Fundamentals of Work-Life Balance - Essay Example

? Work-life Balance Most of the people in the world today are overtaken by their work schedules and end up dismissing all their other parts of life. For instance, most employees who hold high positions at work rarely get time off work to concentrate on the other areas of life. For example, the results from a research carried out in the United States, showed that 60% of the married men have difficulty balancing their work and family. In addition, most of the housewives whose husbands hold high positions at work complained that the husbands were rarely involved in recreation activities with the family (Korabik, Lero and Whitehead, 2008: 3). Therefore, complains from different families and housewives have triggered discussions concerning the issue of work-life balance. Scholars have also tried to support the idea of work-life and work-family balance form the point of view that; there is critical importance of play and relaxation in the generation of mental energy (Guest, 2002: 261). Others have also argued from the point of view of the proverb that says ‘All work but no play makes Jack a dull boy’. With the current economic downturn, there are a lot of activities that a person can engage in other than concentrating on work only. Statistics also show that the rate of family break ups in the United States is exceptionally high due to work reasons. Husbands have all their time taken by work without setting aside time for family and other extra-curricular activities. Scholars also assert that the productivity at work is directly related to the social life of a person (Clutterback, 2003: 1). Therefore, work-balance is an issue that has gained attention over the recent past years. Studies conducted have shown that imbalance of employees’ lives and their work creates a lot of problems to both the organization and their families. Some of the problems reported noticed from employees include absenteeism due to stress, failure to retain talent, insufficient initiative and creativity, low levels of customer service, unethical behaviour and low commitment and motivation (Chick, 2004). Other conflicts involved with work-life imbalance include role overload, work-family interference and family-work interference. Role overload occurs when there are a lot of responsibilities both at home and work. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the individual to perform well at any of the roles. On the other hand, work-family interference conflict occurs when an individual is overwhelmed by work duties until he neglects his family responsibilities. With family-work interference, family responsibilities become more demanding making an individual to perform poorly at his or her work duties (CCOHS, 2010: 1). This is a conflict that is mainly experienced by women since they tend to be more involved in house work, neglecting job responsibilities. Thus, clearly both the individual and the company will be negatively affected since the individual may end up being laid off. Border theory is a cognitive theory that states that there is an ultra thin boundary between the way in which individuals change their roles from family to work and back. The theory tries to examine the way in which people assign different meanings to work and home responsibilities and frequency of transitioning between these roles. However, the major objective of the theory is to ensure balance between work, family and life. The theory seeks to ensure satisfaction on the side of the individual and good functioning both at work and home (Desrochers & Sergent, 2004: 40). The border theory gives a number for propositions in its application, which include it affirms that keeping work and family separate makes it easier to manage the work and family border. It can be argued from the point of view that when a person has separated family issues from work issues, he or she will be able to perform well at both of them, producing good results in both roles. This way, there will be no such issues as lack of concentration at work due to stress at home or, having poor family relations, due to stress at work. In addition, the theory also states that in order to obtain a balanced life, an individual will be involved in transitions and crossing role boundaries. For instance, an individual has to switch from being a parent to an employee in the morning when he or she goes to work. Similarly, in the evening he or she has to switch from being an employee to being a parent. Therefore, in order to obtain a work-life balance, an individual has to ensure that he or she exchanges these roles perfectly. Otherwise, the border theory states that there will be a conflict of roles. With work-life imbalances affecting both the employee and the organization companies have adopted different strategies to ensure that there is a balance between the participation of an individual both at work and home with the family. Implementation of these strategies involves a specified work-life plan which will help companies to achieve their objectives. Companies begin by focusing on the areas that are in need of a balance. For instance, if there is lack of leaves in the organization, or lack of holidays, the company notes that as a problem. Strategic objectives are set according to the focus area found in the company. Finally, the company communicates its plan to employees and implements the plan to the organization (Chick, 2004: 3). Different companies have implemented different work life initiatives to help their employees obtain a balanced work-life. Yamaha Group of companies ensured that a balanced work life was maintained by the workers by shortening their overall work hours. This ensures that the employees have more time that they can spend with their families and perform family duties. The extra time off work also helps the employees to be engaged in other extra-curricular activities such as sports, shopping with family and visiting relatives. Therefore, this is a strategy that helps employees to balance their lives with work and also with family issues. In addition, the company has also taken a step to provide support for the family by coming up with programs such as the employee benefit programs, employee and family medical insurance programs and employee retirement funds (Yamaha Group, 2012). A company like Hong Kong Disneyland Resort has adopted the strategy of flexible working arrangements with employees in order to ensure work-life balance. This involves hiring part time workers to accommodate the increase in workloads. This way, an increase in workloads will not force employees to work more or to extend their normal working hours. Thus, the company can be able to allow the employees work few hours while still performing well. Flexible schedules also help employees to be able to manage their schedules thus; they can perform duties at their best convenience. Other companies like the Standard Chartered bank and Goldman Sachs have adopted the strategy of having time off arrangements that are more favorable as compared to those of the law. This includes maternity leaves, seasonal leave programs, family