As the Chief People Officer, I have an amazing opportunity to make a difference in peoples’ lives every day by striving to provide them with an enriching growth experience in the workplace, writes Jacqui Bradler, Chief People Officer at Bondi Sands
There is no greater reward than watching people enjoy coming to work at a place where they have the opportunity to build their skills, test and learn their own ideas, collaborate with a team of different cultures, grow their careers, and ultimately realise their own potential.
Working in a high-growth, the fast-paced environment requires a high degree of health, and I know from my own lived experience of a busy life, the importance of maintaining a healthy work/life balance.
If you’ve been looking to create more balance in your own life, here are some top tips to try and get the best out of your life whilst in a sustainable and healthy way.
Find (or create) a flexible working program
My role is a global one, meaning I am often required in meetings that cross over all different time zones that zig zag across the globe, including New York, Los Angeles, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
Part of my role is to ensure the company is equipped with the team and resources to give the business the best chance at sustained growth and success.
Find support and outsource the little things – you can’t do it all!
It’s critical to have a strong support network behind you. I’m lucky to have a small support system of my own mother and husband, who I couldn’t hold down such a big role without as we all share the load of making sure the kids are looked after.
Delegation is one of the most important skills to have – both at work and at home. Delegation is essential for creating a healthy, independent work culture. You can only build trust in your team by trusting them with tasks in the first place, because if you never delegate, then you’ll never feel confident that they can handle it.
At home, I highly recommend considering outsourcing tasks that you aren’t finding time for. It’s important to accept that it’s not possible to do it all and to not hold yourself to the highest possible standard at all times, and remove the mummy guilt. It is your worst enemy, and no one has the right to judge how you live your life.
Prioritise your mind and body
If you’ve ever witnessed an aeroplane safety demonstration, you’ll know that in the event of oxygen masks dropping from the ceiling, you should secure your own mask first before helping others.
You can’t do your best work if you’re firing on all cylinders at all times, so it’s important to take the time to nourish your mind and body. Personally, I like to keep up my fitness every day – which keeps my body healthy but also helps me to get out of my head. I also love to listen to music and make sure to prioritise that precious time with girlfriends, as laughter is truly the best release.
As a busy working mum myself, this flexibility is vital to a happy and healthy life, allowing me to have a fulfilling job and home life. It’s so refreshing now that we can integrate the two, which was just not allowed in yesteryears.
The freedom to work when I want means that I am free to leave work and pick up my kids from school a couple of times a week, which means the world to me and them.
At Bondi Sands, our employees are also encouraged to optimise their own health through utilising our unique incentives of wellbeing leave days and wellbeing allowances to help subsidise fitness memberships. We want to contribute positively to our team’s health, and by offering this little extra support and encouragement, we believe we can do that.
Our flexible working program, BondiFLEX, empowers employees to choose their own hours based on their schedule for the day. Since many of our employees are also working across this wide range of time zones, it’s important that they’re able to maintain a healthy balance without burning out.
So, to keep up our collaboration and communication globally, we simply give that flexibility back by allowing our team to choose their start and finish times, which seems so simple, but life-changing.
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