Are your staff actually doing work in the office?

Here's another reason why you should ensure your staff have a better work-life balance.

A new survey by Workplace Options found that employees are likely to let their personal life spill into their working hours.

Almost nine out of 10 (87%) survey respondents reported occasionally using time during their workday to handle personal matters (financial, legal, dependent care or daily living matters).

Additionally, 31% said that they spend several hours of time at work per week to deal with these issues.

Younger employees were spending more of their working time dealing with personal matters, with half of Millennials spending several hours each week on them, and only 32% of those aged 30-45 doing the same.

“A lot of companies out there, especially larger employers, are looking at ways to more effectively support employees and help them focus on the job they’re being paid to do,” said Dean Debnam, chief executive officer of Workplace Options.

“But most of these efforts focus on employees’ emotional and physical well-being. It’s clear from this poll that a lot of people also need practical assistance to help them deal with things like financial, legal, and dependent care issues.”

ALSO READ: HR and employees disagree on work-life balance

The most cited reason for this productivity loss was 'matters related to children and family' (20%) while the second most common reason was non-work related online research (17%).

A likely cause of this loss of productive time is a lack of programmes by employers to help staff manage their time.

More than two in three (68%) respondents said their employers did not offer any programmes for work-life balance despite a similar number (64%) stating that these would be a valuable resource if offered at no additional cost to them.

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