Benefits of Employee Work Life Balance - Coursework Example

Benefits of employee work life balance Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Date of Submission: Introduction There are changing demands in the labor market which has influenced the way organizations manage their employees. The economic changes have compelled many employees to work in more than one organisation so that they can sustain their living standards. This is the expectation of many employees and therefore the employers should this issue (Van Knippenberg 2006). In this effect, the management of many organizations has considered the work life balance so that the employees can work the time which is best and convenient for them so that they can have adequate time for their personal life. From the research which has been conducted, it is clear that organisations which apply work life balance are better managed as compared which do not practice the good practice (Alterman et al 2013). This is because when the employees are satisfied with their jobs they can improve the performance which enables the company to meet the needs of the customers. In this regard my stand is that work life balance confers various benefits to the organisation. Thesis statement Work life balance confers various benefits to an organisation. The benefits conferred to the organisation as a result of the work life balance include increased productivity, reduced employee absenteeism and reduces the cost of labor and the costs associated with it and this helps to improve the performance of the organisation in the competitive market (Zuo & Tang 2000). Further, the research indicates that the employees work better when the HR policies promote work life balance. Benefits of employee work life balance From the research which has been conducted, work- life balance confers many benefits to the organization. Work-life balance is the process of balancing one’s personal life with that of workplace. The following are benefits which help to improve the organization. To begin with, work-life balance helps to increase productivity of the employees (Beauregard & Henry 2009). This is because when an organization schedules its policies in an appropriate manner, it will enable employees to have their own convenient time for their personal activities since they don’t work under pressure and this will increase their morale since they have the freedom on how to spend their time and they will produce quality work because number of accidents will reduce since no more stress from work. Also work life balance can increase productivity if employees are given time to have fun with their family members, friends and also free time to travel to different countries so that they can enjoy and change to a new environment. This helps employees to develop a positive attitude towards work and they always praise their employees for treating them in a fair manner (De Cieri et al 2005). In addition work-life balance can increase productivity of an organization when management schedules properly the reporting time, the departure time, and also off days. This will help employees to be aware when to report to work and when to leave from work. Hence employees feel recognized and comfortable to balance their own activities with that of work. Therefore, this makes them to feel motivated. Finally work-life balance has increased productivity of employees because good life balance encourages employees to work harder than those whose lives are not taken care of. Therefore, this improves employees’ living standards and productivity goes high. Secondly, work life balance helps to lower the cost of labor which in turn lowers the cost of operations of the company leading to improved performance. When there is work life balance, the employees can work from home or anywhere where they are (Felstead et al 2002). Moreover, the employees can conduct meetings while they are not in the same office courtesy of video conferencing technology. This implies that the employees are engaged better in the functions of the company unlike when they are scheduled to work on a fixed time. On the other hand, the organisation can lower the cost of labor since the employees can work on a part time basis. The management of the organisation can decide to hire the employees on a part time basis which can lower the cost of labor. For instance, when there is much work and the demand is high, the manager can hire the employees on a part time basis so that they can improve the productivity of the company to meet the market demands. Conversely, when the demand is low, the manager of the company can lay off some of the employees who do not add value to the company and remain with the sustainable number of employees. This is one way in which the company ensures low cost of labor which will in turn lower the cost of production, leading to improve performance (Greenhaus, & Beutell 1985). Further, through flexible work diversity, the office space required for the employees to fit in is less. This is because some of the employees can work from the comfort of their homes, which implies that the office space required is less hence the funds which could have been used to construct the offices could be used in other constructive activities. This helps to improve the development of the company since there will be effective financial strategy to ensure that the needs of the customers are met (Greenhaus & Powell 2006). Concerning the human resource management strategy, the employees who work part time are paid lower wages than the full time employees who are paid higher salaries. This is the main aim of any organisation so that the goals and objectives of the company can be achieved. Considering all these facts, it can be concluded that work life balance helps to improve the performance of an organisation through effective management of the resources available, especially the human skills to achieve the company goals and objectives (Greenhaus et al 2003). On the other hand work-life balance helps to reduce employees’ absenteeism. Work-life balance is very important in an organization in that when employees don’t have their own time to do work at home, they can be absent from job so that they can have time for their personal activities (Grzywacs et al 2002). So for an organization to confer this benefit it has to schedule an equal number of working hours with that of personal issues so that an employee can have time for both works. Hence this can reduce employee turnover since their needs are considered and productivity will go higher since employee turnover will be more. In addition, improved job satisfaction can reduce employees’ absenteeism. In that if employees have enough time to be with their families, time for training and development. This can improve organizational goals and also employees will feel satisfied and ready to work without any stress. Hence the organization will produce quality works (Hoobler et al 2009). Another benefit of work –life balance having reduced employees’ absenteeism, it helps to increase employee commitments. Employees get committed when they are provided with a good quality of life and when they have enjoyable work –life. This assists them to progress in their careers and also to produce good work. Moreover, work life balance helps to attract and retain skilled employees to the organisation. This is made possible because the organisation will be regarded as the best managed organisations which consider the employee welfare (Hughes & Bozionelos 2007). Through good company reputation, it will be able to influence the behavior of the employees since most of the employees could want to work in the organisation where there is work life balance. The end result is that the labor market will be attracted to work in the company. This implies that there will be a large of employees who have interest in working with the organisation. This is important in developing essential in developing effective recruitment strategy (Perry-Smith & Blum 2000). Through external recruitment strategy, the human resource manager will be able to select the most qualified employees from the labor market who will in turn help to improve the productivity of the company in terms of quality and quantity produced to meet the needs of customers. Meeting the customer needs will help to attract and retain them leading to increased market share which is one of the objectives of any profit making organisation. Conclusion Work life balance is whereby the employees are provided with the opportunity to work at their most convenient time as long as they achieve the allocated tasks and enable the organisation to achieve its goals. Work life balance is among the best human resources practices which are applied by the managers to improve the productivity of the employees. The benefits which are associated with the work life balance include increased productivity of the employees which in turn improve the organizational performance, it helps to reduce stress and absenteeism as well as reducing the labor cost since the employees can work on parttime basis depending on the demand of the products and services of the company thus lowering the cost of production. References Alterman, T; Luckhaupt, S. E; Dahlhamer, J. M; Ward, B. W & Calvert, G 2013, "Job insecurity, work-family imbalance, and hostile work environment: data from the 2010 National Health Interview Survey". 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