The Best Work-Life Balance Solutions for Employees: Four-Day Week, Daycare, and More

1. Four-day week

Beyond a decent salary, employees are increasingly looking for a job that allows them not to sacrifice their personal life. The Quebec company Korem tested this four-day formula for several months. Since January 1, all employees have had Fridays off. They work 34 hours per week from Monday to Thursday.

For Jean-Nicolas Ryet, associate professor at the Faculty of Management at McGill University, the four-day week can be interesting for companies, particularly those facing employee retention problems.

“Today, many families in Canada need two incomes to support themselves, which can create considerable stress for parents who both work or for single-parent families. The four-day week, with its flexible schedules, allows employees to better balance their family and professional responsibilities, thereby reducing the risk of burnout and absenteeism. It can also make the company more attractive to potential talent who are looking for a better work-life balance,” he told the Sun.

2. Day care

This fall, the teachers’ strike gave parents a lot of headaches. At Beauce Atlas, we welcomed the children of employees with the creation of École Beauce Atlas.

“We decided to offer this service to allow our employees to devote themselves to their daily tasks without having to worry about looking after their child. The service was extraordinarily successful. More than ten children came to our office. A student on strike acted as an educator. Several activities were offered to them. The children couldn’t wait to come back from morning to morning,” said the general director of the Beauceron company, Nicolas Blais.

Could Beauce Atlas repeat the experience? “Certainly on an occasional basis if the opportunity presents itself. We do not yet have a project on the table for a full-time daycare in our premises, but it is on the other hand a very interesting project to look at in 2024 with the shortage of daycare places,” said he replied.

3. Customer satisfaction index

As it prepares to open its 100th restaurant, the management team at Pizza Salvatoré created a tool to measure the performance of the family business: the customer satisfaction index. According to one of the co-owners, Sébastien Abbatiello, this tool allows you to obtain an accurate evaluation of customer service.

“This rating obtained by a short survey of our customers allows us to know exactly in which pizzerias we are achieving our objectives and in which we need to put more effort and training. Thanks to this index, we can identify our strengths and weaknesses and implement corrective actions to continually improve our service,” he shared on LinkedIn.

4. Review your offer or business model

A recent BDC study found that more than 70% of the most successful businesses had a medium-term business plan, compared to only 46% of less successful businesses.

Sometimes, it is also necessary to change the offering and the business model to reposition yourself in an ever-competitive market. In 7 years, BG Marketing has changed its offering and its business model 3 times. A real breath of fresh air for the co-founder of the Montreal company, Christophe Guay.

“The vehicle (business model) is much more important than the speed you drive. No matter how hard you press the accelerator, if you’re not in the right vehicle, there’s a good chance you won’t get to your destination. Sometimes, it is better to reposition yourself, to take a step back to better move forward,” he expressed on LinkedIn.

5. Advisory Committee

According to a BDC survey, only 6% of business owners have an advisory committee. This committee made up of advisors helps entrepreneurs make better business decisions and develop a long-term vision.

Since its creation in 2022, the Lévis Queva company has set up such a committee in different critical sectors of the company.

“Each person brings their own specific knowledge to the field. It is important to surround ourselves with people who advise us and who themselves work in the same sector. One of our reviewers was a VP at our largest American competitor. It helps us validate our visions about the competition, and also to evolve more quickly. They avoid rookie mistakes that we might have made, that they themselves made in their respective start-ups,” explained Queva President Jacob T. Calderon.

2024-01-08 11:45:08
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