Category: Work-Life Balance

Introduction

High performance in a job leads to high satisfaction. Many employees relate work with life’s fulfillment, and connect their satisfaction at work with their feelings and satisfaction in life, and happiness with their family. Satisfaction in the workplace means happiness at home and fulfillment in life.

Work and life balance suggests a balance for life and what people do. There has to be a blending equality that includes work, family, pleasure, fulfillment, and satisfaction.

Some skeptics suggest however that there is actually no relation between life and work. What works in the workplace has no correlation with what is happening at home. But recent surveys and experiences revealed that organizations adopting family-friendly and work-life balance policies and programmes motivate employees to be more productive and further create satisfaction among family-oriented employees.

Work-life balance has been given much attention lately because this has convinced employers of its economic benefits and of the need for change. When it comes to the see-saw metaphor between life and work, most people in the workplace put more weight in favor of work. But there are a lot of workers who are dissatisfied with their jobs.

Literature Review

Work and life balance is achieved “when an individual’s right to a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work is accepted and respected as the norm, to the mutual benefit of the individual, business and society”. (McIntosh, 2003, p. 181)

Greenhaus, Collins, and Shaw (2003), made a study on work-family balance, and found that work-family balance has some connection to the quality of life of employees and managers. They argued that, “when individuals invest relatively little of their time or involvement in their combined work and family roles, or when they derive little satisfaction from their combined roles, work-family balance is unrelated to quality of life” (p. 525).

Employees who work more time at work for reasons such as material return, have no valuable time for their family. They spend more working hours which deprive them of more precious time for the family. One reason is that they have to earn more so they can pay for their debts. (Schor, 1991, p. 17, as cited in White, Hill, McGovern, Mills, & Smeaton, 2007, p. 177)

Schor’s (1991) study states that those who work more have a ‘time squeeze’, or in other words, they have less time for other personal pursuits, like spending time with their families at home.

Working men are in a dilemma; they realize that more time is needed at home with their children, but they also have to work and spend more time in order to earn. They love their family and their home, they want to have more precious hours with their families, but they also want to work, as they find satisfaction in work. (Burke, 2000, p. 81)

Satisfaction in life inside and outside of work is important for the employees and employers as well. (Haar, Spell, & O’Driscoll, 2009, p. 200)

The issue of housework and childcare has become one topic for discussion when it comes to working women. With the demographic workforce now changing, i.e. there are more women working in factories and offices, employees are now turned between which one to choose first – work or home. There are the mothers reinforcing the workforce demographic, and the problem is who will take care of the home and children.

A research on the changing demographics in labor market was conducted by IFF Research (one of the largest independent research companies in United Kingdom established in 1965) employing a telephone survey of 1,000 respondents aged 16 plus in September 2004, and found the following results:

• More than fifty percent were dissatisfied with their working hours and that they preferred to work fewer hours, or to work flexibly.
• Over two-thirds of respondents wanted their company to give them more time out or reduce their long working hours.
• Most respondents wanted to have part-time or full-time work depending on situations; company should allow flexible basis of work.
• Men and women have different expectations of their work, especially when they have children.
• Younger respondents would like flexible working hours until they reach well before retirement age, but those aged over 55 would like working full time until their sixties. The older generation would not want to be written off at 60.
• Majority of the respondents, around ninety percent, stated that employers should focus and invest money in changing working practices. (Williams & Jones, 2005, pp. 2-3)

Employees demand benefit packages and flexibility from work. Flexible working arrangements and flexible benefit packages include flexible time, shorter working hours, and sometimes work with use of Information Technology or the internet, which can allow workers to work at home.

How to Manage Work and Life Balance

Studies have proved that successful employees are the motivated ones. This can be explained in the human-need theory which states that people have urges relative the needs for achievement, affiliation, and power.

How a firm manages human resource affects the performance of the employees. Labour unrest, absenteeism and conflict in the workplace usually result from poor human resource management, for example lack of motivation, employees benefits, etc. (Montana and Charnov, 2008, p. 123)

Fathers, Family and Work

Recent study showed that fathers would like to spend more time at home. Stuart Jeffries stated in an online article “Fathers, Family and Work” that majority of the working fathers today are not happy, or are unsatisfied with work and life balance; meaning, they are not really happy with their job. They want to spend weekends with their children. (Jeffries, 2009)

Fathers were interviewed in the workplace and these were those who liked to be at home with their kids during weekends. Sixty-two percent of the working fathers would like to spend their time with their children. Husbands would not like to be alone doing the childcare, but they love to spend time with their children.

Work-Life Balance in Saudi Arabia

In a research study in Saudi Arabia, 132 managers were asked of their opinion on work and life balance. Questionnaires were sent to the participants. The results were that 94% of the participants answered that they would continue working even if they had enough money because it would allow them to live comfortably. In this study, it was found that money was a motivational factor.

The participants also responded that family and work were very important to them, in fact their activities were focused on these two. It was also found in the survey that Saudi managers were committed to their responsibilities as managers, and that their attitude towards work allowed them to work hard and accept the tasks and responsibilities given them. (International Journal of Manpower, 1989)

Methodology

The meaning of work-life balance among Saudi Arabia workers was surveyed on employees in Saudi Arabia. Workers were asked what motivated them to work even if they had enough money. We used open-ended questions to allow the participants to answer the questions freely.

The participants were chosen from a sample population of managers and workers in government institutions in Saudi Arabia. Fifty employees were asked to answer questionnaires sent to them through emails. Their answers were varied considering that government employees in Saudi Arabia have several motivational factors.

Questions asked in the questionnaire

• Do you find satisfaction in work?
• Can you compare this to your satisfaction in your time with your family?
• Do you find your working time flexible enough to allow you to spend precious time with your family?
• What flexible time in work do you recommend?
• What motivational factors do you find in your workplace?
• What are the factors that made you dissatisfied with your work?
• Do work benefits, such as salary, allowances, vacations, provide satisfaction in your jobs?

Majority of the responses from Saudi government workers were positive. Most have satisfaction in their job due to the flexible working hours provided by the government, the salaries and allowances, and other benefits.

Conclusion/Recommendations

There has been a shift in focus in work and life balance, as seen in the government and private sector. There should be more attention focused on employee’s satisfaction, working conditions, working time flexibility, because of the many benefits that organizations attain for introducing work-life balance.

Success in work and life balance depends on many factors. It has to be a cooperative work depending on situations in the workplace and the employee’s satisfaction at work. Management and employees have to work and interact in the process.

Surveys found that fathers find satisfaction in their job, but they also want to be with their family and to be a part of child care. They can do this during weekends, but they do not want full-time. Generally, workers in the survey responded positively when asked about work and life balance in the Saudi offices and factories.

References

Burke, R. (2000). Do managerial men benefit from organizational values supporting work-personal life balance? Women in Management Review, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 81-89. Web.

Greenhaus, J. H., Collins, K. M., & Shaw, J. D. (2003). The relation between work-family balance and quality of life. Journal of Vocational Behavior 63 (2003) 510–531. Web.

International Journal of Manpower (1989). The meaning of work in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Management [e-journal], Available through: City University Library .

Haar, J. M., Spell, C., & O’Driscoll, M. (2009). Managing work-family conflict: exploring individual and organisational options. NZJHRM 2009 Special Issue: Work-Family & Gender, Vol. 9 (3)

Jeffries, S. (2009). Why don’t more dads work part-time? Guardian. Web.

McIntosh, S. (2003). Work-life balance: How life coaching can help. Business Information Review. SAGE Publications, London, Thousand Oaks and New Delhi., Vol. 20(4): 181–189 [0266-3821(200312)20:4; 181–189; 040732].

Montana, P. J. and Charnov, B. H. (2008). Management, 4th edition. UK: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc.

White, M., Hill, S., McGovern, P., Mills, C., & Smeaton, D. (2003). ‘High-performance’ management practices, working hours and work-life balance. British Journal of Industrial Relations 41:2 June 2003 0007-1080 pp. 175-195. Web.

Williams, L. & Jones, A. (2005). Changing demographics. The Work Foundation. Web.

In spite of the fact, the human organism is able to recover quickly, and it can overcome a lot of stressful situations successfully, its energy is not endless. Many people feel the emotional and physical exhaustion which are caused by the particular features of their work, and they can result in the professional burnout. Counselors are also at risk because of the specifics of their work. The necessity to contact people much, help them overcome their personal problems, provide understanding and commitment can lead to further burnout. Professionals often concentrate on their work results, but they do not pay much attention to their own emotional and physical needs. Thus, the high workload, significant emotional tensions, and stresses can result in the counselors’ personal problems, which can affect the level of their competency. That is why it is important to focus on self-care techniques in order to maintain the balance between the professional and personal life, prevent the negative results of ongoing stresses and challenges, and be effective in all the life spheres.

