
To stand out from competitors for the right reasons, engagers ought to offer contractors the freedom to work on their own terms, including flexible workplace arrangements such as:
- hybrid working, and
- flexible working, such as flexitime.
Flexibility when it comes to where and when you work is thought of as an integral part of creating a healthy work-life balance and, on a positive note, contractors and employers appear to be aligned in this area to some extent.
Close to half of tech contractors would prefer to work remotely, with some time spent in the office (44%) which is an arrangement currently offered by 45% of organisations. Yet while only 19% currently offer fully remote options, over a third (36%) of IT contractors would like to work this way in their next role.
Talent attraction/retention impact
We found that for four in five (80%) contractors, the option to work remotely is an important consideration for a new tech role, reiterating that flexible working offerings have a direct impact on talent attraction and retention.
Granting individuals with flexibility and autonomy over their workplace patterns and working hours (where possible for an organisation), is a significant way to support their work-life balance.
2. Arrange regular check-ins
Another method engagers can use to bolster work-life balance is to have regular, transparent conversations with their contractors, to ensure they are acutely aware of their individual needs, preferences and lifestyle.
It’s important to create an environment where contractors feel they can be open and honest with the employer, and this starts as early as when the contractor first comes forward, when communication and rapport is key.
Juggling home-life and work-life
For instance, if a contractor becomes overwhelmed trying to juggle their home and work life, they should feel comfortable voicing this so the line manager (or other client representative), can collectively come up with a solution and try to prevent this happening in the future.
An IT freelancer’s circumstances might change while they’re working at a particular organisation, so these regular catchups are recommended.
It’s also clear from our research that many tech contractors want to be pushed to reach their potential in a new role, and regular check-ins are a prime opportunity to discuss if the contractor is finding the assignment motivating and stimulating enough.
Harmonious?
One-to-ones also give contactors the chance to share if their workload is not in harmony with their work-life balance, in which case the end-user can shed light on how to address and improve this.
It should be noted here that it can be more difficult to differentiate between personal time and work responsibilities in a particularly challenging role. However, it’s not impossible; contractors can still feel challenged by their role and the various projects they are involved in in a positive way without encroaching on their personal time.
It’s important for engagers and contractors to have discussions about how to navigate meeting professional goals while simultaneously maintaining healthy boundaries.
3. Move wellbeing up the agenda
Employers can do more to support their contractors to achieve a better work-life balance by ensuring wellbeing is a priority area within their organisation.
The happier and healthier contractors feel on the inside, the more productive they should be in terms of external output for the business.
Mental health first aiders; where’s yours?
Organisations should have a wealth of wellbeing initiatives in place. They ought to then effectively communicate these initiatives and prioritise easy access, including to mental health first aiders. Furthermore with wellbeing, this key area should also be a priority all year round, not just on specific awareness days, weeks or months.
Labour’s ‘right to switch’ off signals the new government knows a good work-life balance is key
Employers who push work-life balance to the top of their candidate offerings will be moving with the times. Indeed, the new Labour government has shared plans to provide workers with the ‘right to switch off.’ This means engagers will likely be encouraged to prohibit workers from responding to emails or calls outside of conventional working hours. Ultimately, employers need to reflect on what practices they have in place to prioritise the wellbeing of their workforce, or else they risk missing out on skilled contractors – because they’ve jumped ship or just aren’t coming forward in the first place.
Show me the money (isn’t the only thing to make me say ‘yes’)
While providing an appealing day rate is certainly still a key strategy for attracting and keeping highly sought-after tech contractors, organisations should also adopt a more comprehensive approach if they hope to acquire the skills they will need in 2025-26, commencing April 6th 2025.
Employers who consider whether both the roles they advertise and their company culture enable a healthy work-life balance – and whose actions match their words – will stand in good stead internally and by reputation to attract, retain and get the very best out of contractors.
