Work-life balance refers to a harmonious balance between professional obligations and personal life. Achieving this balance is a challenge for all employees, but it is especially important for families and individuals who have caregiving responsibilities in addition to their work.

The ability to successfully combine work, family obligations, and personal life is crucial for the well-being of all people. According to the OECD Better Life Index, governments can help solve this problem by promoting supportive and flexible work practices. This makes it easier for parents, for example, to find a better balance between work and personal life.

The Role of Employers

While governments can take supportive measures and actively promote certain initiatives, the greater leverage lies with employers. By offering part-time work, remote work, flexible working hours, and understanding and acceptance of caregiving responsibilities or other challenges faced by their employees, employers contribute to a good work-life balance and thus to health and well-being.

How is Work-Life Balance Managed in Germany?

Compared to the OECD average, significantly fewer people in Germany work particularly long hours, i.e., 50 hours per week or more. In Germany, it is four percent of employees, compared to ten percent on average in the OECD. The time that full-time employees in Germany have available for their daily lives is also slightly higher at 15.6 hours per day (65% of the day) compared to the OECD average of around 15 hours. This time must include not only eating and sleeping but also leisure activities, shopping, or care work.

tracekey Creates Good Foundations

As an employer, tracekey is committed to providing our employees with the best possible conditions for a productive and pleasant working environment. Measures that enable a better work-life balance are just as important to us as those that strengthen team spirit and the bond with the company.

Remote Work and Home Office Options

In recent years, more and more of our employees have taken advantage of the opportunity to work remotely and from home. Reducing commuting times makes it easier for the many young families at tracekey to balance work and family. Time-consuming hobbies, sports, or important health appointments can also be better integrated into everyday life. At the same time, there is always the option for everyone to work in the office. Additionally, team days, BBQs, DevDays, shared lunches, or sports activities ensure that teams also come together in person. This way, the advantages of presence and home office can be sensibly combined.

Flexible Working Hours

By allowing overtime to be compensated with flexitime and the ability to flexibly arrange the start and end of the working day, personal commitments can be better met. According to a recent study, 65% of employees in Germany appreciate the benefits of variable working hours. At tracekey, we prioritize flexibility as long as appointments and collaborative work can take place. Therefore, important appointments usually take place in the morning or are scheduled to accommodate childcare gaps.

Working with Scrum

As an agile company that works almost entirely according to Scrum principles, tracekey is a master of planning and self-assessment. Timeframes are realistically planned, projects are prioritized according to effort and implementation period, and precisely documented. This way, especially teams with few reactive tasks can plan and organize their work effectively in the short, medium, and long term. This prevents stress, a poor working atmosphere, and overtime. For the reactive teams, such as the Customer Success Team, planning is way more complicated. Therefore, we always look at where organizational processes can be optimized or other ways to avoid long-term stressful situations.

Good Work-Life Balance is also Positive for Employers

Work-life balance is of great importance to many employees and is high on the wish list when looking for a suitable company. Advocating for a good work-life balance as an employer is not entirely selfless. Studies show that the compatibility of family and work also increases the company’s competitiveness. Excessive workloads from constant overtime can lead to burnout. At Tracekey, we implement the above measures to promote a balanced relationship between work and everyday life for our team.

 

Do you want to become a part of our Customer Success Team? Have a look at our job ad!