It is possible to accentuate the necessity to respond to the clients’ needs in order to be an effective and responsible practitioner who cares for his clients’ wellness, emotional stability, and social effectiveness. The role of an empathic counselor who is able to listen to his clients attentively and give them a piece of advice is important for those people who need support and help. However, counselors also require the necessary compassion and support in order to have enough energy to help their clients. Thus, self-care is an important component of the person’s development because of the necessity to satisfy personal demands, overcome emotional challenges, and control work stresses. The professional activity of counselors is based on the necessity to contact a lot of people and help them resolve their personal issues (Murphy & Dillon, 2011). Such an occupation is closely connected with the risk of professional burnout, and self-care can be discussed as an effective method to overcome the problem and balance the life spheres.

The self-care practices are useful when they are incorporated in the person’s life on a regular basis to help the organism preserve the energy and life balance. It is important to note that self-care practices should involve physical and mental exercises as well as opportunities for emotional relaxation. Murphy and Dillon concentrate on determining several methods of self-care for counselors, which are the creation of a supportive environment, self-empathy, the focus on personal time, and health practices (Murphy & Dillon, 2011). To maintain vigor and perform as a professional effectively, it is important to have regular communication with relatives and stable social interactions with friends and colleagues. The supportive environment is significant for people because of their needs for affirmation, and those persons who can give a good piece of advice are influential when it is necessary to overcome a challengeable situation. Moreover, regular contacts with relatives and friends are important for persons to receive emotional support, and good relations with colleagues are significant for creating the comfortable atmosphere at work (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2009). That is why, it is important to plan activities with references to the time for communication.

Counselors should have the high level of empathy to respond effectively to their clients’ problems the resolution of which is often based on the understanding and commitment. Nevertheless, it is also helpful to pay attention to responding to the personal needs because those persons who are oriented to self-empathy are also empathic in relation to the other people (Murphy & Dillon, 2011). A counselor cannot be a responsible professional when he is not responsible for his own needs, emotional state and health. It is important to have time for the outside interests and hobbies which help relax from the everyday work routine. A lot of people suffer from overworking because the work problems also occupy their minds when they are not at their workplace. It is necessary to distinguish between the working hours and leisure time to preserve the necessary balance in life. Counselors often advise physical exercises as the way to overcome the negative stress effects. However, definite health practices should be also followed by counselors themselves because their work can be discussed as one of the most stressful occupations. Such practices as yoga and meditation are necessary for people to feel active and full of energy. Furthermore, people often do not pay attention to the importance of the healthy diets and enough sleep. The basic rules of self-care are to have enough sleep, follow the nutritious diet, do regular exercises which can be the part of the fitness program, yoga or walking and jogging. That is why, following the principles of the healthy lifestyle and focusing on the interesting hobby, it is possible to reduce the risk of stress and increase the life energy and professional effectiveness.

Being a professional in a field of counseling, it is necessary to develop a personal plan according to which it will be possible to balance the life spheres and regulate the workload. It is important to pay attention to the fact that a person cannot complete all the tasks effectively when he or she suffers from overworking and has no enough time for relaxation. Thus, it is necessary to set the priorities and distinguish the limits in the working process (Seligman & Reichenberg, 2009). People cannot perform effectively when they have to work on the brink of a possible. Professionals should determine the time for their families, social interactions, physical activities, and hobbies. Moreover, setting a work schedule, it is necessary to assess the personal abilities and make conclusions about the workload because the overworking with constant stresses contributes to the quick professional breakout. For instance, it is important for the physical and emotional health to fix such days as Saturday and Sunday as the days for the family rest or active leisure time.

Focusing on caring for the other people, it is necessary to remember about self-care as one of the most significant life principles. People should not feel guilty paying much attention to their interests and hobbies because it is the major component of the effective relaxation. Organisms cannot function effectively without good rest. Emotional isolation and concentration only on the clients’ problems can lead to the counselors’ emotional exhaustion. The lack of positive emotions and the necessary support can lead to the depression. The lack of physical activities and unhealthy habits can lead to the decrease of vigor. Thus, to be an effective professional, it is necessary to concentrate not only on competence and professional skills and abilities but also on self-care.

References

Murphy, B. C. & Dillon, C. (2011). Interviewing in action in a multicultural world. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Seligman, L. W. & Reichenberg, L. W. (2009). Theories of counseling and psychotherapy: Systems, strategies, and skills. Boston: Pearson.

Introduction

In a 2013 article in the Guardian, a business director said the following when discussing the introduction of cloud technologies, “the age of work/life balance is over, it’s now about blend” (Davidi). Cloud technologies have indeed revolutionized both the jobs in various sectors and daily life. Its capabilities are increasingly impact the manner firms operate, providing capabilities such as collaboration, workplace mobility, and information access at distance. Washington D.C. is home to numerous government and business organizations that have benefitted or will significantly if the technology is widely implemented. In combination with a highly stressful culture of work in many sectors in D.C. that promote long-hours as well as overloaded infrastructure, cloud computing can potentially shift the status quo of work-life balance.

Washington D.C. Culture and Economy

Washington D.C. serves as the capital of the United States, home to the large federal government. This has also brought numerous firms to the district including legal and lobbying firms, social organizations and thinktanks, and financial institutions. In addition, the region has also become a hub for various technology firms working with the government and other companies. Finally, the city hosts a significant hospitality and tourism sector.

The city’s sectors, particularly federal government, legal firms, and others are known for their long work hours culture. Meanwhile, due to high costs of living with rent for two bedrooms starting at $1,500 is causing many workers to work overtime. Washington D.C. metro area has a population over 6 million people and holds an above average density. The city’s infrastructure is significantly worn due to the number of people commuting to work in the city, with some of the most congested roads and public transportation in the country, resulting in residents spending hours commuting (Harkness).

Cloud Technology

A brief overview of cloud technologies is necessary to demonstrate their purpose and effect on changing the Washington D.C. economy. Cloud computing is a model which enables on-demand convenient access to a shared pool of computing resources. These can include networks, storage, servers, applications, analytics, or artificial intelligence that are provisioned and released with minimal management. The purpose is to deliver these computing services over the internet (“the cloud”). Cloud computing offers various benefits ranging from flexibility and innovation to efficiency and economies of scale. Since the IT resources are stored on the cloud, it creates cost-saving for businesses and effectively provide elastic scaling since the the cloud is virtual and one receives the right amount of IT resources when they are needed at the proper geographic location. Elimination of on-site hardware provides two benefits of eliminating the need for maintenance, taken care of dedicated cloud service providers. Furthermore, it offers the essential benefit of accessibility to all these digital services are available remotely from home and mobile devices with proper access credentials.

Washington D.C. firms and federal governments have taken initiatives to implement cloud computing into the operations of organizations. Due to the sensitive nature of operations, the adoption of cloud technologies has been carefully overseen by the development of standards which focus on areas of interoperability, portability, and security. The cloud services must follow standards of an interoperable platform where providers can work together using various delivery models and securely. The process is painstaking but follows the IT standards life cycle which can be seen at both government and private sector industries as seen in the figure (Metheny 39). Therefore, it can be argued that cloud technologies are effective and well-tested before being integrated into practice, making them reliable to use for professional purposes.

Work-Life Balance

Cloud computing offers a number of features that are integrated into business or organization operations such as on-demand services, accessibility, availability, automation, and economics among others. In the modern digital world, the workday often intrudes into personal lives. Furthermore, in the economic culture of Washington D.C. where domestic and international politics are always turning and affecting markets, policy, and influences on the population, some professionals find themselves constantly on alert or working long hours. While technology does bring work into personal lives, it can also relieve it and establish a better work-life balance.

Work-life relationships are commonly perceived in three distinct categories of compartmentalized, overlapping, and encompassing. Compartmentalized individuals see a clear boundary between work and life and are able to get work done efficiently while rarely using devices for work outside of hours. That is rare, and most individuals hold an overlapping perspective assuming that it is not feasible to separate work and personal life.

They hold an elastic tolerance level on work spilling into personal lives (Sarker et al. 146). This is common among many sectors that deal with international partners with increased globalization and interconnectivity among time-zones, common for Washington D.C.

