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 Productivity: Work-life balance pays off
in both private life and the workplace
By John Pollack
Telegraph-Journal
May 2, 2009 Photo: Noel Chenier/Telegraph-Journal
Get on a board of directors, learn
some leadership skills there. Those
things are invaluable,’ says Marilyn Singh,
senior executive coach with
Vision Coaching, Inc.
Leadership is an important skill for managers, but a company with developed leaders across the workforce right down to the lowest level employees will have a ripple effect of benefits, executive coach Marilyn Singh says. Enlarge Photo Noel Chenier/Telegraph-Journal‘Get on a board of directors, learn some leadership skills there. Those things are invaluable,’ says Marilyn Singh, senior executive coach with Vision Coaching, Inc. "If you have a fully engaged workforce that's going to go for it in their own lives because they know their own fulfillment comes out of reaching their own potential, the impact on the company is unbelievable," says Singh, a senior executive coach with Saint John-based Vision Coaching Inc. Engaged companies will likely see lower stress levels, fewer sick days, fewer injuries, increased productivity and a slew of other benefits, she says. But how does a company go about finding and developing leaders? Singh suggests they could hire a coaching firm like the one she works for to provide a tailored learning environment to hone someone's leadership skills, but that isn't the only way. There are a variety of self awareness and emotional intelligence courses employees could take, or bosses could encourage their workers to get involved in some sort of leadership role on a volunteer basis, Singh says. "Get on a board of directors, learn some leadership skills there. Those things are invaluable," she says. "Encouraging your employees in work-life balance pays off not only in their lives, but in the kind of productivity and energy and engagement levels that they will bring to the workplace." She sees great value in organizations such as Fusion Saint John, which provides an opportunity for civic-minded young professionals to network or 21inc, which picks a group of young leaders and encourages them to develop their leadership skills to help better the province in some way. Tim Coates, the executive director of 21inc, which announced this week it's looking for the next 21 leaders for the second year of the program, says if people have a variety of experiences they can grow as a person and a leader. "The concept that you need to get involved with stuff and the way you grow as a person is by having different experiences is absolutely true," he says. Coates says the 21inc program is a great way to achieve this. "We have designed a particular experience with outcomes that we think are really important," he says. The program involves visiting various areas of the province and meeting everyone from politicians to farmers and businessmen to teachers to learn the issues New Brunswick faces. Participants are then given the opportunity to work together to create something to address some of these issues. Coates says companies can also look at his program as a recruitment tool - last year it attracted some young bright business people. "If you have a group that is doing the hard work to identify who the key talent is then a lot of the work has been done," Coates says. Though the 21inc program is unique, Coates says there are other ways to develop leadership. An avid believer in the value of non-profit organizations, Coates says volunteering is a great way to build human capital. Singh agrees. She thinks the private sector could benefit by looking at non-profits for talent. "There's a lot of untapped potential for the business world from the skill sets that exist with people who had to manage often with very few resources and have had to be extremely creative to get the job done or to stay afloat," she says.
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