Published on: July 8, 2025 at 9:46 pm
While managers focus on dealing with what their businesses face because of trade disputes, inflation, and fears of a possible recession, they must also do more than push their employees to work harder. Prioritizing work-life balance can be a win-win.
According to Academy of Management Scholar Nancy Rothbard of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, managers also need to consider how workers handle the boundaries between their work and their lives outside work.
“As people experience a lot of turmoil and uncertainty, that creates a lot of stress in terms of how people respond to things in the workplace,” Rothbard said. “What’s going on in the world is actually related to how they behave and perform at work.
“And so when they have good coping skills for how they navigate the boundary between work and non-work, they’re able to perform better at work and continue to focus on what they’re supposed to be focusing on,” she said.
“Work doesn’t stop just because there’s turmoil, so having people be able to continue to engage in their work and cope with outside stressors is a really critical outcome.”
Rothbard said it’s important for managers to respect that some workers (who she calls “segmentors”) prefer clear boundaries between work and life outside the office, while others (“integrators”) are comfortable blending them. Managers can help employees manage boundaries by, among other best practices, allowing flexible work hours when possible, respecting workers’ personal time by not communicating about work tasks during non-work hours, and encouraging breaks. Rothbard argued that it isn’t a “zero-sum game”—managers can focus on the challenges facing them while helping employees deal with stress more effectively so they can be more engaged in their work.
“Successful bosses are the people who can focus on multiple things,” Rothbard said.
“They can focus on the pressures of external challenges, and how it’s affecting their ability to get their work done, but also on how to make sure that their people are able to focus on what they need to focus on,” she said.
“If you’re just doing one of those things, you’re not actually doing your job as a boss, because you have multiple goals and responsibilities.”
