...examines why work-life balance is essential for every employee. Some of the reasons why organizations should maintain a work-life balance for all the employees include stress reduction. It increases the ability of the employees to deliver while at the work place. It creates harmony between the private life of an employee and their work-life. It raises employee commitment in the organization, therefore, increasing productivity. It enhances flexibility among employees in the work place. A proper work-life balance also helps an organization attract and retain employee competitive employees in the organization. The paper also examines the different strategies that can be used by organizations to ensure better work-life balance for the employees. They include offering employees adequate vacation. Organizations can offer flextime for the employees as it enables them, enjoy their vacations. Proper staffing also ensures employees are not over worked. Introduction Work-life balance refers to a concept that entails prioritizing between career and lifestyle where lifestyle includes family, leisure or pleasure. The work-shy refer to the employees who are never inclined to work. It refers to a concept in Human Resource Management (HRM) that enables employees to manage their energy and time between work and other aspects of life. It involves efforts by an employee to create time for personal activities and the workplace. It is not true to state that work-life balance is only...
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...2003 Research Quarterly ❶y❸❹ Work/Life Balance Challenges and Solutions Nancy R. Lockwood HR Content Expert y SOCIETY FOR HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SHRM Research ❶y❸❹ 2003 SHRM®Research Quarterly Abstract In organizations and on the home front, the challenge of work/life balance is rising to the top of many employers’ and employees’ consciousness. In today’s fast-paced society, human resource professionals seek options to positively impact the bottom line of their companies, improve employee morale, retain employees with valuable company knowledge, and keep pace with workplace trends. This article provides human resource professionals with an historical perspective, data and possible solutions—for organizations and employees alike—to work/life balance. Three factors—global competition, personal lives/family values, and an aging workforce— present challenges that exacerbate work/life balance. This article offers the perspective that human resource professionals can assist their companies to capitalize on these factors by using work/life initiatives to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Work/Life Balance: Challenges and Solutions I n a society filled with conflicting responsibilities and commitments, work/life balance has become a predominant issue in the workplace. Three major factors contribute to the interest in, and the importance of, serious consideration of work/life balance: 1) global competition; 2) renewed interest in personal...
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...Elusive Balance Between Work and Life “Balance is beautiful.” - Miyoko Ohno, Japanese bridge designer Article by Leo Babauta I have a close friend named Norm who is a great photographer and a great person in general … recently he was telling me that all he does is work. That might sound familiar to some of you — I’ve certainly been there at different points in my life, although these days I have to say that I’ve found a pretty good balance between all the important things in my life, including work, family, and other things I’m interested in. Norm asked me to write a post about work-life balance, because although I think Norm is pretty happy with his life, he’s interested in expanding his life beyond work. I think it’s an interesting question that most of us have to address at some point or other. Work *Is* Life, To Some Extent The first thing to point out is that work isn’t separate from life — it’s a part of it. For some people, it’s not a fun part of life, but for others, it’s a passion. Either way, it’s a part of our lives, good or bad. Of course, when people talk about a work-life balance, they mean that we should find a balance between work and our personal lives, which is definitely true. But it’s important to realize that if work is really something you love, you don’t need to cut it short in order to spend more time at home in front of the television. So the key is to remember that what we’re looking for is a balance between the things we love — not just work and...
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...Dissertation Draft “Work/Life Balance” PREPARED BY: Mbogo .W.A (Moi) © 2011 Abstract This study is used to determine the cultural readiness of employers and employees for work/life initiatives. There are strategies that have been used to evaluate the importance of work life balance and culture through considering the perceived managerial support that affects the employee’s decision to devote time for family and the job. It has been observed that organizational time puts a lot of emphasis through time demands and expectations that may distort or interfere with family responsibilities. In this study, the main focus is to identify how work life balance and family benefits are merged and translated to the benefits that workers get that are translated to greater commitments, reduced work/family conflicts, and reduced intention to leave. The study results will be used to confirm the issue of work life initiatives, such as the work/family culture that is related to work attitudes as well as perceived managerial supports that are linked with less intention to move away from work places. Furthermore, this research will study the work/life balance and its implications on both for men and women, focusing on the differences in marital status and managerial positions to understand the relationship between gender, managerial level and work/life balance. The paper aims at exploring the idea of work/life balance that incorporates the benefits that both employers and employees...
