Work-life balance is a buzz phrase today, mostly because of the many studies affirming its relationship to employee satisfaction and productivity. Still, cynics brand work-life balance as simply a by-product of the fast activity within Western industrialized nations --- something the Chinese businessman who does Tai Chi every morning doesn’t really care about.

Do office romances ever work?

Call me a bit of a nerd, but I thought it might be interesting to explore exactly what the differences are in relation to work life balance amongst different cultures in the world.

A study conducted by IBM affirmed that work-life balance is a need among their employees across the globe. Regardless of location, IBM employees report “significant work-life responsibilities,” including care for dependents and elders. Furthermore, nationality doesn’t necessarily translate to differences in the expressed desire for work-life balance. Could Australia’s situation, where 1 out of 5 employees work more than 48 hours a week --- and three-fourths of this number would gladly give up higher pay for more personal time --- actually be the norm?

Is your company culture killing you?

How differently do we approach work-life balance compared to the rest of the world? Below are three cultural factors to think about:

Individualism vs. Collectivism  

Australia ranks as one of the highly individualized countries in the world, second only to the United States. In individualist states, people tend seek and protect personal interests over common goals. Collectivist states are the opposite; people in collectivist states tend to prioritize common goals over individual needs.

On the whole, it seems that most companies in individualist societies leave the choice of pursuing work-life balance to individual employees --- considering it a value to not impinge on the freedom to choose health, happiness and family time over higher pay and faster ascent up the corporate ladder. Well and good; this freedom is actually credited as one of the reasons why individualized countries are more prosperous. Unfortunately though, it tends to create a system of appraising performance based on time spent in the workplace.

Employees have the liberty to choose family time or overtime bonus, true, but those who choose the latter will be viewed with higher regard by the company. An Australian manager, for example, would be more prone to promote individual employees who produce more, while a manager from, say, collectivist Colombia would provide raises for everyone when the over-all company profit has increased. With statistics indicating that Australian companies are not providing enough leeway for work-life balance, sometimes the only resort seems to be to defy company culture to pursue work-life balance.

• 5 ways to find your focus
• Is your home making you ill?

Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean collectivist cultures have it better. In collectivist countries, work-life balance seems mostly dependent on the goodwill of corporate management and government legislators. Those in collectivist countries are highly conscious of the demands of the corporation; they will always work within prescribed office hours --- or find passive-aggressive ways of getting more personal time! It’s an ideal set-up if authorities are supportive of work-life balance initiatives, such as Singapore which has legislated initiatives friendly to mothers in the workplace. But when a company in a collectivist country is not pro work-life balance, or when governance is weak as is the case in most third world nations, even a culture that values family time needs to make sacrifices.

Work Attitude  

Another characteristic of culture worth exploring is the general attitude towards performance. You have achievement-oriented countries (what sociologist Hofstede calls masculine cultures) which are driven by competition, ambition and aggressive pursuit of goals. And you have feminine cultures which emphasize over-all quality of life over professional success.

Denmark, one of the most feminine of cultures in the world, boasts having a work-life balance friendly culture. Denmark, a country where 87% of children under 5 years old have day care provision, has a high percentage of women in the workforce. Danish legislation also allows parental leave for both mothers and fathers to encourage parental bonding with an infant.  The Danes tend to go home exactly when the working day is over, and three quarters of the workforce work strictly 5 days a week.

Five tips for healthy success

Germany, on the other hand, has a masculine culture. Almost half of qualified women in the workplace opt to remain childless, as kids are perceived as anti-careers. There’s also hesitation among working women to take time off work to raise a family, as they may lose the career perks they’ve worked hard for if they take time off. Women that do work have anxieties because of the cultural perception that working mothers are not good parents.

Australians have an interesting culture that plays ping-pong between masculine and feminine cultural traits. On the surface, we may be mistaken for not being achievement-oriented, as we generally have a relaxed disposition and a tendency to downplay success. But ambition and goal-pursuit are highly valued, and sticking to business agendas appreciated. We are a mixed up bunch aren’t we—perhaps this is why we struggle so much with prioritising!

Time Orientation

The perception and valuing of time also differs from culture to culture, and it can affect conceptions of what may be considered as work-life balance. In Scandinavia, for example, there’s a tendency to view the separation of work and personal time as sacred, and business lunches are strictly about business --- you party when you get home. In Nepal, on the other hand, there’s little thought to closing a business during office hours to have a meal with a friend. 

In Australia, I dare say that our boundaries are very blurred but in the opposite way. We have no problem keeping business time, business but we find it very difficult to keep our personal time, personal. Our work lives are often allowed to flow freely into our personal lives.

One culture may hastily judge another as not valuing work-life balance, when it’s a simple matter of strict versus permeable boundaries between personal and professional lives.

Related links:

• Six reasons he won't commit
• Low calorie sweet treats
  

What have your experiences been in relation to the differences in work life balance in different cultures?

Author of De-stress Your Success: Get More of What You Want with Less Time, Stress and Effort, Sacha Crouch is a business, executive and life coach who helps people create the work and lives they love. For other free lifestyle resources visit www.activ8change.com.au and www.de-stressyoursuccess.com