Source: E-mail dt.
21.7.2011
Work Life Balance in
Employees
(to reduce
stress and restore harmony)
K.R. Chandrakala
Assistant
Professor, Nehru College of Engineering and Research
Centre,
Pampady, Kerala,
India.
Introduction
We
all have a number of roles that we hold throughout life until the life cycle
ends. Work-life conflict occurs when time and energy demands imposed by our many
roles become unsuited with one another; participation in one role is made
increasingly difficult by participation in another especially at this era when
the responsibility and accountability has increased, when the status of female
has become equal to men especially in professional
life
Work-Life
Balance does not mean an equal balance. Trying to schedule an equal
number of hours for each of various work and personal activities is
usually unrewarding and unrealistic. Life is and should be more than
that.
The
best individual work-life balance will vary over time, often on a daily basis.
The right balance for today will
be different tomorrow. i.e. when a person is
single will be different when he or she marries, or when children are born; when
starting new career versus when retiring.
Achievement
and Enjoyment are the front and back of the coin of value in life as the coin
cannot have one side. It means Pride, Satisfaction, Happiness, Celebration,
Love, A Sense of Well Being, all the Joys of Living, Achievement and
Enjoyment includes Work, Family, Friends and Self.
Work-life
balance involves the efforts of a number of partners: the employee, the
organization for which the employee works, the family with whom the employee
lives, and the society in which all are embedded. It involves mutual
understanding and respect between all of these players and balance can be
thought of as a set of reciprocal relationships with a set of highly
inter-reliant partners.
Life
will deliver the value and balance we desire …when we are achieving and enjoying
something every single day…in all the important areas that make up our
lives. As a result, a good working definition of Work-Life Balance
is:
Definition
Work life
balance is a person’s control over the conditions in their workplace .Its
accomplished when an individual feels dually satisfied about their personal life
and their paid occupation .It mutually benefits the individual, business,
society when a person’s personal life is balanced with her or his own
job.
Importance
of Work Life Balance
The work life
balance strategy offers a variety of means to reduce stress level and increase
job satisfaction in the employee while enhancing business benefits to the
employer .This includes
Attracts new employees
Helps to retain staff
Builds diversity in skills and personnel,
Improves morale,
Reduces sickness and absenteeism,
Enhances working relationships between colleagues,
Encourages employees to show more initiative and teamwork,
Increases levels of production and satisfaction,
Decreases stress and burn-out.
Greater
number of women employees are entering the workplace, and struggling for
maintaining a balance between her organizational roles and culture specific
roles. When discussing in an
employee development perspective role stresses can be given more consideration
and its factors.
Just
after the completion of professional qualifications the applicants are getting
jobs. The pay and perks are encouraging. But the work life is highly complicated
and highly demanding. There are many pulls and pressures during the work life.
There are too many commitments and deadlines and there are too much of
unpredictable peaks and troughs during the course of the working time. All these
things make the work as a hectic activity and a strenuous one.
This topic is
really focused on creating balance between who we are and what we do. We
are multi-faceted human beings. To live our life to the fullest of our potential
we have to create balance in the multiple facets of our
lives
Work Life
Balance - The Past and Present Scenario
In
recent years, a growing body of research has examined the interconnections
between work and family (Burke & Greenglass, 1987; Eckenrode & Gore,
1990; Edwards & Rothbard, 2000; Zedeck, 1992). This research has been
stimulated by contemporary societal changes that have an impact on work and
family roles, such as the influx of women into the workforce, the increased
prevalence of dual-earner couples, movement away from traditional gender-based
family roles, and evidence debunking the myth that work and family are separate
(Burke & Greenglass, 1987; Lambert, 1990; Voydanoff, 1987). The research has
shed light on how structural and social aspects of work and family are related
to perceived conflict between those two domains; how perceived conflict is
related to satisfaction, well-being, and functioning in both domains; and how
work and family relationships are influenced by individual differences, coping
resources, and the availability of social support (Burke & Greenglass, 1987;
Eckenrode & Gore, 1990; Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985; Voydanoff,
1987).
The
1990’s were a decade of change. Work-life conflict has increased markedly
(particularly role overload), suggesting that a greater proportion of workers
are experiencing greater challenges in balancing their role of employee, parent,
spouse, elder care etc. Workers have become more stressed, physical and mental
health has declined, and so has satisfaction with life. Employee’s attitudes
towards their jobs and employers have also changed over the decade. On the
whole, jobs have become more stressful and less satisfying, and employees are
less committed to their employer and are more likely to be absent from work due
to ill health. Employees are also devoting a greater amount of time to work at
the office, often extending their work day by bringing work home .All three
aspects of work-life conflict – role overload, work to family and family to work
interference – have increased, and no demographic group appears to have been
left unscathed.
Parenthood
remains more difficult for women than men
Despite
increased awareness and attention to gender issues, motherhood continues to be
more stressful than fatherhood, and mothers continue to experience greater
conflict between their work and family than do fathers.
High
levels of workload
The
high levels of role overload and work to family interference affect
organization’s recruitment and retention efforts, often affecting their “bottom
line.”
Role
overload increases when role demands accumulate
The
greater number of roles an employee has, the more likely they are to report high
levels of role overload.
Conflict
in the demands of role
Those
groups who are at greatest risk for high work to family interference differ from
those most at risk for high role overload.
Employers
continue to hold predominantly positive attitudes towards work-life balance and
to perceive its benefits for employees and workplaces alike, although it is
clear that most employers feel that the implementation of flexible working
practices is not always easy, and should not be expected by employees where it
would cause disruption to the business
Work-life
balance arrangements has with two or more flexible working time, maternity leave
and benefits, paternity leave, parental Leave and other special leave, employer
support for working parents, awareness of changes to legislation are all the
changes brought to reduce stress and make the work life balance arrangements
being taken up by employees.