Cloud computing offers the potential for improved productivity by transforming business operations and offering integration of all fundamental features. For example, Google through its platform which is cloud-based has simplified and integrated email, document collaboration, instant messaging, and video conferencing tools. Better efficiency leads to better overall productivity, allowing to get more done during normal work hours, freeing up more time for personal lives (Weir).

Cloud technologies provide greater opportunity of remote work that holds significant benefits for companies. Employees are more flexible with their time boosting productivity and significantly benefiting their health and well-being. Furthermore, companies can hire for positions in a wider area in the region due to the possibilities. Practically all known challenges of remote work can be easily solved through cloud computing solutions (Messier 167).

The concept of mobility frightens organizations that are fixed, such as many established firms or government agencies. However, mobility ensures a greater level of access to work from any device or network connection that is available, setting up the technological and cultural ability to work from anywhere and collaborate through the cloud-based services. In some circumstances such as the government shutdown seen periodically, or as seen in China with the coronavirus outbreak that could easily impact the United States – such capabilities are highly beneficial for management of time and work-life balance.

Periodic instances of remotely working from home, even if it is one or two days a week has both personal and social benefits. Workers are able to save significant time by avoiding commutes in D.C. and also achieve increased productivity working from the comfort of home. Furthermore, employees are able to dedicate greater parts of such days to family matters or personal development by scheduling appropriately and having the time and capability to get rest.

Research also shows generally less stress in mobility work. Cloud computing serves the purpose of improving the quality of IT services which is positively associated with better work-life balance. Meanwhile, the consequences that concern many enterprises such as lack of discipline and poor social cohesion which may arise with this model, can be mitigated by introducing more virtual networking options and alternating between work-in-the-office and remote-work days (Holland and Bardoel 2580).

Conclusion

Cloud computing is an innovative technology which is seeking greater integration into modern businesses and agencies. Washington D.C. which sees long hours, round-the-clock alertness, and social infrastructure overload, the technologies will positively impact work-life balance. By increasing mobility of remote work capabilities, employees can benefit from increased time otherwise spent on commuting and inefficient productivity waste in the office.

References

Davidi, Adam. “How Is Cloud Computing Enhancing Our Ability to Work Anywhere?” The Guardian. 2013. Web.

Dataflair Team. “Features of Cloud Computing – 10 Major Characteristics of Cloud Computing.” DataFlair. 2019. Web.

Harkness, Peter A. “Washington, D.C., is Experiencing an Infrastructure Crisis” Government Technology, 2016. Web.

Holland, Peter, and Anne Bardoel. “The Impact Of Technology On Work In The Twenty-First Century: Exploring The Smart And Dark Side.” The International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 27, no. 21, 2016, pp. 2579-2581. Web.

Messier, Ric. Collaboration with Cloud Computing: Security, Social Media, and Unified Communications. Elsevier, 2014.

Metheny, Matthew. Federal Cloud Computing: The Definitive Guide for Cloud Service Providers. Syngress, 2017.

Sarker, Suprateek, et al. “Managing Employee’s Use of Mobile Technologies to Minimize Work-Life Balance Impacts.” MIS Quarterly Executive, vol. 1, no. 4, 2012, pp. 143-157. Web.

Weir, Jaspar. “ Three Ways Technology Can Help With Work-Life Balance” Forbes. 2019. Web.

“What is Cloud Computing?” Microsoft Azure. Web.

Wiener, Aaron. “ The Prospects for the D.C. Region’s Slumping Economy.” Washington City Paper. 2015. Web.

The ability of a person to maintain the healthy work-life balance is critical for his performance and commitment to the goals set by leaders. Therefore, managers should enable workers to attain this goal (Bogenschneider, 2014). The key issue is that non-profit organizations usually provide more support to employees.

It is important to understand why they act in this way. Overall, it is consider a wide set of factors such as inability to compete in terms of salaries, regulations, unionizations of workforce, and changes in the labor market. The analysis of these issues can be useful for understanding the methods for retaining the most skilled professionals.

At first, it is important to mention that non-profit organizations are not able to compete with various enterprises in terms of salaries that they can offer to workers. Therefore, they need to attract potential candidates by offering some non-monetary rewards (Valcik & Benavides, 2011, p. 184).

It is also necessary to mention that many modern employees value the work-family balance and they often regard non-profit organizations as potential employers. This is one of the trends that should be taken into account. One should also note the emphasis on work-life became one of the main trends in the late seventies, at the time, when the rate of employment among women increased significantly (Rajadhyaksha, 2012).

Nevertheless, during the later decades, many organizations tried to help male employees maintain the work-life balance. These are the main details that one should take into account. It is also important to study the critical differences between profit and non-profit businesses.

For example, non-profit organizations do not often have to meet stringent deadlines that often prompt people to work overtime. This is one of the details that should be taken into consideration. Under such circumstances, employees should be compensated for their efforts, but non-profit organizations are not able to offer this reward.

Apart from that, one should bear in mind that non-profit organizations are often operated by the government. For instance, one can speak about schools or medical institutions. The employees of these institutions are more likely to be unionized, and employers have to consider the increased bargaining power of workers. Thus, the influence of legislative and social factors should not be disregarded.

Nevertheless, it is critical to remember that the policies of non-profit organizations can be explained by dramatic changes in the labor market trends, especially unwillingness of people to work in certain economic sectors. In particular, one can mention the shortage of nurses in many hospitals.

As a result, the work of these medical institutions can be impaired. This is why these organizations try to eliminate or reduce administrative stressors. Additionally, they want to focus on the work-life balance in order to retain nurses (Teo, Yeung, & Chang, 2011). Apart from that, this approach can be useful for reducing the employee turnover, which is one of the problems affecting public hospitals (Teo et al., 2011). These are the main points that can be made.

On the whole, this discussion shows that non-profit organizations attach importance to the work-life balance because they want to recruit and retain the most skilled professionals. This strategy can be useful for reducing the turnover of employees who may be dissatisfied with their jobs due to some reasons.

In the long term, this approach can be vital for strengthening their commitment. Additionally, these institutions have to find ways of competing with businesses that usually offer better salaries. These are the main elements that can be distinguished.

Reference List

Bogenschneider, K. (2014). Family Policy Matters: How Policymaking Affects Families and What Professionals Can Do. New York, NY: Routledge.

Rajadhyaksha, U. (2012). Work-life balance in south east asia: The indian experience. South Asian Journal of Global Business Research, 1(1), 108-127.

Teo, S., Yeung, M., & Chang, E. (2011). Administrative stressors and nursing job outcomes in Australian public and non-profit health care organisations. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 21(200), 1443–1452.

Valcik, N., & Benavides, T. (2011). Practical Human Resources for Public Managers: A Case Study Approach. New York, NY: CRC Press.

Introduction

Choosing what kind of job to take is perhaps the most challenging task that everyone faces. Numerous college students have found themselves being victims of wrong decision-making as far as this choice is concerned. Specialists are usually attracted to monetary benefits, failing to consider other important aspects of jobs like non-monetary advantages.

These benefits include the number of hours that a person is expected to commit to the job. However, only the employee themselves determines their work-life balance. This essay explores this issue in particular.

The more time passes, the harder it becomes to consider options regarding the hours spent at the workplace. So, the sooner people realize the importance of work-life balance, the easier it will get to deal with any problem.

In this essay on work-life balance, the author examines its importance and provides tips on how the balance can be achieved.

Importance of work-life balance

Work-life balance can be defined as arrangements employers make to enable their employees to live full lives. This implies that as much as they give their best to the job, the employees will have a chance to do other things in their lives. Work-life balance is a very important aspect of any working environment. Among its advantages is that employees are more motivated to perform their duties since they do not get overworked. This is advantageous to both employers and employees.

The employees benefit in that they develop healthy relationships with their employers, and at the same time, they get time to build non-professional aspects of their lives. This way, they can develop their careers positively and engage in productive activities as they build their careers. On the other hand, employers are able to achieve greater productivity in their firms since employees are greatly motivated to work.

Employees give their best to the job due to motivation; thus, quality and greater production volume are guaranteed (Clayton, 2005, p. 27). The employers also benefit in other ways since the benefits they give their employees enable them to gain good publicity that attracts more productive workers and customers if the firm is in the hospitality industry.

From the above discussion, it is apparent that work-life balance is of utmost importance in organizations. Firms should therefore know how to appropriately establish appropriate measures to enable their employees to live a full life. On the other hand, employees should strive to live a balanced life even in conditions that are seemingly unfavorable. The following paragraphs explore how employees and employers can achieve work-life balance.

