Work-life Balance in the Global Human Resource Management - Example

WORK-LIFE BALANCE IN THE GLOBAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT By Location Work-life Balance in the Global Human Resource Management Introduction Frustrations in trying to find a balance between work and personal life has become a challenge to employees all over the world. As the amount of time that employees need to dedicate to their various occupations increase there is an increase in on how to make sure that they do not particularly do away with their social life. A good number of employees have admitted to not having enough time to handle both their professional and personal obligations. However work-life balance does not have universal qualities. Work-life balance means different things to different groups of people. There is need for there to be work-life balance in order to increase the efficiency of employees. This paper aims at discussing key differences in how employers and employees in the Western, developed economies and also in non-Western, emerging markets may be dealing with Work-Life Balance in different regions. Data collection For this research a number of data collection methods were used. The data collection methods that were used in this case are interviews, observation, questionnaires, and literature review. The interviewees in this case were human resource managers with massive experience in human resource internationally. Observations mainly involved observing the impact of the various work-life integration programs put in place by a number of organizations. In the companies where the various work-life integration programs had been introduced questionnaires were used to find out the impact of such programs. The most used data collection method for this research is literature review. Given the fact that the research involved the perceptive of different parts of the world literature review was the most effective source of data for this research. The research extensively reviewed journals, articles, books, and human resource reports relating to work-life balance in various parts of the world. Discussion The research process found out some details on the differences in how employers and employees in the Western, developed economies and also in non-Western, emerging markets may be dealing with Work-Life Balance in different regions. However, not everything was different in the fact that employees and employers from both sides were in agreement that there was an alarming high increase in the rate at which the number of hours that are spent in their various work places is increasing. One of the differences in the way work-life balance is handled in the developing countries is seen in the amount of working hours that employees in both cases attend to. Through the literature materials that were reviewed it was discovered that developed countries have longer working hours as compared to developing countries.However, as compared to developing countries the developed ones have extensively invested in work-life balance programs that are aimed at making sure that their workers are able to work for the long hours without necessarily having to feel uncomfortable during the period (Bach & Edwards 2013, p. 89). There are a number of initiatives that have been put in place by employers and employees in the Western, developed economies and also in non-Western, emerging markets may be dealing with Work-Life Balance in different regions. One of the most common wok-balance initiatives highly used by employees all over the world is building down time into their schedule. When employees plan their week they should always make sure that they include time for their friends and family, with inclusion of activities that will enable them to spend quality time with their family and friends. Such activities usually have the recharging effect to the employees which helps in enhancing their productivity (Price 2011, p. 101). By placing such dates in their schedule they will always work looking forward to such events and making sure that they have to maximize their output so that they will not have to cancel such events because of work overload (Rampersad 2006, 97). As an employee you can also consider dropping activities that that might sap one’s energy or time. Many people have been discovered to spend time on activities and people who do not bring any additional values to their lives or careers. A good example would be spending time gossiping or discussing political or showbiz rumors. The thing is the time and energy that is put to waste during such an occasion shall never be recovered (Jones, Burke &Ṿesṭman 2005, p. 117). By minimizing the time that is spent on such activities an individual will be able to highly impact their own productivity. In a work place setting an individual will be able to avoid having to stay late at work finishing up work if they avoid squandering time on activities such as those mentioned herein. By bringing some aspects of employees’ personal life closer to the work place an organization might just have been able to bridge the gap between their employees’ careers and their personal lives. As time goes by people rarely get time to involve themselves in fitness maintenance activities. The highly tight work schedule is to blame for this. However, human resource managers are completely aware of the importance of physical exercise to the productivity of human beings professionally. An organization might consider putting physical exercise within their premises so that their employees can comfortably get their fitness under check (Regis 2008, p. 134). A company can consider putting up a gym in their premises so that their employees can at least get ease in sparing some little time for their physical exercise which will eventually help in relaxing the employees and thus boosting their productivity. One aspect of the lives of human beings that they tend to part ways with immediately they start building their professional careers is their hobbies. This might not necessarily be because of the fact that they do not love their hobbies anymore. In most cases is because of the fact that people get to asituation where they have to pay bills and in some situations even fend for their families. In cases where the hobbies are not paying, people usually tend to look for ways to earn even if it has to mean that they will have to let go their hobbies (Guest 2002, p. 343). Given the global economic crisis people usually have to put a little bit more effort to earn and most importantly to keep their jobs. If an organization invests in their employees’ hobbies then they are likely to get the most from them in terms of productivity. For example, if an organization put up a music room within their offices then their employees with interest in music will be able to take even just an hour to go relax while doing something that they love doing. Other things that an organization might consider investing in include a swimming pool, a table tennis room, a lawn tennis court, basketball court and many other facilities depending on the interest of their employees. The result of such investment will be employees who are ever excited about their work and of high productivity (Beauregard & Henry 2009, p. 20). Family is something of importance to many human beings. In fact a high percentage of the personal time that most employees have is always spent with their families. However, handling family matters might be challenging especially for people who are new in it. For example, an employee who has just had their first child will have a hard time coping with both their responsibilities at work and their responsibilities as a parent. With respect to such facts an organization might consider putting up a day care within their premises so that such parents will be able to reunite with their children during the short breaks that they might have during the day (Parasuraman & Greenhaus 1999, p. 213). However, one thing that has raised concerns with regard to such a program is the fact that its applicability will highly depend on the nature of activities that they organization is involved in. for example, it will not be advisable for a company which deals with the production of explosives or toxic chemicals