To develop a work-life strategy and plan you must first understand the needs of your employees and staff. The work-life needs of your employees are unique and change over time. Employees often feel that there is a stigma associated with expressed needs for work-life solutions. As a manager, you must demonstrate support and create an environment of trust to achieve and strengthen an engaged, high-performing team. A great place to start is simply asking your employees, "What can I do to support your well-being?"

Some common best practices used to assess your employees’ needs are:

• One-on-one meetings - Take advantage of routine one-on-one meetings, such as performance review sessions or during the on-boarding process
• Focus Groups - Conduct focus group sessions or listening sessions around work-life topics
• Surveys - Leverage existing survey results that may identify work-life challenges (i.e., Federal Work-Life Survey, Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, climate surveys, etc.)

Below are tools that you may find helpful to engage your employees:

• Sample List of Questions for One-on-one consultations or Focus Groups

• Potential Signs that an Employee Maybe Experiencing a Work-Life Challenge