Strategies for attaining work-life balance

Even though the relationship between a person’s professional life and his/her personal life is indubitably rich, it may prove to be tricky to attain and keep a healthy work-life balance. The following are some of the strategies that employees can use to live a full life. First of all, it is of utmost importance for an employee or employer to keep calm in challenging situations.

For instance, if a person is experiencing personal problems like problems of marriage, he/she should ensure that the same does not affect his/her professional life. If the person is an employer, he/she should not, for instance, fire an employee due to his/her personal problems. On the other hand, an employee should ensure that he/she does not let his/her personal life affect his/her professional performance.

For instance, if the employee is experiencing family problems, he/she should maintain the same level of performance as when he/she does not have such problems (Gordon, 2003, p. 1). Likewise, stress in the workplace should not affect the personal lives of the employees. Employees should ensure they live their personal lives to the fullest while ignoring any problems that may have occurred in the working environment.

An employee should also ensure that he/she engages in important bodily activities to live a well-balanced life. He/she should thus engage in physical activities and ensure that he/she sleeps and eats well.

It is thus apparent that any job that gives an employee time to engage in the aforementioned activities can be considered to be offering work-life balance. It is also important for the employee to set boundaries for both professional and personal activities. This will ensure that both lives do not clash (Clutterbuck, 2003, p. 112). This way, the employee will be able to achieve enviably in both realms of life.

Conclusion

As evidenced in the discussion above, work-life balance is a very important determinant of professional performance. It is thus of essence for employers to ensure that they give their employees adequate time to engage in personal activities. On the other hand, employees should ensure that they use the free time they are given by their employers wisely.

They should ensure that they engage in productive personal activities and, at the same time, avoid taking their professional problems home. It is thus of essence that people evaluate prospective employers keenly to make wise choices as they choose between jobs. This will ensure that they do not take jobs and regret them later.

Reference List

Clayton, D. (2005). The Work-life Balance Program. University of California.

Clutterbuck, D. (2003). Managing the Work-Life Balance. Journal of Management, pp. 101-120.

Gordon, M. (2003). 9 Strategies For Regaining Your Work Life Balance. Web.

Following the changing business environment and the demands at work place, the need for cash when one is at school is currently compelling people to work and at the same time they are doing/taking some courses. Balancing studies while at the same time one is in school is not an easy task; it requires one to sit down and plan his or her time so as to have sufficient time for both causes. One should be aware that the two have targets that have to be obtained for success. This paper gives an analysis of how I have managed to allocate time for working and studying; it will aim at assisting my fellow students to know the considerations that they need to make when making such a decision.

Before one decides to go back to class, he should make the decision without underestimating his capabilities; what one can do should be well interpolated so as to venture in the area that one is capable of doing. If one wants to go back to school alongside his job, then he should start by having a vision of what he want to attain after the completion. Then choose a course that will lead him to the destiny that he aims to reach. If it is the case of a student, then he should be able to know the available jobs that are in line with what he can offer in terms of experience, interests, and the time that is available. The period that the study will take should be analyzed in making the decision as well as the third parties that will be affected by the decision. If for example you have realized that you have some potential in accounting; it will be more affordable if you go and start a course in accounting (Fink, p. 32).

The fact that a person has decided to go back to school doesn’t make the day any longer; what will be important is to “create time” this means that the individual prioritizes the activities that he has to do in such a way that he can have extra time that he can then devote to either studies or part time job. There are some things that we may not be able to change and thus we will analyze the situation knowing that there are some hours that are already dictated. This is done by understanding the work or study schedule. The start point that I took was having the institute’s time table and the job time table then I analyzed the time that I was likely to be free. When terming a certain hour/time as free, I also allocated time for domestic attention. If there is something that can be done to schedule the time tables to fit ones need then it should be done. For example there are some days that I am supposed to work in an afternoon shift,-the same time that lessons are taking place, however it is possible to talk to my supervisor to allocate me morning shifts instead.

This is more felt when one is making a decision of going back to school; he should be sure that he will raise the fees required over the entire period of study. Talking to people who have prior experience in the area of study or work is important so one can understand how demanding the job/studies are. Other than finances, there is the issue of materials that are required for the course (Harris, p. 72). Before making the decision, it’s important to be sure that the material that may be required in future will be available. We always think that we can stop doing this or that so we can have extra coins or some time; however it isn’t always as easy as it is to say. After we have created the finances and time by sacrificing something, individual efforts should be made to ensure that one lives to the promise that he has made to himself. Self discipline and self leadership is required. Those parties that you think are time wasters or money wasters are important in life but can hold as one takes a different course to education or work. Managing time is all about managing oneself, before I decided to take an extra course, there are some social activities that I left, they include playing golf an supporting an England football league team -Arsenal. This requires hard work, determination and self discipline.

One may be willing to do something but may be out of reach, in terms of distance/ accessibility. With technology there is the advantage of distance learning and thus though as much as distance may not be a big issue, however it comes with its challenges. For example, when I decided to double deal studies and work, I ensured that my locality had power and network to access the internet any time I wanted to (Durand, p. 10).

Life changes in terms of technology and social factors and before one takes a long term decision, there is the need to interpolate the effect that the decision will have for the current, medium, and long term life of the decision maker for example if a bachelor who undertakes classes until 9.00 at night, that will last for five years; what will be the effect of the decision if he decides to get married only three months into the program?, the result may not be favourable for the man. The above example illustrates the need to think of the future when making the decision. When planning the time that I had, I thought of when I’m expecting to get married, this is because marriage comes with responsibilities, thus I chose a course that won’t extend past the marriage date.

Works Cited

1. Fink, Philip R. “Education Savings Planning Guide, Including 529 Plans.” The Tax Adviser 36.6 (2005): 366. Academic OneFile.
2. Harris, John M. “Financial planning for major initiatives a framework for success.” hfm (Healthcare Financial Management) 61.11 (2007): 72. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO.
3. Durand, Dave. “Self-Discipline.” Personal Excellence 14.1 (2009): 10. Business Source Complete. EBSCO.

Introduction

The past three decades have seen organizations take a huge interest in the working and personal lives of their employees. The understanding that work issues and personal life issues affect the performance of the individual employee has sparked this interest. Lack of work-life balance negatively influences the individual’s performance at the workplace as well as in their personal life.

Many organizations have therefore launched work-life balance programs aimed at resolving the conflicts between work and family life. The importance of these programs has been accentuated by the increasing demands on employees by the organization as well as the demographic changes in the workplace.

This paper will explore the notion of work-life balance with a detailed review on how the practice has influenced the way that management is conducted. It will then offer a critical view of the ethical and moral implications of the practice and conclude by giving an outlook on the sustainability of work-life balance practices.

Brief Introduction to the Practice

Before the 1970s, “work” and “family” were treated as separate entities and the organization was not concerned about non-work related issues affecting the employee. This situation began to change when researchers highlighted a spill over effect where aspects of work affected family life while aspects of family affected work life (Pranav 2010).

This theory led to further investigations, which revealed that occurrences on one segment (either work or life) could have a negative or positive consequence on the other segment. The revelations led to a change in the organizational outlook of work and personal life and work-life balance issues begun to receive significant attention by employers during the 1980s. A number of activities in the labour market also precipitated this attention.

To begin with, the second half of the 20th century witnessed a marked increase in work demands on individuals. This resulted in an increasing encroachment of work demands on family and personal time. The strong rise in women’s labour market participation in the industrialized world also brought to the forefront the issue of work-life balance since the increase in women workers raised the number of people who combine work and family life (Pascale, Laura & Tanja 2009).

This observation is corroborated by Bird (2006) who observes that the initial focus on work-life balance was precipitated by the struggles faced by working mothers who had a hard time balancing their work obligations with those of raising a family.

At the onset, work-life balance was structured to address the needs of working mothers. By the mid 1980s, organizations were making significant changes to their workplace polices so as to accommodate the needs of the working mother. These changes included extended maternity leaves, onsite child-care services, and flexible work hours to help the women manage their family obligations. By the end of the decade, men also began to voice concerns about their work-life issues.

This resulted in work-life balance becoming viewed as an issue that affected both genders and not only women. By the late 1980s, researchers begun to acknowledge that work-life issues were not only limited to working women but also men. Bird (2006) documents that the early 1990s were characterized by an appreciation of the importance of work-life balance for all employees regardless of their gender.

Expansive research on the topic led to numerous work-life programs being proposed and implemented by many organizations. Lotte (2011) observes that the practice of integrating work demands with people’s personal needs yielded to positive results for both employees and the organization.

