Work-life balance. Nice concept. But with consultants working notoriously punishing hours, is it anything other than a pipe dream?

Not for Iain Edmondson, a senior consultant at PMP, which specialises in sport, leisure and culture. A rower since his university days, Edmondson ( pictured right; second from left in the boat third from the top), belongs to the London Rowing Club, based in Putney, and trains six days a week. “From a training perspective I’ve got to put a lot of hours in,” he says. Just as well, because he’s competing in the Henley Royal Regatta at the beginning of July. “We’ re all sports fans [at PMP]. You know you’re talking to people who can relate to your priorities. That’s not to say they won’t push you for deadlines.”

Two of his colleagues play volleyball for England and another employee played for Charlton in the women’s FA Cup final on May 7.

Edmondson says that the extracurricular activities make for closer working relationships: “We do celebrate each other’s successes and go to each other’s events.”

Catherine Tobiasinsky, a partner at EC Harris, says: “Work-life balance is about flexibility, not following rigid nine-to-five rules.” The firm’s philosophy takes in a staff sports day and a free bar where employees pull pints and natter to their colleagues.

Tobiasinsky has been a school governor at a local primary school for four years, something she took up after her previous employer, Capgemini, encouraged outside activities. Some staff took sabbaticals – one colleague went to Costa Rica to study turtles – but many got involved closer to home.

“We had just moved house, so... I wanted to integrate into my community more,” she says. “When you feel you are being supported to do extracurricular stuff you feel more motivated.”

Richard Jordan, the head of employer brand at Ernst & Young, agrees. “You’re a real person rather than a corporate clone,” he says. Jordan’s philosophy is that work is part of life, not something to be parcelled up separately. “We don’t expect people to be chained to their desk 24 hours a day for the simple reason that people who work like that aren’t very effective.”

At Ernst & Young everyone is assigned a counsellor – a more senior member of staff who helps employees to manage their career path and look at work-life balance options. A company initiative that promotes healthy eating and gym membership has led to individuals’ average sick days dropping from seven to five a year.

Tobiasinsky also makes the business case for balance. She has used her knowledge of the education system in her work, most recently in a project for the Department for Education and Skills. But, she says, work-life balance also operates on a more personal level: “It makes work less of a job and more of a way of life. Your work colleagues are your friends.”

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