 The newest standard operating procedure trend among leading businesses? Focusing
on employee and family well-being, says Gary Kunath, who was honored nationally
as Businessman of the Year and recognized with a dinner hosted by the president
of the United States."Many think that professional well-being drives personal
well-being, but it's the exact opposite," says Kunath, a speaker at top business
schools and businesses, including Lockheed and Marriott, and author of "Life
... Don't Miss It. I Almost Did: How I Learned to Live Life to Its Fullest."
"The top companies know focusing on employee well-being is critical and
serves as the conduit to increasing innovation, emotional loyalty, natural
productivity and overall profitability, but they have exhausted the traditional
vehicles inside their companies to do this, so they are focusing on impacting
their employees' lives 'outside' of the company," Kunath says.
Employee well-being is very smart business and everyone wins, he says; it's
the key to elevating associate engagement. According to the Aspen Institute,
more than 70 percent of employees today would sacrifice promotions and pay
increases for family well-being. Yet only 40 percent of employees feel their
employers demonstrate that they care about them, says the American Psychology
Association.
Several major corporations have approached Kunath and asked him to build a
program that shows their people how to master life balance and maximize the joy
and contentment in their lives, he says.
"The results have been tremendous," he says. "People love that they are cared
for just as much when leaving the building as they are when arriving."
Kunath's newest three-hour seminar for businesses centers on employee life
balance and well-being. Here he offers five things business owners and employees
should consider in achieving life balance:
There are simple truths about what motivates employees today
and what they want and need from their employers. Employee well-being drives
profits and is good for business, he points out. Employers need to allow
employees to completely disconnect from work in their off hours -- for
instance, not expecting them to respond to emails or conference calls after
hours. He also points out the "life balance dilemmas" people face, including
his own. A former workaholic lifestyle nearly ruined his family
relationships before he learned how to develop balance.
The "Life … Don't Miss It" approach: According
to a Harvard study, we all have the capability to maximize our happiness
regardless of the situation we find ourselves in. A large part of how happy
you are is determined through intentional activity. There are things you can
do to maximize happiness in your life even in the worst of adversities.
Giving people a way to elevate their family well-being is critical to top
performance on the job.
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Applying
life-balance secrets: Kunath targets 10 points for mastering
life balance. Some of those points are: Money doesn't make you
rich; express gratitude to others; the power of perspective;
relationship refinement (thinning the herd); and good goes
around. "All of these points go to the overall perspective of
total life balance and focusing on the areas, and the people,
that really matter," he says.
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Power of
perspective: Why is it that people who have faced death
often live the most? Why must we wait for adversity to teach us
to get the most out of life? The answer is that you don't.
Kunath emphasizes various perspectives on how you can live life
to the fullest every day and what the keys are to maximizing
employee and family well-being.
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The three greatest gifts you can give
your family: For all the importance and effort involved in
mastering a work life to fund a family's well-being, the three
greatest gifts you have to offer are actually free! They are
time, memories and traditions. Time is our greatest resource,
and it's also our most scarce, which makes memories all the more
important. They give you a place to go for all of your life.
Traditions live on after you're gone; they're a legacy you leave
for your loved ones.
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Gary Kunath is the founder of The Summit Group, which is ranked
among the top sales-training companies in the world by Selling Power
magazine. His value-creation approach received the "Innovative
Practice of the Year Award" by 3M worldwide. He was named
Businessman of the Year and was recognized at a dinner hosted by the
president of the United States. He has lectured extensively at
prominent business schools and is currently an adjunct professor at
The Citadel's Sports Marketing graduate program. Kunath is an owner
of several professional minor league baseball teams, along with his
partners, Bill Murray, Jimmy Buffet and Mike Veeck. The group is
famous for managing its teams around the "Fun is Good" approach.
[Text from file received from
News and Experts] |