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...My most relevant learning experience of the work life balance workshop There has not much time elapsed since we started to get the first impressions about business life and the way to be successful in it but it’s already quite apparent that there is no option than hard work if you want to make it to the top. It is required that students act very responsible with their time and manage to fit it all in. As one consequence of this, people often tend to neglect spending time with family and friends because they’re strongly focused on their success in business later on. When the pressure leading from exams, presentations or studying itself gets too high it might be dangerous not to recognize some warning signals of the own mind and body. To avoid this but to be successful either way there are some strategies which we were introduced to during the different presentations of the Work-Life-Balance workshop. The presentation I liked most was the one of Jasmin Nordiek with the topic „Cope with stress“ because it was great to get an insight into somebody’s personal experience and the development of her way of thinking. She started her career with the same goal as many others: gaining a leading position in a big enterprise. She climbed up the career ladder successfully and finally her mission was accomplished. She was where most of the students at this university hope to be someday - in a leading position and enjoying all of the comforts it was bringing with it. After a while this wasn’t...
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...Sociologica http://asj.sagepub.com/ Work-Life 'Balance' in Europe Rosemary Crompton and Clare Lyonette Acta Sociologica 2006 49: 379 DOI: 10.1177/0001699306071680 The online version of this article can be found at: http://asj.sagepub.com/content/49/4/379 Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com On behalf of: Nordic Sociological Association Additional services and information for Acta Sociologica can be found at: Email Alerts: http://asj.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://asj.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Citations: http://asj.sagepub.com/content/49/4/379.refs.html >> Version of Record - Nov 13, 2006 What is This? Downloaded from asj.sagepub.com at University of Huddersfield on October 7, 2012 ACTA SOCIOLOGICA 2006 Work–Life ‘Balance’ in Europe Rosemary Crompton and Clare Lyonette Department of Sociology, City University, London, UK abstract: Although work–life ‘balance’ is an EU policy priority, within Europe there are considerable variations in the nature and extent of supports that national governments have offered to dual-earner families. In general, the Nordic welfare states offer the highest level of supports, although other countries, such as France, have historically offered extensive childcare supports to working mothers. We examine national variations in reported levels of work–life conflict, drawing upon questions fielded...
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...struggling to chart a path towards success in our careers and fulfill our goals in all other aspects of our lives. We have lots of things to fit into our lives. We need to achieve our objectives at work as well as at home, but the problem is that there isn’t enough time. A balanced life means different things to different people. It’s about living a lifestyle that nurtures a person physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. For most people, juggling the demands of a career and a personal life is an ongoing challenge. Why so much importance has been given to this area? What has changed now? Traditionally in India, we had joint family system where men of the house used to go for work and women used to take care of the children and the home and there used to be perfect balance. Nowadays the joint family system is slowly eroding and more nuclear families are emerging. Since both husband and wife go to work, there is nobody to take care of children. Work has taken over the top priority of many people. But the problem is too much focus is on work and there is less time for home. This imbalance causes stress. We all know that stress is the cause for many illnesses. So there is a need to strive for a healthy balance. When we feel satisfied with both personal and professional life, it can be said we are...
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...Abstract Work-life balance effects families all over America. This paper examines many contributing factors that determine the work life balance of families and they include ethnicity, social status, type of work, work leave policies, flexibility of employers, and what industry employees are employed in. There are few government regulations that help with the work-life balance of employees. Most of the work-life balance decisions are made by the employee’s family structure and employers policies. When there are work life imbalances stress, spillover, and burnout occur at work and also effect the family. This literature review aims at looking at all the factors that contribute to the growing issue of work-life balance in America. Currently only one law, the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) passed by the United States (US) government gives employees unpaid time off for certain situations. The review reveals a lack of US government and private companies’ involvement in creating better work-life balance policies for employees. Work-Life Balance People across the United States struggle with work-life balance. Married and un-married people are just trying to make ends meet and provide for family. The same people have to make sure the house stays maintained and children are taken care of. Finding time for stress relieving activities or something enjoyable can be tough. Companies can help with work-life balance by providing certain policies to increase the satisfaction...