How Work-Life Practices have Influenced Management

For the work-life programs to have the desired positive impact, managers must implement them. Failure to this, employees will continue to experienced burnout and feel out of touch with their non-work lives therefore reducing their productivity. Work life balance has therefore had some significant influences on how management of employees is conducted.

Organizations have had to include work-life balance policies in order to attract new workers and reduce the turnover rate among their current employees. Research in the area of work-life balance reveals that many individuals in the labour market make work decisions based on work-life issues (Perry-Smith, Jill, & Blum, 2000). Lotte (2011) theorizes that the reason for this is that employees today are seeking to seamlessly combine their work and family lives.

As such, organizations that fail to offer work-life balance programs that will enable the prospective employee to balance their career and family chase away a pool of talented employees who are seeking family supportive organizations. Management is therefore forced to adopt family supportive policies in order to attract a greater pool of prospective employees than it would have if it were only offering traditional career paths.

One of the objectives of work-life balance practices is to change work activities so that they help employees with their personal lives but without degrading the effectiveness of work (Lotte 2011). With this consideration, organizations have adopted cultures that are supportive of work-life activities.

In some cases, this has meant doing away with deeply entrenched long working hour cultures and adopting an attitude that is accommodative of work-life balance. Visser and Laura (2007) confirm that work-life balance policies are having an impact on how organizations operate by forcing them to adopt practices that take into consideration the personal needs of the employees.

Work-life balance policies have obligated managers to come up with more flexible working options for their employees. A report by Visser and Laura (2007) revealed that because of the progress made in work-life, 73% of the employees interviewed were offered some form of ad hoc arrangements by their employers.

These arrangements included part-time options, flexible working hours, job sharing, and working from home option. In some cases, management has been required to include voluntary reduced hours in order to maintain certain workers. Yeandle (2002) notes that some women find it hard to go back to work after having children.

In order to retain such employees, the organization might have to adopt family-friendly policies such as the presence of onsite childcare centres and voluntary reduced hours. Without such programs in place, such employees who have dependent children would not be able to keep working for the organization.

The relationship between employees and employers has also been forced to change by work-life practices. Specifically, employees have been given more leeway in controlling their schedule. Management is today forced to work closer with employees and be prepared to reach a compromise concerning their working hours. Traditionally, employees had a fixed work schedule and they were required to always report to work at specific times and leave after a given number of hours.

Special permission had to be given for employees to break this cycle and provision of this permission was at the discretion of management. Work-life balance policies have given employees a right to request for work flexibility and managers are obligated to give such requests due consideration (Visser & Laura 2007). Work-life practices have therefore led to increased flexibility in work hours with employees having a greater say over how they manage their time.

The motivational methods used by management have also changed due to work-life practices. Managers recognize that work-life practices can be used as a motivational tool for the employees. By offering flexible work plans, the employee is able to reduce work-life conflict. Yeandle (2002) asserts that the perceived control leads to greater employee satisfaction with their work schedule. This positive feeling leads to improved attitudinal and behavioural outcomes from the employee and these lead to higher productivity.

This is because the practices lead to employees feeling that they have been treated well by the organization. In return, they feel obligated to act in a manner favourable to the organization and these involve working hard to achieve organizational goals and objectives. Work-life practices have therefore led to changes in motivational methods used to inspire employees to reach set organizational goals.

Organizations have also been obligated to foster open environments where personal issues are considered together with work issues. While the organization traditionally sort to separate work from personal life, the work-life practice has led to the two being integrated to some degree. Poelmans (2005) observes that an organizational culture that allows employees to discuss their non-work lives with each other resulted in more satisfied employees who exhibited higher performance.

Managers have therefore made changes to the organization by adopting open cultures where work lives and non-work lives can coexist. This approach has led to favourable results since, as Poelmans (2005) reveals, employees who discuss their non-work related issues at work have greater satisfaction with their jobs and demonstrate higher productivity than those who keep their personal issues compartmentalized.

Management has had to make use of quality of work life indicators to keep track of their employees well being. Such an approach has been necessitated by the revelation that poor work-life balance elevates potential impairments to health and safety.

Wirtz and Katharina (2011) report that work-life conflict is associated with an increase in several health impairments, poor well-being, sleep disorders, and fatigue. All these conditions compromise the productivity of the employee. By utilizing quality of work life indicators, management can assess the effectiveness of work-life balance policies and make relevant adjustments.

Ethical and Moral Implications of Work-Life Practices

Work-life balance practices have a number of significant ethical and moral implications for the employees and employers. A significant ethical issue arising from work-life balance is who should be entitled to benefits accrued from this practice. Waumsley, Houston and Marks (2010) observe that most research on family-life balance defines a family as a unit which includes children and the issues faced by people who do not live within a family structure are rarely addressed.

To make matters worse, most of the programs created have concentrated on the problems faced by families that include children. This omission of individuals not living within the traditional family structure with children is discriminatory since employees are supposed to be treated equally. Research indicates that single employees who have no children receive limited support for work-life balance from their employers.

Waumsley, et al. (2010) documents that in the USA, childless single employees perceived “less equity in social inclusion, work opportunities, access to benefits, respect for non-work life and work expectations than did employees with families” (p.4). Such findings suggest that lack of work-life support for certain employee groups is perceived negatively.

The assumption that only individuals with children and/or who live within traditional family structures experience work-life conflict is wrong. Measures should therefore be taken to come up with work benefit packages that consider all members of the organization.

Utilizing work-life balance policies might have a negative impact on the career advancement of the individual. While an organization will make work-life options available to everyone, most employees will avoid making use of these opportunities since they might lead to other employees assuming that they are not committed to the organization.

This fear is best elaborated by Kodz, Harper and Susan (2007) who stress that many workers are de-motivated by the opinion that making use of the work-life balance practices offered by their organization will hurt their career objectives.

The moral nature of the work-life balance programs is therefore called into question since it appears to offer benefits to the employee but at the same time, the employee is penalized for taking advantage of these benefits. The effectiveness of the programs is greatly diminished since most employees avoid making use of the programme since they do not want to hurt their future career advancement prospects.

Another issue that may arise from work-life balance practices is that they might increase conflict in some employees’ lives if they are universally adapted (Lauzun 2010). For example, work at home arrangements might be used to help the employee spend more time at home.

However, such an arrangement might be seen as intrusive by other employees who will perceive that the boundary between work and home is being blurred through such practices. Bird (2006) observes that without consulting with the employees, work-life balance practices will be ineffective since work-life balance is “an individual issue that affects the organization than it is an organizational issue that affects the individual” (p.3).

Work-life balance programs also raise the moral question of which employees are more deserving. Visser and Laura (2007) document that in many organizations, employee grade is a consideration when solutions such as flexible work time are being offered.

Employees who have post high school education are more likely to be offered these facilities that those without. This is discriminatory practice since all employees experience work-life conflict and the employee grade might not be a factor in the degree of the conflict experienced.

Sustainability of the Practice

The significance of work-life balance programs can be expected to increase in the coming years as the demographic changes in the workplace become more pronounced. Many countries have experienced an increase in the pension age and this is likely to result in an older workforce. With the increase in an ageing workforce, work-life issues will become more important and management will have to react accordingly in order to sustain the productivity of the employees.

The present day economic scenario requires organizations to increase their productivity in order to survive in the increasingly competitive business environment. In order to achieve this desirable increase in productivity, the organization relies on the input of the individual employee. Employees with improved work-life balance are more likely to make a positive contribution towards organizational performance and therefore ensure its future growth and success.

Elliot (2012) argues that work-life practices may indeed be the only way to ensure a sustainable economy for the country. She notes that without such practices, many working mothers would be forced to quit paid employment and this would come at a huge financial cost to the economy. As such, while the work-life practices may be costly for the organization to implement, their long-term benefits for the individual, organization, and society outweigh any cost incurred in their implementation.

Conclusion

This paper set out to discuss the notion of work-life balance, its implications on management and any ethical and moral issues that it might raise. It began by tracing the birth of work-life practices to the 1970s when the relationship between work and life was established with the revelation that aspects of work affected family life and aspects of family affected work.

The paper has demonstrated how part-time work, flexible working hours, and home based teleworking are instruments that have been exploited by Human Resource departments in organizations to help reconcile work and family life. The paper has documented the various ethical and moral issues raised by work-life practices including exclusion of some employees, victimization, and discrimination.

It concluded by noting that work-life issues will continue to be prevalent in the organizational setting and as such, organizations cannot ignore work-life issues without suffering consequences. It can therefore be expected that work-life balance will remain at the forefront of public policy issues for many decades to come.

