Various Ways and Means to Achieve Work-Life Balance - Research Paper Example

Introduction People have different reasons why they work or why they choose to be on a paid labor. Some do it to earn a living thereby being able to buy the basic items that he/she needs for school, home or just for personal consumption. These are the type of people who value money more than the type of work itself. These are the type of people who sees the work as the medium for survival. Some join the paid labor force for mere personal fulfillment. These are the people who enjoy working while earning. What matters for them is the type of work they are having and not the compensation that goes along with it. Because of the varied reasons related to work, there is one big question that lies within. How one finds fulfillment and enjoyment on the type of work he/she has? Can anybody manage his own emotions and make himself enjoy the work he has? Can work-life balance really achieved? Purpose of the Study This paper is aimed at analyzing the various ways and means to achieve work-life balance. Specifically, this paper is intended for: 1. finding the real essence of work and defining the concept of “meaningful, purposeful and satisfying work” 2. categorizing the different factors that affect an individual’s decision for the choice of work 3. identifying the factors that makes an individual achieve work-life balance Methodology First, this paper conducted an interview with an individual who has been working for several years already in a privately own company. This person has been commended by the supervisor because of his evident passion for work. The person has been awarded twice for being a model employee of the department and he really fits the qualification of a person who has achieved “work-life balance”. Some of the questions that were asked for the interviewee are: 1. Tell me about your work. What is satisfying about it? Do you find any difficulty in that line of work? How do you overcome such difficulties? 2. How did you get into this line of work? What keeps you in it? How do others help keep you motivated, engaged? Who are they? How do they support you? 3. How do you handle change? How is your current work different from work situations in the past? What accounts for such differences? 4. How do you see for yourself in the future? 5. Describe any other insights you can share with others about work-life balance? Furthermore, an in-depth literature review is done to get more and detailed concepts regarding the work and how it can be made balanced with the personal life. With the information that are sourced out, the responses of the interviewee can be validated and/or emphasized. The Interview The interviewee, who wishes his identity to be kept in public, is a 35 year-old man, with a family of his own, and working in a marketing department of one multinational pharmaceutical company. He revealed that he has been with that company for 13 long years already and further disclosed that he is willing to stay in that company until he retires. This man is a marketing graduate and he started as a mere medical representative of the company. His first area of responsibility was on one of the most rural area of the country. He stated he did not bat an eyelash in accepting the offer even if it would mean that he had to live far away from his parents. He had to make sacrifices – learned the new style of living, lived on his own and tried to meet both ends meet. He enjoyed the work, he said. He found happiness just by servicing the doctors (whom he would eventually sell his products). He was pretty satisfied even with a meager salary. Until he got married. He said that he needed to move out of that rural area where he was assigned because he wanted to prepare for the education of his possible children. He knew back then if he wants to provide better education for his kids, he should move in to the town or to an urban area. He requested his mother company unsure if his request would be granted. But it did. From that day onwards, the interviewee has been working for the same company, assigned in the city. He had even received several promotions and salary appraisal. Now, he is under the marketing department, working as one of the brand managers. The interviewee revealed that he finds his work satisfying because he enjoys doing it. He wakes up every morning always looking forward for a days work. It is the kind of job that he had dreamt about when he was still a college student. It is the kind of job that he can apply all his skills and knowledge. This, plus the fact that his supervisors provide him with the necessary motivation that he needs. He got promoted several times already. His ideas and suggestions are always considered carefully by the top management. He is respected by his colleagues and mentors in the same the he respects them. Difficulties are normal parts of work. The interviewee revealed that he has had his own ups and downs when it comes to work or to the workplace. But he chose to consider those difficulties as part of the challenges and opportunities to improve and grow as a worker. He started working in this company because the job opportunity was very much related to his educational background and he is staying in this company because he still feels productive just by working in the company. He can still feel that he can contribute more for the company and that he is still an asset for the company. Aside from the idea that he is now earning decently well, he has his mentors and colleagues that incessantly