A healthy work-life balance is not just a "hype", but rather the increase of life satisfaction. And those who are more satisfied are also more productive.

Hello everyone, you are all part of Deloitte’s cyber team and personal ambassadors for living a healthy work-life balance. What is your individual definition of a healthy work-life balance?
Matthias: A healthy work-life balance means for me means to make sure that "life" is not shortchanged by work.

Bartholomäus: For me it’s about being able to focus on both, my private and my professional life – acknowledging the presence of both and being transparent about it. Both parts of my life give and cost me energy, and for me it is important to live both areas wholeheartedly within the limits that each one gives and to be as agile as possible when plans change.

Ralph: The attention for work-life balance initiatives increases steadily and gains more importance for managers and executives. Ultimately, it is about a lifestyle that takes professional ambitions and long-term well-being as a whole into account. I would like to emphasize how important a good and healthy balance between the different areas of life is, more than ever in times of working remote. Remote work sometimes crosses boundaries and intrudes into our private lives more than it should be.

Why is it so important to have a healthy work-life balance? What positive effects do you especially see on how your team collaborates and performs?
Matthias: If it is not possible to live within the time available, this inevitably has an impact on mental health and sooner or later also on work.

Bartholomäus: Only by treating these two spheres as equals you can live up to your own expectations in both areas. This is crucial for standing wholeheartedly on one side and give your best on the other without regretting it. In my experience, teams with an atmosphere where people can give their best but are also open and supportive when something is not right, tend to be the ones that perform immensely well and are resilient on projects in VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity und Ambiguity) environments which is most of what we do. Personally speaking: Bringing my whole self to the project and feeling understood when personal matters need to be prioritized strengthens my relationship with the team and definitely makes me want to go the extra mile when necessary.

Ralph: Everyone deserves a healthy work-life balance – otherwise you risk your own mental health. In the long run, you will only achieve your professional goals if you maintain a lifestyle that allows you to be self-aware and maintain your own well-being. Especially team leaders and supervisors need to set a good example for their teams to act like a role model.

How does the cyber team in general support to realize a healthy mix of work and free time?
Matthias: Our cyber team already does a lot of things right by just creating attention for the whole work-life balance topic. Furthermore, they offer flexible working models and make people feel comfortable in choosing them because all team members have a great acceptance for it.

Bartholomäus: The support is mainly shown by communicating the general idea of enabling what works best. Remote work is not questioned at all which allows all colleagues to manage their time on their own. Also, I am pretty sure that my work is not judged by the hours I work, but by the results my team and I achieve.

Ralph: Our cyber team puts in plenty of effort to keep a great work environment and to ensure that all cyber teams run smoothly. But one thing is also important to mention: Work-life balance is not something we achieve once and is done then. It is an ongoing effort to maintain a lifestyle that promotes our mental health and well-being while allowing us to achieve our professional goals. Let me give you some examples of what we already do:

• Through trainings and coaching, we educate the whole team with time management skills and raise awareness to recognize emotions as early as possible when people in our team begin to feel sick by the work.
  
• We actively motivate our team members which have worked too much for a while to take their time off after intense project phases.
  
• With regularly reporting, monitoring, and control of our cyber team overtime, we try to identify in a timely manner if anyone is feeling stressed and overwhelmed.
  
• As the cyber leadership team, we try to lead by example, encourage a very open culture including transparent talk about our hobbies and do our best to leave work at work and not take it home.
  
• We strive to create a flexible work schedule that suits your projects as much as possible.

Matthias, you decided to use the great flexibility Deloitte hast to offer. On the one hand working part-time on the other hand working remotely from abroad. How do you and your work benefit from that?
Matthias: Both measures help me to reduce my stress – even if the intensity of work increases for the time being. I come to work more relaxed and rested which lead to better results in both areas, work and private life.

Bartholomäus, you are a father of 2 children – a role you love with body and soul and which you always prioritize to the very top. How do you make this possible by still giving 100% on your job as a senior consultant?
Bartholomäus: In my opinion, the success of managing both parts in parallel depends on clear communication, expectation management, and prioritization, both with my family and my team. My wife has an important role as CEO and we both work full-time. This only works because we plan ahead, have built a strong support system around us and accept that sometimes plans go awry. 😉 We can also trust our teams to support us in these situations.

Ralph, you support everyone who would like to work on a better work-life balance. What is your motivation behind this? And do you think that you are a good role model yourself?
Ralph: Yes, I absolutely am! I do support everyone at every level. It is my firm conviction: a healthy work-life balance is not just a "hype", but rather the consistent increase of life satisfaction. And those who are more satisfied are also more productive and effective. So, there is also an economic calculation behind this. Personally, I exemplify a healthy work-life balance to my team by taking days off and vacations, thus prioritizing my well-being by enjoying my life with my wife friends and loved ones.

Besides your individual engagement for a healthy work-life balance, there is another thing that unites you all: your passion for cyber topics! In what way does this passion express itself in you?
Matthias: My deep passion for topics related to cyber is based on the fact that problems in this kind of work are like chess games: they want to be solved. And I am eager to find the solutions to these problems!

Bartholomäus: My career began in corporate IT support. From a young age, I was fascinated by bits and bytes and how their use affects our everyday life. In recent years, the impact of cyber security on business and society has become enormous, affecting everyone from our elders to our youngest in all aspects of our personal and professional lives. Understanding cyber security as the factor that enables whatever we do in real life and helping companies in designing the handling and mitigation of cyber risks, excites me on a daily basis.

Ralph: With our cyber impact statement we've been thinking about why we're in cyber and what makes our lives as cyber experts meaningful to us: empowering each other, accelerating growth, and shaping the future. I believe that by empowering each other, we can accelerate both our personal and business performance and reach new levels of growth. By combining our expertise, we can make a significant impact and actively shape the future. For me personally, I am passionate about working in cyber because it is absolutely encouraging to collaborate with such a diverse team that is rich in exceptional talent.

We are happy to share a lot more inspiring stories of our colleagues about the diversity in Deloitte’s cyber team with you – check it out!

Furthermore, you’re very welcome to get to know more about your career opportunities in the cyber team and to learn more about our cyber services.