References

Bird, J 2006, ‘Work-life balance doing it right and avoiding the pitfalls’, Employment Relations Today, vol. 33 no.3, pp. 1-9.

Elliot, A 2012, Flexible working and sustainable working practices. Web.

Kodz, J Harper, H & Dench, S 2007, Work-life balance: Beyond the rhetoric. London: IES.

Lauzun, H 2010, ‘Seeking Work-Life Balance: Employees’ Requests, Supervisors’ Responses, and Organizational Barriers’, The Psychologist-Manager Journal, vol. 13 no. 1, pp. 184–205.

Lotte, B 2011, ‘Redesigning work for gender equity and work-personal life integration’, Work & Family, vol. 14 no. 1, pp. 97-112.

Pascale, P Laura, D & Tanja, L 2009, ‘The effects of time-spatial flexibility and new working conditions on employees’ work-life balance: the Dutch case’, Work & Family’, vol. 12 no. 3, pp. 279-297.

Perry-Smith, J & Blum, T 2000 ‘Work-life human resource bundles and perceived organizational performance’, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 43 no.6, pp. 1107-1117.

Poelmans, S 2005, Work and family: an international research perspective, Sidney: Routledge.

Pranav, N 2010, ‘Overview of Work-Life Balance Discourse and Its Relevance in Current Economic Scenario’, Asian Social Science, vol.6 no.6, pp. 148-155.

Visser, F & Laura, W 2007, Work-life balance: Rhetoric versus reality? Web.

Waumsley, J Houston, D & Marks, G 2010, ‘What about Us? Measuring the Work-Life Balance of People Who Do Not Have Children’, Review of European Studies, vol. 2 no. 2, pp. 3-17.

Wirtz, A & Katharina, R 2011, ‘Working on Sundays–Effects on Safety, Health, and Work-life Balance’, Chronobiology International, vol. 28 no.4, pp. 361–370.

Yeandle, S 2002, Employed careers and family-friendly employment policies. London: Joseph Rowntree Foundation Policy Press.

Introduction

Human resource (HR) department has noble obligations to reduce employee turnover in an organisation. A decline of employee turnover requires HR to deploy appropriate strategies to enhance employee retention. High retention of employees means a reduction of recruitment together with training costs (Beechler & Woodward, 2009: 273).

This has the effect of reducing the overall costs encountered by organisations. Since costs are inversely related to the profit levels for an organisation in a fiscal year, strategies to retain employees are directly correlated to organisational profitability (Cegarra-Leiva, 2012: 93).

According to Beechler and Woodward (2009), profit-making organisations deploy profitability levels as measures of their performance (275). This implies that workforce retention strategies are also directly correlated with organisational performance.

Realisation of this relationship makes organisations across all industries seek mechanisms of retention of employees including deployment of WLB (work-life balance) initiatives to enhance employee job satisfaction (Cegarra-Leiva, 2012: 95).

This effort is based on the theoretical hypothesis that satisfied employees are less likely to leave organisations. From this fundamental background, the focus of this paper is to discuss whether the work-life balance initiatives improve employee retention and organisational performance.

Relationship between work-life balance initiatives, employee retention, and organisational performance

While operating in a knowledge-based economy, organisations encounter the challenges of retaining employees as one of the major strategies of workforce management. Addressing this challenge is essential to enhance competitive advantage for an organisation (Camuffo and Comacchio, 2005: 364).

In this effort, satisfaction of employees is essential. In the literature on WLB and retention of employees, WLB is defined as “individual’s ability, irrespective of age and gender, to find a life rhythm that allows individuals to combine their work with other responsibilities, activities, or aspirations” (Feldstead, Jewson, Phisacklea & Walter, 2002: 58).

The fundamental argument behind the significance of deployment of WLB approaches within an organisation is that incidences of personal conflicts arise in situations where there is no balance between non-working and the working life of employees. Moen, Kelly, and Huang (2008) define this conflict as family roles and interference with work life creating challenges or tensions for employees (413).

This suggests that such conflicts create incompatibilities between individual life and family life of employees with work pressures. Personal conflicts related to WLB challenges within an organisation create organisational and workforce psychological distresses (Lourel et al., 2009: 443)

Cegarra-Leiva et al. (2012) examined whether initiatives of WLB have indirect impacts on the retention of employees in an organisation through stimulation of high work satisfaction for employees in SME settings. The study recommended the improvement of satisfaction of employees in the SME sector in the effort to increase their retention (Cegarra-Leiva, 2012: 103).

For this to happen, research findings indicated, “the existence of a WLB culture in the organisation will increase job satisfaction and that it is essential for the managerial team to support a person-friendly organisation” (Cegarra-Leiva, 2012: 103). This recommendation is essential while establishing the roles played by WLB to enhance the performance of an organisation through workforce satisfaction.

However, the deployed empirical approach introduces a limitation to the study and hence the reliability of its finding in HR studies. The study assumed that respondents knew well about the mechanism of their organisational operations. It also used self-reports, which may have the implication of attracting biased findings.

HR studies on employee retention through satisfaction have the perspectives of WLB embedded in them. For instance, Cegarra, Dewhurst, and Eldridge (2010) argue that turnover is an essential variable that is directly correlated to poor job satisfaction (390). Based on this assertion, the current HR practices that are helpful in enhancing job satisfaction are rested on platforms of WLB.

According to Lambert (2007), such practices “help to foster employees’ quality of life and, as a consequence, workers will be more satisfied, motivated, and committed to a firm” (13). The existence of scholarly evidence on the value of WLB in enhancing job satisfaction and retention of employees within an organisation does not imply the nonexistence of scholarly literature presenting converse findings.

For instance, Poelmans et al. (2003) argue that deployment of WLB best practices within an organisation is not adequate (137). Rather, organisations also need to consider the creation of a culture that supports WLB approaches (Fleetwood, 2007: 356).

This suggests that WLB is not just an organisational performance enhancing a set of the best practices deployable by any organisation without establishment of a means of enhancing its effectiveness in the realisation of the desired goals.

Upon considering the roles of WLB in enhancing job satisfaction together with workforce retention, as argued above, implementation of such practices within an organisation falls in the hands of the HR. This mandate is derived from the definition of human resource.

According to Matusik and Hill (1998), HR management is “the process of attracting, developing, and maintaining a talented and energetic workforce to support organisational mission, objectives, and strategies” (693). In fact, several scholars such as Fleetwood (2007) consider WLBs as some of the best HR practices in the modern organisational workforce management approaches (353).

Upon inferring from the scholarly evidence on the connection between WLB and job satisfaction, it is probable that a connection between job satisfaction and retention of employees indicates the existence of a direct relationship between WLB and retention of employees.

HR management literature such as Crede et al. (2010) also indicate that satisfied employees are more likely to execute their roles within an organisation better than dissatisfied employees. Indeed, job satisfaction is related to the motivation of employees (248).

According to Hausknecht, Hiller, and Vance (2008), employee motivation and job satisfaction are both essential components for enhancing organisational performance (1235). This suggests probabilities for existence of a relationship of WLB with organisational performance. Crede et al. (2010) define job satisfaction as “pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job experience” (246).

This definition articulates job satisfaction with employees’ positive emotional reaction. Organisations attempt to measure qualitatively and quantitatively the levels of job satisfaction to help in the prediction of crucial organisational behaviours such as the capability to retain employees (Nyberg, 2010) and organisational performance (Crede et al., 2010).

Job satisfaction plays central roles in reducing the costs affecting the performance of an organisation such as “turnover costs, absenteeism expenses, and tasks associated errors”.

Hausknecht, Hiller, and Vance (2008) support this line of argument by claiming that management theorists are incredibly interested with the strategies of boosting job satisfaction since it leads to good employees’ life quality together with good health (1232).

These factors are essential in enhancing productivity and hence the performance of an organisation. Drawing from the work of Cegarra-Leiva (2012), WLB practices are important in enhancing job satisfaction. Upon combining this evidence with the evidence on the direct relationship between job satisfaction and performance, WLB practices are related directly to organisational performance.

WLB best practices take various aspects. One of such aspects is flexible work arrangement. The work of Hayman (2005) evidences positive impacts of flexible work arrangements on non-work together with work attitudes of employees (86).

Nevertheless, this work is not supported by empirical evidence. While focusing on empirical evidence, Hill, Miller, Weiner, and Colihan (1998) concluded that some initiatives of flexible work arrangement might have limited impacts on the attitude of employees towards their work.