back him up whenever he feels down. Competition is present in his work, but it is positively done. The interviewee revealed that he had met a lot of changes in the company – may it be in the policies, work location and even on the kinds of works he had to take responsibility with. However, as he views it, every change that occurs is for his or the company’s betterment. He accepted every change and considered them as part of development. Some are hard to bear, but though positive point of view, everything turned out pretty well in the end. The interviewee further revealed that he sees himself continuously working with the company in several more years to come. The reason for this is his love for work and for the people within the company. He concluded the interview by saying that: “Not everybody can feel as satisfied and happy as he is when it comes to work. The feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment can be easily achieved if the person himself is open-minded and is in the kind of work truly designed for him. One needs to be in a work where he can maximize his potential. And one can find happiness in a work if the people around him are happy for him also”. Literature Review Finding Job and Balancing it With Personal Life Finding a job is easy, but finding satisfaction in the job is a different thing. One can only find satisfaction if the job does not work against the personal life of the worker himself. Not all people who are part of the labor force can balance and/or manage their personal lives with their works. If work and personal life will not be managed effectively, dissatisfaction in the workplace occurs. Some factors that may affect dissatisfaction in the workplace are (Amundson, 2000): 1. Low wages Because of the ever changing world, technological advancement and ever-increasing costs of living, more and more employees find their salaries and wage not enough to accommodate their everyday living expenses. With low wages, satisfaction and happiness inside the company will really be hard to achieve. 2. Indefinite employee benefits and Unsecured Health insurance Aside from the salary, more and more employees are becoming more concerned on the employee benefits. These may include clothing, housing and transportation allowances, rice or food ration, vacation or leave benefits, medical benefits such as health card, maternity and paternity benefits and the likes. Employees would also want to ensure about the government taxes and benefits which would assure that they will be gaining something even after they retire from working. Hence, if the company does not have any written contract regarding these benefits, these will surely become an issue in the company and will not provide any positive motivation for the employees. 3. Unaccommodating Supervisors and Colleagues Most often than not, wages and benefits are not the only thing that add to the dissatisfaction of the workers. The supervisors and the colleagues will ultimately become part of one’s daily life. A worker will go everyday, and work everyday with these people. If there will be no positive interaction among all the workers and the supervisors, the workers will not feel any comfort working in this kind of environment. With unaccommodating supervisors and co-workers, meaningful, purposeful and satisfying work is also impossible to have. What Most Workers Do to Achieve Work-Life Balance If the above stated factors of workplace dissatisfaction are present in a certain workplace, what the workers normally do is to establish a certain group now called as the “union”. It is quite typical for any company to have a union initiated by the employees themselves. It is through the union that employees hope that they will now have a venue where they could talk about their company, the employers and their co-employees. It is in this union where the members hope to voice out their concerns, grievances and praises for the company. Employees believe that through the unions they have established, employees will become vigilant to let the employers know of their situation. In the same manner, employers also hoped to “use” the unions to talk with the employees and let them understand the current situation of the whole company. “Union” is defined as “…an organization of employees formed to bargain with the employer; "you have to join the union in order to get a job" (“Union definition”, 2006). For those who are pro-union, they would always say that people have the right to peaceably assemble. Employees also have the right to organize, ironically guaranteed in the National Labor Relations Act. If an employer caught wind that two co-workers were discussing unionizing, it simply could fire them for "fraternizing" during off-work hours. For those who are against the union, they think that it is by establishing groups, workplace tensions erupted (Maera and Patton, 1994). Those who are members of the union feel that they are superior and that they are “elite” members of the company. They have somebody or groups of “friends” whom they can talk and share their plans with. They have people who would be willing to listen to their grievances regarding the company. And once they decided to make an action, any member of a company union would be confident enough that there would be somebody who would always back them up. These are the very reasons why many bosses are not so comfortable in allowing his/her subordinates to establish any union. Alliances in the workplace is always in the positive light for there are still some alliances where