Microsoft trying to get the balance right for staff with new initiative

Microsoft Ireland has begun a new work-life balance initiative in conjunction with a personal training company, whereby each Microsoft employee is entitled to three sessions with a personal trainer "wherever and whenever they choose, in the gym or in the park, inside or outside company hours".

The company sees the initiative as a further step in providing "optimum work-life balance for their 1,500 employees in Ireland".

The company already offers its entire staff on-site opportunities to learn about and practice Tai Chi, Shiatsu, yoga, Reiki, massage and other holistic stress-reduction techniques. The new voluntary programme will be rolled out over the next six to nine months. A personal programme will be designed for each worker availing of the initiative, while the personal trainer will check on progress in subsequent sessions. Contact can also be maintained via e-mail.

According to Mr Mark Keane, human resources director for Microsoft Ireland: "I weighed a little over 14 stone (height 5 feet, 9 and a half inches) - a little bit too heavy. I had chronic back pains because I had a slipped disc when I was 21. So I could barely walk upright.

"David Kelly, of Network Personal Trainer Company, said: `I think we could do some things with you.' So he challenged me. He said: `We'll try just a couple of personal training sessions and see how they go on." During one of the sessions, Mr Kelly asked him: "What's the most important thing to you?" "And I was thinking: `Well, my career is important to me, my wife's important to me.' A lot of things were important to me. But I was sweating at the time and I was out of breath. And he said: `Well the fact that you're sweating and you're out of breath. Is that not important to you?' " `Well, it is,' I said. `Well, OK,' he said, `do you think you should do something about it?' And it was the first time that anybody ever asked me that question.

"And then he said: `That's the cornerstone of stress management, Mark, and getting a balance between your work and your life. When Microsoft is all said and done and when you're finished with Microsoft, you'll still have what you're standing in right now. Your body.' "And it got me thinking. And the more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that we do use time as a commodity. And for the most part we trade it in material things . . . And I found it was a great motivation, going to somebody and asking him what do you think? What about what I eat and what exercise I take and what would you advise me? "So it just started from there and a year-and-a-half later I've lost two stone and I'm running like I did when I was a kid and enjoying life."

His personal trainer also taught him the importance of rest. Nowadays, "when I hit the wall, I say: `Well it's time to stop now.' It taught me that lesson. There's no point in trying to run without a tank of petrol or fuel. When you need rest, go away and rest." He believes the work-life initiatives are impacting on the culture of Microsoft. "Certainly for me, it changed my mind. And it certainly changed the minds of my senior managers." Microsoft ran a pilot project before offering the new initiative to the whole staff. "We were blown away by the response: they were very, very positive about it," he said.

"I spoke to one employee recently, a colleague of mine whom I respect greatly. I saw him; he was coming back from the gym at two in the afternoon and I said: `How are you finding it?' He said: `It's great, Mark. I haven't felt this well since I was in college.' And I said: `And what's the deal?' And he said: `Well, you know, I never thought about it but I also didn't have the expertise to figure out what should I do.'

"I think that seems to be the key that unlocks this. It's actually very hard to find expert advice in what it is to be healthy.

jmarms@irish-times.ie