Since positive attitude is an essential factor in determining the levels of task errors, it is also an essential factor influencing the performance of an organisation. By inferring from the work of Hill, Miller, Weiner, and Colihan (1998), flexible work arrangements may have limited impacts on the performance of an organisation.

Attitude to work is also an essential element for employee turnover. Therefore, the work of Hill, Miller, Weiner, and Colihan (1998) suggests that flexible work arrangements have a little implication on the retention of employees.

In the light of the above criticism, there is a growing scholarly consensus that WLB practices are significant in enhancing organisational performance. For instance, in an empirical research seeking to relate WLB and the variables of job characteristics, Hayman (2009) found out that flexible work schedules have a direct relationship with individual life balance.

The study deduced that providing flexible work schedules play central roles in integrating individual and family life with work. The applicability of Hayman’s (2009) findings to all organisations has limitations. The study only drew 56 percent participants from the administrative staff in a single university.

The variables used in the study were also not exhaustive. This means that some essential variables that may contribute to the found relationships may have not been reflected in the results of the empirical study.

Building in the above arguments, Hausknecht, Hiller, and Vance (2008) argue that employees are discontented with an organisation when their work life is not balanced. The researchers further emphasise the importance of ensuring that employees are maintained happy claiming that WLB can be an instrumental tool for enhancing the satisfaction of employees (Hausknecht, Hiller & Vance, 2008: 1225).

This implies that unsatisfied employees are incapable of delivering their tasks within an organisation in an effective and efficient way, thus making it experience crisis in terms of performance.

Directly congruent with this argument, Hausknecht, Hiller, and Vance (2008) suggest that an organisation encountering problems in the implementation of WLB experiences a vicious cycle of organisational crises starting with the unbalancing of the work life of employees, which leads to discontentment. Discontentment leads to poor employee performance, which in turn results in organisational crisis in terms of productivity.

Conclusion

Organisations seek strategies to improve their performance. Inferring from a wide body of literature of WLB, the paper argued that WLB is related to workers’ satisfaction, motivation, and retention.

However, these three factors have relationships with the performance of employees in different tasks allocated to them in organisations. Successful and timely execution of tasks allocated to employees is one of the indicators of the performance of organisations. Satisfaction, as an indicator of retention of employees, which is related to WLB, helps in creating a positive work attitude.

This results in reduced turnover and absenteeism cases, which affect the productivity of an organisation. Thus, organisations are recommended to implement WLB practices in the effort to facilitate the retention of employees together with increasing their performance.

References

Beechler, S.N, & Woodward, I.C. 2009. The Global ‘War for Talent. Journal of International Management, 15(7): 273–285.

Camuffo, A.D., & Comacchio, A.N. 2005. Linking Intellectual Capital and Competitive Advantage: A Cross-Firm Competence Model for Northeast Italian SMEs in the Manufacturing Industry. Human Resource Development International, 8(3): 361–377.

Cegarra, J.G., Dewhurst, F.W., & Eldridge, S.N. 2010. Linking Chief Knowledge Officers with Customer Capital through Knowledge Management Practices in the Spanish Construction Industry. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 21(3): 389–404.

Cegarra-Leiva, D.F., Sa´nchez-Vidal, M. C, & Cegarra-Navarro, Gabriel. 2012. Work life balance and the retention of managers in Spanish SMEs. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(1): 91–108.

Crede, M.N, Chernyshenko, O.A, Bagraim, G.N, & Sully, M.T. 2010. Contextual performance and the job satisfaction–dissatisfaction distinction: Examining artefacts and utility. Human Performance, 2(2): 246–272.

Feldstead, E.A et al. (2002). Opportunities to Work at Home in the Context of Work-Life Balance. Human Resource Management Journal, 12(3):54–76.

Fleetwood, S.M. 2007. Re-Thinking Work Life Balance. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18(3): 351–359.

Hausknecht, J.P., Hiller, N.J., and Vance, R.J. 2008. Work-Unit Absenteeism: Effects of Satisfaction, Commitment, Labour Market Conditions, and Time. Academy of Management Journal, 51(6): 1223–1245.

Hayman, J. R. 2009. Flexible work arrangements: exploring the linkages between perceived usability of flexible work schedules and work/life balance. Community, Work & Family, 12(3): 327-338.

Hayman, J.R. 2005. Psychometric assessment of an instrument designed to measure work/life balance. Research and Practice in Human Resource Management, 13(1): 85-92.

Hill, J.E., Miller, B.C., Weiner, S.P., & Colihan, J.S. 1998. Influences of the virtual office on aspects of work and work/life balance. Personnel Psychology, 51(3): 667-683.

Lambert, S.J. (2007). Added Benefits: The Link between Work Life Benefits and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour. The Academy of Management Journal, 2(1): 7-32.

Lourel, M.A. et al. 2009. Negative and Positive Spillover between Work and Home. Relationships to Perceived Stress of Job Satisfaction. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 24(5): 438–449.

Matusik, S.F., and Hill, C.L. 1998. The Utilisation of Contingent Work, Knowledge Creation, and Competitive Advantage. Academy of Management Review, 23(4): 689–697.

Moen, P.C, Kelly, E.K., & Huang, R.M. 2008. Fit Inside the Work-Family Black Box: An Ecology of the Life Course, Cycles of Control Reframing. Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology, 8(1): 411–433.

Nyberg, A.D 2010. Rating your high performance: Moderators of the performance-job satisfaction voluntary turnover relationship. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(3): 440–453.

Poelmans, S.A., Chinchilla, N.S., & Cardona, P.T. 2003. The Adoption of Family Friendly HRM Policies: Competing for Scarce Resources in the Labour Market. International Journal of Manpower, 24(2): 128–147.

Currently, only the largest corporations in the United States provide their employees with the paid maternity leave and with the opportunities to use the proposed on-site child care. Furthermore, the cases of providing paternity leaves are still few in comparison with the situation in such European countries as Sweden, Germany, and Iceland, where the number of provided paternity leaves is almost equal to the number of maternity leaves (Shaw, 2013, p. 352).

Challenges associated with maintaining the work-and-life balance are usually experienced by employees who have or plan to have children. As a result, these employees often face the necessity of choosing between the happiness of having a child and their career because of being deprived of opportunities to achieve the balance in planning their personal and professional life (Feierabend & Staffelbach, 2015; Shaw, 2013). From this point, it is necessary to discuss the approaches followed in the U.S. companies in order to guarantee the work-and-life balance for their employees in terms of proposing policies on the maternity leave and care for children.

The Work-And-Life Balance

The balance that is usually desired to be achieved by employees in the U.S. companies is associated with avoiding the necessity to choose between the family life and career progress. Thus, a young employee is oriented to have flexible work hours, he expects that the company can use the advantageous telecommuting systems, and he expects that the company will provide paid sick leaves even if the maternity leaves are not mentioned in the firm’s policy. In this case, it is possible to expect the ideal balance between the employee’s career and family life.

However, only few large U.S. organizations and the minority of small businesses can provide an employee with conditions necessary for maintaining the desired work-and-life balance (Shaw, 2013, p. 351). As a result, it is possible to claim that the approaches followed by modern U.S. organizations cannot be discussed as appropriate to achieve the discussed balance, and they are not attractive for many employees who need to choose between their families and careers.

The main reason is that modern corporations focus on increasing their employees’ productivity and decreasing the operations’ costs (Pyper, 2006; Shaw, 2013). As a consequence, companies are not interested in providing employees with flexible hours and paid long leaves. Employers are also not interested in spending costs on organizing on-site child care services or integrating innovative systems for communication with employees (Feierabend & Staffelbach, 2015).

Therefore, many U.S. companies only begin to revise workplace practices and retention approaches in their strategic plans. However, this approach is important because the level of the employees’ dissatisfaction is negatively correlated with the level of productivity (Feierabend & Staffelbach, 2015). It is important to state that in order to reduce stress and dissatisfaction, the condition to guarantee the work-and-life balance for employees should be met.

Paid Maternity Leave

Following the pattern of providing paid maternity leaves for employee in 160 countries, it is possible to propose the similar strategy for the companies in the United States (Shaw, 2013, p. 335). This requirement is important in order to focus on increasing the job satisfaction of employees, to provide them with the feeling of security, and to increase the employees’ commitment to the organization (Beauregard & Henry, 2009).

Furthermore, referring to the example of Sweden, where the costs associated with the paid leaves are shared by the organization and the government, it is important to guarantee the governmental support to the U.S. organizations in terms of providing the paid maternity leaves (Shaw, 2013, p. 351-352). As a result, having the funding provided by the government, the companies can give the necessary financial support to the employees while achieving their sustainability goals (Shaw, 2013). In their turn, the government can contribute to developing the effective social policy.

