Well-being in the three overall experience groups

In all three groups based on the informants’ overall experience of becoming a manager (group 1: challenging, group 2: neutral and group 3: good/easy) informants discussed well-being from mainly three aspects: in what role it had been in their FTM process, what kind of actions they had taken towards better well-being and work-life balance, and what things brought balance to their lives or helped them to recover from work. In all groups some inform- ants stated that well-being had been in a key role in the process of becoming

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a manager. However, in group 2 there were the least informants that said well-being had been important for them.

Interestingly, most informants who either found well-being important or re- ported themselves having a normal or good level of well-being, stated that also the well-being of their subordinates is essential. Many of them described leading by example for better well-being. As one informant explained, she was openly discussing her well-being with subordinates:

been being]. I haven't -

[well it ve] tried to be very humane with '

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-- at any point. And then ,

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like I , ing act

been able to take into I have

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insights about et

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- [subordinate well account

-Informant 10, quote 48 Also, some informants were communicating in other ways the importance of well-being. Furthermore, six out of the seven stating that subordinate well- being was central for them, had received either good or some organisational support when becoming managers. Gender or age did not seem to influence this orientation. These informants were also spread quite evenly among the three groups.

Strengthening work-life balance

All 13 informants mentioned taking own actions towards a better well-being through improving work-life balance or maintaining the existing one. In- formants who said they had a good work-life balance belonged to the overall experience groups 2 (neutral) and 3 (good/easy). The actions towards work- life balance can be categorised under separating work and private life, setting limits, being flexible and managing agenda at work. Furthermore, an organ- isational culture supporting well-being can act as an encouragement to take better care of own well-being and work-life balance.

The least actions were mentioned by two informants. One of them from group 3 said she tends to ignore the well-being-related signals her body gives while the other from group 1 was in the beginning of his FTM process and seemed to be lacking own actions also in agenda management.

Those who mentioned most own actions belonged to either group 3 (good/easy) or had troubles with their personal well-being or work-life bal- ance. For example, one informant from group 1 had experienced a burnout after becoming a manager, which led him to take actions in separating work and private life. As he explains, a concrete action was doing less remote work:

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Another thing that I've myself changed, is that I no longer do remote work -- I go to the office even though many from our company don't. It has helped [me] to get back a little to the rou- tine [of separating] personal life and work.

-Informant 2, quote 49 In fact, in all of the groups someone mentioned the importance of separating work and private life similarly with doing less remote work as well as limiting working hours. One informant from the group 3 explained taking corrective actions and limiting her working hours because of getting tired after a while into her FTM role. Furthermore, switching off email notifications in their phone was important to some informants to keep their free time separated from work. As one informant from group 2 described:

For example, I have also limited it so that my phone doesn't show me -- if I have got a new email -- before it showed and then I immediately was checking out what's going on there.

Now -- I need to [choose to] go there [to the email app].

-Informant 13, quote 50 However, in groups 1 and 2 some informants mentioned that they were avail- able also on free time and did not find it burdening. A special case of sepa- rating work and private life were business trips abroad. One informant de- scribed going to a gym also abroad to keep up her normal routines. In gen- eral, she advised people to have evenings off abroad and doing something else than just staying in the hotel room – it helps to stay sane and be more effective on the next day.

In all groups someone mentioned the importance of setting limits by limiting their workload consciously and/or through e.g., prioritising and delegating.

Five of the eight informants reporting this seemed to have a significant work- load and the rest three a reasonable workload. Due to the nature of my re- search, it is hard to say whether the actions limiting the workload explain the reasonable workload of the three informants. Nevertheless, it is self-evident, that if a person has a significant workload, it is only wise to try to make it more reasonable with taking own actions. Also, those actions might eventu- ally lead to a reasonable workload and better well-being. Furthermore, the most time or agenda management activities at work such as e.g., prioritising, delegating, and having breaks were taken by informants in groups 2 and 3.

Being flexible was also mentioned by two informants belonging to group 1 and 2 as a factor contributing to better work-life balance. The one from group 1 explained the positive outcomes of being flexible: sometimes doing a re- mote day and starting it with exercising helps him to be more efficient at

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work. Three informants mentioning their organisation’s culture supporting their well-being and work-life balance were in groups 2 and 3. One of them from group 3 recalled:

When I started, my own superior asked whether I worked in the evenings or during weekends. He/she was happy when I said no. -- Also, the message from the company has been that people aren't encouraged to extend work to the evenings.

-Informant 5, quote 51 Also, of these three informants two mentioned having a normal or good well- being and the third had needed to think about it and actively take care of it.

It is clear, that this organisational-level healthy orientation to normal work- ing hours helps in limiting social pressures to work for long hours.

Balancing work-related stress

When it comes to factors or activities in the informants’ private lives that act as a balance to their work or help them recover from their work stresses, most informants mentioned some. Examples of these are sleeping, physical exer- cise, family, hobbies, and friends as well as me-time, routines, learning new things and nutrition. Two of the three informants who did not mention these belonged to group 2, had a significant workload and for the other, work ex- tended to evenings and weekends, and this had been going on for a long time.

He explained only recently awakening to its abnormality:

Perhaps lately, I have gradually started to awaken to the fact that being almost continuously at work is, in the end, not nor- mal or acceptable.

-Informant 12, quote 52 The third informant not mentioning the balancing activities in his private life belonged to group 1 and had suffered a burnout during his FTM process and was at the time of the interview still establishing a better work-life balance and bringing meaningful activities to his free time.

The most private life actions were mentioned by individuals belonging to the overall experience group 3 (good/easy) or by individuals who said well-being had been in a key role in their FTM process or who described their well-being as normal or good. Of the balancing activities, especially for group 3, sleeping turned out to be important. As mundane as sleeping might appear, it should not be neglected. As one informant from group 3 summed up her experi- ences:

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Also, in expert work -- I have sometimes concretely noticed that when I have slept better things go faster during the day. If you've slept poorly everything feels 'sticky'. But it's the same with the managerial work too.

-Informant 11, quote 53 Clearly, she had learned about the vital role of sleeping through experience.

The other informants mentioning how life experiences had taught them the importance of taking care of well-being were in groups 2 and 3.

Particularly for groups 2 and 3 family was a source of balance. However, for one informant family seemed to be an origin of worry, which likely is the case for all occasionally. On many instances the informants described how family and especially the attention children need helped them to get rid of work- related thoughts. Of course, a family is not only helping to disconnect from work but gives meaningful content to a person’s life.

For many informants physical exercise was also a source of balance and well- being. The informants mentioning the centrality of routines to their well-be- ing belonged to group 1. Naturally, hobbies were important for many inform- ants and especially one informant from group 3 mentioned learning a new skill as a key for recovering during free time. She explained:

It's important that I have -- all the time something with which I can challenge myself and which helps me to not think about work.

-Informant 3, quote 54 Other factors contributing to better well-being

Other factors contributing to better individual well-being that did not clearly fall into any previous categories were nice colleagues and crafting job con- tent, of which the latter had helped one informant to make her work more meaningful. One informant mentioned leadership literature which had helped her to gain peer-like support to deal with her experiences as an FTM.

Also, a couple of informants mentioned their personality as a resource at their work. Finally, two informants discussed that seeking for help regarding poor well-being is important and that contacting own superior or the occu- pational health services is something worth of doing. As the other of them aptly stated:

If they're such challenges -- related to well-being and such, then you should absolutely contact the occupational health, so you won't bother your family back at home.

-Informant 13, quote 55

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