to start up a child day care within their premises. There are a number of things that organizations can do in order to make sure that they help their employees in achieving work-life balance. If an organization come up with a working program that enhances work-life balance they will also benefit almost equally to how the employees benefits. If employees are subjected to a flexible work schedule they will be able to manage their schedule to accommodate both their personal and professional responsibilities. The flexibility should be such that the performance of employee is not evaluated through hours they work but the quantity and quality of work that they do while working. This will mean that the employees will avoid involving themselves in time wasting activities during their working hours so that they could have some free time to attend to their personal needs. An organization can also help their employees in achieving work-life balance by introducing paid time off initiatives. The main purpose ofsuch policies is providing employees with highly flexible time off work without any deductions in their salaries. Such time can be used for personal issues such as vacation, doctor appointments, education advancement, volunteering, and any other activity that the employees might be interested in (Fattorini 2003, p. 209). As a result of such policies organizations will be able to reduce the rate of occurrence of unauthorized absents. The organization will also be able to make sure that their employees have a chance of rejuvenating themselves away from the work place environment without having to worry about losing part of their salaries as a result of their absent period from work. Given the importance of family to people who have them an organization can be able to enhance their employees’ work-life balance by organizing family events and activities. Through such events and activities employees will be able to spend some time having fun with the people who matters to them. The best way to do this is by making it the organization’s tradition to always have such events once or even twicein a year. Such days will prove to be very important to employees especially those who never have the time to have such quality time with their families (Stebbins 2001, p. 137). Sometimes such events can be very beneficial to employees whose working hours do not allow them to have good quality time with their families. The end result of such events will be employees who reports to work fully refreshed after such events take place. This means that the productivity of these individuals will have been affected positively. Apart from policies that are aimed at making sure that employees are given time to attend to their personal issues an organization can also come up with policies that are aimed at protecting employees from themselves. This hasproved to be important after studies have revealed there are a number of employees who would work more even when given the freedom of choosing between their career and their personal life (Guest 2002, p. 261). With such people in an organization it is always important for the human resource department to intervene for the sake of these employees. There are a number of things that organizations can do to protect workaholic employees from themselves. For instance, an organization can put in place a policy discouraging its employees from working during vacation. The implementation of such a policy will mean that employees will be forced to spend their vacation period attending to things that are of he own personal concerns. This is exactly what the vacation period is particularly meant for (Batt & Valcour 2003, p. 198). An organization can also introduce a policy that prohibits employees from working past certain hours. This will be to make sure that the employees are able to attend to their own personal issues thus not going ahead and attending to official issues throughout. This will affect their performance negatively. Another way through which a business organization can make sure that they enhance their employees’ work-life balance is bringing services and facilities that matter to their employees’ personal life close to their working place. For instance, an organization might consider putting up a dispensary which will offer medical services to their employees and their family members at a subsidized price. Other services that can matter when brought closer to the employees include pharmacies and restaurants. In this way their employees will have it easier to spare some of the free time to go have some meal during the day. It has been recently discovered that many employees will avoid going out during the lunch break because of the fears that such breaks would eat up their time thus preventing them from achieving their full daily potential (Kossek, Lewis & Hammer 2009, p. 145). However, with a restaurant within the compound it will sound less time consuming to take some little time to go take some day time meal. Employees usually find it hard to be at their best when their bodies are not functioning well. But due to the fear of deductions being made from their salaries some employees usually go ahead and go to work even when they are unwell. One thing that is a fact is that during such days the organizations which such employees work for will not get the best from them. The most unfortunate thing is that this trend might continue until these individuals get medical attention. The key point is that these individuals will eventually need to seek medical attention (Aryee, Srinivas & Tan 2005, p. 132). To avoid the occurrence of such scenarios an organization should consider introducing policies that will enable their employees to take sick leaves without it necessarily affecting what they will earn at the end of the month. This will be in the bid to make sure that the employees’ full productivity potential is regained in the least period possible. The organization can also consider putting up a transport program that will make sure that their employees are not caught in transport tussles that are always involved with the movement from/to their places of work and places of residence. Such services can be time and resource saving and also give employees who live far from their offices to get assurance of getting to work in time. The transports program should be designed in such a way that the least time is used. During the transportation period the employees might get a chance of having social conversations with each other. Conclusion It is clearly evident that when work-life balance is properly handled employees usually highly benefit. This is because they are given a chance to balance the two aspects of their lives. In the recent past it has always been seen that their careers always have an upper hand over their personal life. However, when things are properly balanced through some or all the above discussed initiatives employees will be able to comfortably live with both sides of their lives. It would be wrong to imagine that it is only employees who benefit from work-life balancing. Their employers also benefit equally. The main aim of work-life balances in an organization is to maintain and enhance the productivity of their employees. When this happens the organization’s productivity also improves (Ford, Heinen & Langkamer 2007, p. 57). A properly managed work-life balance might also lead to reduced absenteeism, increase in an organizations ability to attract the best talents, improved employee motivation, increased customer satisfaction, and lower turnover rates. Bibliography Aryee, S, Srinivas, ES & Tan, HH 2005, ‘Rhythms of life: antecedents and outcomes of work-family balance in employed parents’, Journal of applied psychology, 90(1), 132. Bach, S & Edwards, MR 2013, Managing human resources: human resource management in transition, Wiley, Hoboken, N.J. Batt, R &Valcour, PM 2003, ‘Human Resources Practices as Predictors of Work‐Family Outcomes and Employee Turnover’, Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 42(2), 189-220. Beauregard, TA & Henry, LC 2009, ‘Making the link between work-life balance practices and organizational performance’, Human resource management review, 19(1), 9-22. 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