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...straight at a leading Citybank had admitted that he felt “pressurised” to succeed. Moritz Erhardt, 21, was found dead as he neared the end of a gruelling seven-week placement with the Bank of America Merrill Lynch's (BAML) investment bank division. He collapsed in the shower in his student flat in East London amid claims that he had worked throughout the night eight times in two weeks in a bid to impress company bosses, returning home at 6am on three consecutive days. It has been claimed he suffered an epileptic fit. In an online profile, Mr Erhardt, from Germany, revealed that he had developed a tendency to be “over ambitious” at an early age. He said: “I have grown up in a family that expected me, in whatever respect, to excel in life. By implication, I felt somehow pressurised. However, I did not intend to belie my parents’ expectations. “Therefore, I have become a highly competitive and ambitious nature from early on.” Members of internet message boards used by City staff claimed that other interns had been ordered not to discuss Mr Erhardt’s death. One poster wrote: “One of the best interns in IBD BAML — 3 all nighters — didn’t turn up, colleagues went to find him.” Another claimed that someone who worked on the same floor as Mr Erhardt had told him: “He was working very, very, very long hours (as in 4 days spent almost without sleeping).” One intern who lived in his block said: “Apparently he pulled eight all-nighters in two weeks. They get you working crazy...
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...Research Topic: Work-life balance Bryson, L, Warner-Smith, P, Brown, P & Fray, L 2007, Managing the work-life roller-coaster, Science & Medicine, vol 65, pp 1142-1153. In the article “Managing the work-life roller-coaster,” Bryson, Warner-Smith, Brown and Fray state that the challenges of finding a work-life balance has had a greater impact on the women in today’s society, and they may be more exposed to stress related health issues as a result of this. Time issues have been the focus rather than the potential health related effects that the stress of managing these time issues could have. With longer working hours and more pressure in the work place for many women, the line between work and leisure is becoming blurred creating a more stressful environment. While it is becoming more recognised that time issues are creating more stress, these are often dealt with privately, and the authors see this as a potential “public health issue”. The article goes on to discuss the reasons why women become so stressed when trying to manage their work-life balance, as well as the numerous health issues that can arise from high levels of stress, both psychological and physical. Different circumstances, such as class, country you live in, industry you work in, even gender, affect the level of pressure, however, the potential health implications are the same. Studies have shown that the lack of control surrounding time management, and therefore lack of life satisfaction, is a major...
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...Seven Categories of Work-Life Effectiveness Successfully Evolving Your Organization’s Work-Life Portfolio • Caring for Dependents • Health and Wellness • Workplace Flexibility • inancial Support F for Economic Security • Paid and Unpaid Time Off • Community Involvement • liciting Management E Buy-In and Transforming Organizational Culture C1 Defining Work-Life Effectiveness Work-life refers to specific organizational practices, policies and programs that are guided by a philosophy of active support for the efforts of employees to achieve success within and outside the workplace. These employersponsored initiatives comprise a strategic framework referred to as the worklife portfolio, a key element of the organization’s total rewards strategy to attract, motivate and retain employees. Career Build Your Portfolio Step One: Assess your present work-life situation It is easy to construct the outline of your organization’s existing work-life portfolio by performing a simple inventory of the policies, practices and programs currently offered within each category of the work-life portfolio. A useful resource for this activity is the Work-Life Audit, available on the Alliance for Work-Life Progress website. www.awlp.org/pub/selfaudit.pdf he term “work-life” refers to the T intersection of self (the worker), career (work), family and community. Self Life Family Community Creating and Sustaining a Successful Portfolio Building...
