Wellbeing Insights Forum: Work-life balance

The Cigna Wellbeing Team invited International Markets’ clinical leadership to meet quarterly to debate key wellbeing topics and share and discuss relevant research at the Wellbeing Insights Forum.

The first Forum of 2020 took place on Thursday 27^th February. The Wellbeing team in Madrid were joined online by medical directors Victor Fernández, Lior Baruch, Dan Ober, Inge Schrever, and Peter Mills, as well as members of various client management and marketing departments across Cigna, including Tim Garner and Matylda Dzadey.

The event comprised of presentations by Eleanor Montgomery on the latest research on work-life balance, and subsequent lively discussions led by Stephanie Judycki. They looked at some of the groups who are vulnerable to a poor work-life balance, as identified in the 2019 Cigna 360º Wellbeing Survey, and discussed relevant employee policies and some of the symptoms and consequences of burnout.

Research presented included:

• Over recent years, there has been a shift from the term “work-family balance” to the more inclusive “work-life balance”
• Members of the sandwich generation, who care for children and elderly parents, working women, vocational workers, and entrepreneurs may find themselves at particular risk of poor work-life balance
• A UK study found that 73% of employees have the freedom to modify their job to better fit their strengths, yet only 18% of employees do so
• Organizations that invest in promoting work-life balance and by embracing a supportive work culture can benefit by attracting and retaining a diverse workforce
• Trials of companies implementing reduced working time, such as four-day weeks or six-hour days, have yielded positive result
• Burnout is a result of chronic workplaces stress and can lead to lack of energy, mental distance, and reduced professional efficacy
• Consequences of burnout include an increased risk of mental health issues, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.