Online published on 28 February, 2020.
Work life balance is the phenomenon which can be expressed as an individual's ability to prioritize work and household responsibilities meticulously such that none of the aspects(work and life) overpower each other and the individual is able to put in not only quantitative but also qualitative inputs in both the aspects of life. Work-life balance can be expressed as the capability of individuals (despite of gender, age, marital status, children) to combine work and family responsibilities in a successful manner. “Work” is all those activities that are related to individual's employment for which the individualispaid. “Work” isdifferent from “life”asliferefers to non-workactivitieswhichcomprises of time spent in leisure activities and with family.
Inthe contextof Work lifebalance itis often argued that, balance doesnotmeangiving equal weightage to both the aspects of life, but rather having an acceptable and stable relationship between the two. And this desired point differs from every individual considerably as demands of employers and needs of employees are dynamic and changing. In the present era work life balance is the need of, both, men and women as the work is shared more equally between the two unlike earlier times. In contrast, work/life conflict isdefined as a form of innerrole conflict in whichthe rolepressures from thework and other life domains, such as family, are mutually incompatible in somerespect, whereby participation in one role is made more difficulty virtue of participation in the other (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985). Work life conflict is not just conflict between work and family work, it also include the impact of work on individuals well being as of work life conflict can cause stress which may affect individual's relationships.
Work-life balance practices, by reducing work-life conflict, can help improve the quality of work life of employees which eventually results in highly motivated, committed and satisfied workers.
And as the literature goes a happier n satisfied worker means increase in organizations performance, productivity and turnover.
As organizations or companies that ignore work-life balance have more profound impact on the employees and the organization itself. The most disadvantageous impact of work-life imbalance on employee performance is stress and burnout which can cause high absenteeism.
The increased participation of women in the workforce is a symbol of economicand social development but in male dominated hierarchical societies women have to juggle between their society endowed roles of mother, daughter, sister, wife, care taker etc. with their own career aspirations and ambitions. Women have to still take charge of the responsibilities like cooking, shopping, elder care, child care and other daily household chores. Amidst this juggling, women need meaningful support from family and organizations in order to balance family and work.
Similarly men atsenior levels have towork forlonger hours than theoffice hourswith theadvancement of information technology. Seniormanagers areexpected tobe ‘oncall’ evenafter workor on weekends. The work life balance strategies of an organization should not be only focused on working women or working mothers but it should be inclusive of the needs of the diverse workforce and for both men and women.
Though women participation in the workforce has increased substantially in the last two decades, still majority of the contributions in the household chores and taking care of the child and elders at home has to be done by women. Sometimes women have to sacrifice their career after marriage or children or they have to take a long break from their profession. In such case it becomes difficult for organizations to retain skilled and talented women employees. Thus organizations in order to retain well trained and talented employees can provide childcare or eldercare facilities basing on the needs of employees like women employees are allowed to work for less hours or one condensed workday. Hygienic crèche facilities at the workplace with presence of pediatrician can also help women with infants to focus on their work.
An organization's efforts to retain its best, employees either men or women, can be many like providing adequate transport system, childcare facilities, shortened work hours for a day, a leave for vacation, Some hours off in a day without pay etc. Most of the time an employee's ability is judged on the basis of his/her visible hours of work in the office. An employee leaving the workplace on time is perceived to be less committed. Hence such views or beliefs has to be changed and managers in the organizations should value or appraise an employee on the grounds of results achieved rather than visibility at work. These strategies when adopted in the HR policies of the organizations will reduce employee occupational stress and burnout, increase performance and productivity, increased job satisfaction, enhanced organizational commitment.
These factors will reduce labor turnover and absenteeism.
Work and life are two of the important aspects of human existence. If work gives a sense of pride and value to a person than life gives a sense of belonging. And fortunately these two aspects are not gender specific as they have been part of human life since its inception. Working couples are the examples of such human beings who want to enjoy these endowments fully and having a better quality of life and also giving better education and better life to their children and immediate family too. Hence organizations, societyand thecouple themselvescan work unanimously towardsattaining the common goal of work life balance.