the members use the “power” of the alliance to impose something for the company. Those who are pro- alliances, they believe that because of that, they now have a medium to speak out for themselves and for the other employees as well. Forming alliances in the workplace is just establishing groups of people with which the members have common interest and views about the company. Workplace alliances are advantageous in a way that it offers diversion for the employees. It can create closer bond within the employees. It can offer a much happier aura inside the company for all the members are in good terms with each other. On the other hand, workplace alliances could be negative in a way that more employees would be confident enough to demand for some things which are not commonly offered by the company. They could feel confident because there are other persons who support the idea (their brothers and sisters in the union). Also, this is not an advantage for those who are not members of the union. They will feel being left out. They will feel insecure and will result to competition and probably backbiting. So, can workplace alliances create tension inside the company? Yes, it can probably do so. But there are always two sides of the coin. It may not also create tension. It is always in the boss’ hands to balance everything. Any boss do not have the right to stop his/her employees from mingling with his/her co-employees. But he/she can always control the situation so as to prevent whatever tension may erupt. Now, if the company is compelled to be of help with the alliance, there is the Human Resource or therapist that could handle the issue. It is the human resource manager’s duty to “echo” the union’s problems and grievances to the employers. It is also his/her duty to pacify the union members and let them feel that they are being taken care of (Maera and Patton, 1994). Meanwhile, a human resource manager must also be loyal to the employer. It is his/her duty to voice out to the unions what the employers are doing in order to maintain good labor standards of the company. So if labor unions and working alliances is not the best option to maintain higher job satisfaction rate in the workplace, how can one company keep the workers satisfied and fulfilled? To maintain a workplace where people feel the satisfaction from work, there must be: 1. Clear Job Requirements and Expectations Before one can enjoy working in any workplace, he must know first the kind of expectation that the company has on him. “… sometimes it’s difficult to know all of the requirements at a job when those in charge are poor communicators. Some bosses and supervisors are vague with expectations, assign new tasks with little advance notice, request new tasks without providing training, and inadvertently set workers up to fail in other ways…”(Scott, 2006) 2. Opportunity for Rewards and Recognition Any individual needs to feel recognized and wants to be rewarded from time to time. This is an innate behavior of all human beings. Inside the workplace, one can team up with a supportive colleague and ‘agree to listen to each other’s successes and provide support to one another.” These things can nurture a worker emotionally and remind himself of the importance of the work he does, especially if he works in a job or field where these rewards are barely there (Scott, 2006). 3. Maintaining a Balanced Lifestyle Keeping a balanced lifestyle is important particularly to a person who’s been part of the paid labor force. “if it’s all work and no play, one may find his ability to work beginning to wane” (Scott, 2006). Thus a worker must ensure that he provide has still has time for other activities outside the workplace like “relationships, hobbies, sleep, self care, exercise, healthy eating, and other important features of a healthy lifestyle”. 4. Thinking Positively To achieve meaningful, purposeful and satisfying work, it must start on the positive outlook first. “Developing an optimistic point of view and changing negative self talk patterns can go a long way toward helping the worker see the glass half-full, as well as actually making him more productive and less stressed! Thus, one must assess his current state of mind, and make some changes in himself so that he sees things in a more positive light, and he may just find himself much happier where he is are in life” (Scott, 2006). Conclusion To be in a meaningful, purposeful and satisfying work, or to achieve work-life balance requires action from the supervisors, the colleague or co-workers and the person himself. Money is an important aspect for job satisfaction, but that is not the only factor. Relationships among the supervisors and the subordinates, interaction among the workers and clear expectations to and from the company or the top management will assure that a work-life balance can be attained. More so, the worker himself must do some changes to his own lifestyle making sure that he maintains positive outlook and has a balanced way of living so that he will not feel any work burnt out. Reference list: Amundson, N.E. (2000). Undertaking the Working Alliance. Psychology 405. Athabasca University. Maera, Naomi M. and Patton, Michael J. (1994). Contributions of the Working Alliance in the Practice of Career Counseling. The Career Development Quarterly. Vol. 43 Scott, Elizabeth. (2006). Job Satisfaction: Find Satisfaction At Your Current Job. [online] available from http://stress.about.com/od/workplacestress/a/jobsatisfaction.htm Union. (2005). [online] available from Read More