Richard Scase’s comment that better work-life balance means accepting lower economic growth is too simplistic (Personnel Today, 11 October).
Improving work-life balance could mean the UK workforce organising itself in a fundamentally different way that could lead to step changes in productivity and efficiency.
These changes need to include more people leaving the ‘traffic jam’ of the office where politics and decision-chains stifle productivity; instead selling their skills on a self-employed basis to deliver specific outcomes.
There are still huge efficiencies to be reaped inside organisations that easily outweigh the desk-hours lost by adopting more respectful working hours. Realising this, however, involves moving to a partnership ethos instead of wasting time arguing about start and finish times.
Carolyn Ryan
Interim HR consultant