If the provision of the paternity leaves becomes the requirement for the U.S. companies, it is possible to expect positive changes in terms of the levels of employees’ commitment and retention. Employees should not choose between developing their family life and career, but they can make similar choices in their family if they have the opportunity to receive the maternity or paternity leave. There are situations when women hold higher job positions than their husbands, and it can be more rewarding for them to use the advantages of the paternity leave (Pyper, 2006, p. 7).

In this case, employees should have the right to make important decisions regarding the distribution of roles in their families regardless the factor of gender. The positive results of this approach are the focus on the employees’ work-and-life balance, the possibility to retain irreplaceable talents, the possibility for companies to improve the social responsibility practices, and the possibility for the authorities to improve the social environments while focusing on interests of satisfied employees.

Specialized Organizational Arrangements for Child Care

If an employee decides to combine the career with the provision of the child care, he or she demonstrates the willingness to work for the company in spite of life situations. Moreover, this employee also demonstrates high levels of work commitment. The other cause is the need, and the provision of more opportunities for an employee to perform duties and receive compensation is required in this case (Shaw, 2013, p. 335). As a result, a company should provide specific on-site or off-site child care services for their employees who have children.

According to Feierabend and Staffelbach, when such arrangements are organized and services are provided, it is possible to expect that both employers and employees will benefit from the initiative to invest in the child care because employees will be able to spend more time and resources on working, and employers will be able to increase the overall productivity (Feierabend & Staffelbach, 2015, p. 2).

Today, organizations can propose their employees different child care services, and the company chooses a specific variant depending on its costs, on the time necessary for the development, and on its role in increasing the employees’ performance and productivity (Payne, Cook, & Diaz, 2011, p. 226). Therefore, in order to address the needs and interests of parents efficiently, companies should take several steps.

The first step is the determination of the purpose for the arrangement because in spite of providing the child care, the proposed on-site and off-site services organized by the company can differ significantly in terms of specific functions. The second step is the financial and resource planning that is necessary in order to predict costs associated with the arrangement’s development (Payne et al., 2011, p. 226). The third step is the process of purchasing the necessary resources and materials and the development of the accommodation.

The fourth step is the direct organization of the services (Feierabend & Staffelbach, 2015, p. 4). While completing all these steps, organizations need to plan their investments and list the services depending on the employees’ needs because the proposed day child care should address the criteria of availability and convenience (Feierabend & Staffelbach, 2015; Payne et al., 2011). The main task of the employer is to save the time for the employee and resources for the company. As a result, the location of the child care should be properly planned in order to decrease the parental dependability and increase the feeling of satisfaction in employees.

Organizations’ Obligations toward Employees

An employer should be discussed as having an obligation to provide employees with the necessary flexibility in order for them to be able to combine their career and life goals. In spite of the fact that many companies follow traditional views regarding the organization of the employees’ work, the focus on flexibility in the corporate environment is the modern tendency because the labor market is competitive and professionals or talents have the opportunity to choose the appropriate job position in the company where the leaders focus on flexibility (Beauregard & Henry, 2009, p. 10).

Employees need not only time but also the managerial support in order to balance their career and family life. If employees have no such resources and opportunities, they prefer to choose another employer who can provide them with the required flexibility or has the appropriate family-friendly policies (Pyper, 2006, p. 6). The main obstacle in this case is the employers’ concerns regarding the costs of the flexibility programs’ implementation.

From this point, if the company provides its employees with more conditions to make their life balanced and address their basic needs, such company responds to the requirements associated with the social responsibility policies. It is important to note that employers are responsible for creating the appropriate conditions for the work, and they are also responsible for contributing to the social progress of the community (Shaw, 2013).

When businesses focus on the factor of flexibility, it is possible to expect that they will become more successful in retaining talents, saving resources, and developing innovative strategies. According to Beauregard and Henry, if the principle of the work-and-life balance is violated, the rate of absenteeism and turnover among employees can increase significantly, while decreasing the overall level of productivity (Beauregard & Henry, 2009, p. 10). Therefore, it is more beneficial for employers to focus on the employees’ needs and to expand their vision of the social responsibility.

Conclusion

It is possible to state that the U.S. companies follow the most inflexible policies among the developed countries in terms of providing the paid maternity leave or addressing the work-and-life balance needs of their employees. Much attention should be paid to developing policies according to which employers can become obliged to provide paid maternity and paternity leaves and organize the child care services for the parents working in the company.

The modern labor market can be discussed as rather competitive, and businesses are interested in preserving their talents and addressing their needs in order to increase their performance and productivity. As a result, the factor of flexibility in terms of the appropriate work-and-life balance should also be addressed.

References

Beauregard, A., & Henry, L. (2009). Making the link between work-life balance practices and organizational performance. Human Resource Management Review, 19(1), 9-22.

Feierabend, A., & Staffelbach, B. (2015). Crowding out reciprocity between working parents and companies with corporate childcare. Human Resource Management, 12(1), 1-10.

Payne, S., Cook, A., & Diaz, I. (2011). Understanding childcare satisfaction and its effect on workplace outcomes: The convenience factor and the mediating role of work-family conflict. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 85(2), 225–244.

Pyper, W. (2006). Balancing career and care. Perspectives on Labour and Income, 7(11), 5-15.

Shaw, W. (2013). Business ethics. New York, NY: Cengage Learning.

Abstract

A survey was conducted by Zayed University students about work-life balance amongst Emirati men and women. In the survey, work balance was defined as achieving equilibrium between work and home. The survey focused on Emirati individuals.

Background Information

Are you Emirati?

Respondents were screened as Emirati. Among all the 42 respondents who participated in the interviews, 100% were Emiratis.

Gender

Both men and women in the survey formed 50% respectively.

Age

Further analysis of the age categories indicated that those aged below 25 years of age formed 11.9%. 25-30 year category formed 54.8%. Those aged 31-34 were 21.4%. 35-40 categories formed by 11.9%. The highest numbers of respondents were mid-age in the late twenties forming 55%. A general observation indicated that the Emirati community comprised of mainly young men and women below 40 years.

Type of organization

The Emirati community worked mainly in the public sector forming a significant number of 93%. Those in the private sector formed 7% which was a minimal number as compared to the public sector.

Number of Years Working

Emiratis had been working for mainly 6-10 years in the public sector. This category formed 52%. A few of them had worked for 0-5 years, a category that formed 28%. The least of them who had worked longest between 11-15 years formed 19%.

Marital status

Among those interviewed, 81% were married. 9.5% were either single or divorced. It can be deduced from the findings that a substantial number of Emiratis valued family values and that is why they stuck to their marriages.

Do you have children?

Most interviewees have had children, a proportion that formed 79%. Only 21% did not have children. Among those who had children, 33% had two children, 23% had three children while 11.9% either had four children or had no child.

Emirati Men and Women

Using a Likert scale where 1-3 meant extremely important, 4 meant important and 5-7 meant not extremely important, they were asked to rate how important work was to them. 83% felt that work was extremely important. 17% felt it was moderately important.

The same rating was applied to the family, and 100% felt it was extremely important. Their opinion on how important maintaining work-life balance was to them and 38% felt it was not extremely important. 35% felt it was moderately important while 26% felt it was extremely important.

Organizational Policies

The respondents were asked to describe their workplace environment. A statement was put to them that “my workplace has policies which attempt to produce a healthy work-life balance” and they were to rate it on a scale of 1-7 using the Likert scale. From their opinions, 41% extremely agreed with the statement, while 59% extremely did not agree.

A similar statement was put to them that “Emirati men and women utilized work-life policies equally in my workplace”, and 5% strongly agreed with the statement, 33% were moderate in opinion while 62% did not extremely agree.

Recommendations

On a scale of 1-5, they were asked to rate work-life balance strategies applied at the workplace, and 57% extremely agreed while 43% did not extremely agree they were present. One of the strategies tested was flexible time at the workplace, and 79% extremely agreed that it was necessary while 21% felt contrary. A similar statement was put to them about maternity leave, and 67% were extremely in agreement. 33% were not in extreme agreement. Another strategy put to them was part-time at the workplace, and 26% were in extreme agreement while 74% did not extremely agree.

Furthermore, the amount of work at the place was rated and 14% extremely agreed that it was necessary to apply it at the workplace. 26% were in moderate agreement while 60% did not extremely agree. Finally, they rated whether workplace child care should be applied and 79% extremely agreed, 11% were not in extreme agreement while 10% were moderate about the issue.