leave policies, leaves for adoptive parents and other leaves such as education leaves, community and self-sponsored leaves. These leaves are particularly an excellent way of ensuring work-life balance since they enable employees to take a break from work and participate in other life’s issues such as family and recreation. Employees can also engage in other programs during these leaves such as volunteering at church events, or even furthering their education. This strategy ensures that there is no any role conflict since both family and work responsibilities will be well performed. Other companies have adopted the initiative of encouraging employees to protect their health by taking precautions in all that they do. This is because research has shown that the major cause of work-life imbalances is stress related illnesses and overworking issues. When employees are encouraged to take care of their health, they will be able to overcome such challenges as stresses at work and work overloads. In addition, employees should also be encouraged to remain healthy by keeping physically fit. This involves participating in sport and community activities. Employees should also be encouraged to nurture their talents and take part in their hobbies in order to ensure that their life does not concentrate on work only (Hellmund, 2012: 4). Other companies have taken this initiative by investing in fitness facilities in the organization. Those companies that are not able to install facilities within their premises help their employees with fitness membership procedures in other facilities. In addition, other companies also organize seminars and workshops with topics such as stress management, fitness issues, and communication. This ensures that the employees do not have an excuse of remaining unfit at work or being stressed up during work. Companies derive many benefits from encouraging employees to have a balance between their lives and their work. One of the foremost benefits is that employees are able to concentrate in their work more and thus increasing the company’s productivity. Work-life balance also increases the employees’ focus, making them more productive (Guest, 2002: 17). Research has also shown that mistakes such as accounting mistakes are reduced in the company. This is because such mistakes are usually caused by employees who are stressed or employees whose minds are not focused on what they are doing. However, since work-life balance will ensure that stress in employees is reduced; employees will hence focus on their work and reduce any possible mistakes. Reports show that leading a balanced life will reduce the rates of absenteeism in employees, increase their productivity and lead to an increased job satisfaction. In addition, there will be higher levels of organizational commitment and loyalty. Therefore, the work-life initiatives ensure that the company has an effective and dependable human resource. Consequently, the company will have exceedingly few personnel problems leading to excellent performance of the whole organization (Hobson, Delunas & Kesic, 2001: 38). Work-life balance initiatives also have the benefit of helping the organization attract new employees and also helping to retain the old staff. This is because employees want to maintain the balance and hence, they prefer to remain in the same organization other than changing occupation and have a work-life imbalance. By attracting qualified employees from the labor market, the company can increase its productivity and perform much better. Therefore, there will be increased level of production and satisfaction among the employees in the company. This is due to the improved staff morale in the company and diversity in the skills of the personnel. A company also benefits from enhanced working relationships among the employees (CCOHS, 2012: 1). Despite the many benefits that companies derive from having working-life initiatives, the initiatives still have a number of limitations and disadvantages that make the companies not to embrace them fully. One greatest drawback is the increase in expenses arising from the initiative taken by the company. Some initiatives such as installation of fitness facilities are extremely costly to the company. Therefore, many companies will not readily embrace such initiative for fear of making loses in the business. Communication is also another crucial challenge of work-life initiatives. This is because the company, at times, lacks ways of informing the employees about some of its initiatives. For instance, Marks & Spencer Company had a challenge on how to tell its employees that they were not to come to work when the sales were low (Evans & Vernon, 2007: 7). In conclusion, it is extremely essential for companies to embrace the work-life balance initiatives. This is because this is the only way that they will be able to reduce the limitations associated with stressed employees. The work-balance initiatives also assist employees to meet their primary life and family responsibilities. They also communicate to the employees that they are valued and treasured as the workers of the company. This is contrary to the situation whereby the company would just over work the employees without caring about their welfare. In addition, work-life initiatives lead to a psychological bond that has dramatic implications on the success of the organization (Hobson, Delunas & Kesic, 2001: 43). Therefore, companies should embrace these initiatives since they will also benefit from them. References CCOHS (2012), Work/Life Balance : OSH Answers. CCOHS: Canada's National Centre for Occupational Health and Safety information, Retrieved December 26, 2012, from http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/psychosocial/worklife_balance.html Chick, E. D., & American Society for Training and Development. (2004), Fundamentals of work-life balance: Career development. Alexandria, Va: ASTD, Clutterbuck, D. (2003), Managing Work-life Balance: A Guide for HR in Achieving Organisational and Individual Change. London, CIPD Publishing, Desrochers, S., & Sargent, L. D. (2004), Boundary/Border Theory and Work-Family Integration1, Organization Management Journal, 1(1), 40-48 Evans, A., & Vernon, K. (2007), Work-life balance in Hong Kong: Case studies. Hong Kong: Community Business, Guest, D. E. (2002), Perspectives on the Study of Work-life Balance, Social Science Information, 41(2), 255-279, Hellmund, M. (2012), Work-life balance: Why has it become so popular and what are its intercultural differences?NY, GRIN Verlag, Hosbon, C. J., Delunas, L., & Kesic, D. (2001), Compelling evidence of the need for corporate work/life balance initiatives: results from a national survey of stressful life-events, Journal of Employment Counseling, 38(1), 38-44, Korabik, K., Lero, D. S., & Whitehead, D. L. (2008), Handbook of work-family integration: Research, theory, and best practices. Amsterdam, Elsevier/Academic Press. Yamaha Group (2012), Initiatives for a Better Work-Life Balance, Yamaha - Global. Retrieved December 26, 2012, from http://www.yamaha.com/about_yamaha/csr/workers/employee_worklife/ Read More