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...Benefits of Work-life balance Benefits for you Employees in companies already implementing work-life practices enjoy significant benefits such as: * Being able to effectively manage multiple responsibilities at home, work and in the community without guilt or regret. * Being able to work in flexible ways so that earning an income and managing family/other commitments become easier. * Being part of a supportive workplace that values and trusts staff. People want to be able to have1: * a good quality of life * an enjoyable work life and career progression * training and development * good health * affordable childcare or eldercare * further education * more money * time to travel * time with friends and family * time to do sports and hobbies * time to do voluntary work Benefits for your business Good work-life balance policies and practices are good for business. Some of the benefits for you and your staff are: * Getting and keeping the right staff * Getting the best from staff * Being an ‘employer of choice’ and future proofing * Improving productivity Getting and keeping the right staff Finding and keeping good staff can be difficult especially in a tight labour market. Employers who can offer work-life balance and flexible work options are likely to have the competitive edge, gain access to a wider recruitment pool, and are more likely to hold onto existing staff. As a result of...
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...| Work Life Balance Brief | Organization Behavior and Change Management | | | | | Introduction Work-life balance does not mean that both your work and personal life will be equally balanced. Work-life balance does not mean that what might be the right balance today is going to be the right balance tomorrow. For many employees throughout the world, balancing their work and personal lives is a significant concern (Mathis & Jackson 2012). The current dynamic global economy ranks work-life balance as one of the most important workplace attributes, second only to compensation (Bloomberg Businessweek, 2009). In the US the workforce is culturally diverse and encompasses numerous generations (Baby boomers, Gen X, Gen Y aka Millennials), each one with a set of his or her own priorities. For the Millennials, work-life balance is of the utmost importance (Gilbert, 2011). Alluding to the fact that while there aren’t standardized concepts of work-life balance; there should be a set of variables to define “what is balance”, as more and more Millennials enter the workforce. In this brief I hope to show how work-life balance is about creating and maintaining supportive and healthy work environments, which will enable employees to have balance between work and personal responsibilities, thus strengthen employee loyalty and productivity. Defining Work-Life Balance Work-Life balance has been referred to as a balancing act between organizations and individuals...
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...of doing”. An organisation may have the most employee-friendly policies in the form of health insurance, vacation time, various benefits, and possibly EAP or education programmes or flexible work policies but still these may not give positive results. In addition to laying down these policies, it is also important to have them implemented and put in place and ensure that they are working. As an enforcer of WLB policies, it is also important to keep on reinforcing on them. For this you need to: Reinforce through better communications what you are already doing. All the work-life benefits, procedures, and policies of the company need to be put together and communicated to the entire organisation rather than keeping them isolated. It is essential to publicise them as a package and post it on the web site of the company. It is advisable to give a half day off on Fridays ensuring that the individual has completed his work and has no other engagement with any stake holders Give a choice to the employee to work from home one day a week. Offer subsidies for off-site exercise. Provide one or two days off with pay for approved community involvement work. Create and encourage an annual or quarterly “bring your family to work” day. Encourage employees to have a mandatory “disconnect from work” vacation policy with no cell phones or laptops. Create a more accommodating “on- and off-ramp” policy for those who leave the firm, especially if it is to spend time with family. When they...
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...WORK LIFE BALANCE AMONGST MIDDLE LEVEL OFFICERS: IS THE IAF SUPPORT ADEQUATE? NOTE: This study is aimed at establishing the service support in supporting work life balance amongst officers of middle seniority in the IAF. Your free and frank views/opinions would assist in improving the validity of the study. Your ‘personal identity’ will not be used in any manner. 1. I had come across the term "Work Life Balance" earlier? (a) Yes (b) No 2. As compared to 10 years back, the total my total work load as compared to 10 years back has:- (a) Increased (b) Decreased (c) Unaffected 3. As regards my work profile during recent years:- (a) I have started handling more conceptual tasks and am now rid of mundane jobs. (b) Still handle routine tasks as say 5 -10 years back. (c) Have actually started handling more routine tasks than ever before. 4. As a senior functionary, when I delegate tasks:- (a) It helps me in completing the task in time and easing my burden. (b) Increases my workload, since I require more time in chasing and coaxing subordinates to complete the delegated task. 5. During weekends:- (a) I generally get time to spend with family (b) I am mostly unable to spend time with family, because some new work invariably comes up (c) I plan to catch up with the official task pending over the week. 6. Most of the days, I pack up:- (a) On time (b) 0-30 mts late (c) 30 mts – 1 hr late (d) More than 1...
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