Work–life balance is a concept including proper prioritizing between "work" (career and ambition) and "lifestyle" (health, pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual development/meditation)

WORK LIFE BALANCE

The positive effect :

Motivation towards work, positive job satisfaction, improving employee morale and productivity, enough time for personal and family life, improved health condition etc.

The negative effect :

Job stress, work-life conflicts, absenteeism, high attrition rate, burnouts, job switching , work alcoholism, health issues etc.

WORK LIFE BALANCE IN MARRIED INDIVIDUALS

Traditionally restricted to employees who constituted majority of male and less female employees

Families have shifted from male bread winner to dual earner couples trend, the boundary of work and life has become more and more broad and complex

LITERATURE REVIEW

Name of the research paper: Work Life balance among married women Couple

Author: N. Krishna Reddy, M. N. Vranda, Atiq Ahmed, B. P. Nirmala, and B. Siddaramu

Objective: to study various factors which could lead to WFC and FWC among married women employees.

Materials and Methods: The sample consisted of a total of 90 married working women of age between 20 and 50 years. WFC and FWC Scale was administered to measure WFC and FWC of working women. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Carl Pearson's Correlation was used to find the relationship between the different variables.

Findings and Conclusion: The findings of the study emphasized the need to formulate guidelines for the management of WFCs at organizational level as it is related to job satisfaction and performance of the employees.

Name of the research paper: Work-Family Strains and Gains Among Two-Earner Couples

Author: Nancy L. Marshall and Rosalind C. Barnett

Objetive: What work-family strains and gains do two-earner couples experience?, Are there gender differences in these work-family strains and gains?, Are the following factors associated with work-family strains and gains :workload, experiences at work and at home, resources, role commitment, sexrole attitudes, and the man's attitude towards his partner's employment?

Methods :A random sample of 300 couples in which both the men and the women were employed full-time. The couples were randomly selected from town lists of all adults living in two towns in the greater Boston area. The sample was stratifiedon parental status (60% of the sample were parents at the time of recruitment) and waslimited to couples in which the man was between the ages of 25 and 40.

Findings and conclusion :More than a quarter of the men and women report no work-family strains. In addition, 20% of parents report that combining employment and parenting does not cause such strains as not having enough time or energy for their children, or worrying about the impact of their working on their children. Over two thirds of the men and women report that combining work and parenting has definite gains, including making them better parents.

Name of the article: Busy with work? Don’t forget your marriage

Author: Harvey Schachter

People initially assume that their marriage will take care of itself.

Since work pressures are imminent, they focus, for now, on work, hoping to compensate down the road. “From their perspective they were doing it all for the family. Unfortunately, now they are at risk of losing their family,” he says.

Six unconventional approaches that he argues you must adopt to try to save your marriage:

OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH

To identify what aspects of work interferes with personal life. To identify the factors that impact work-life balance of married couples,To find out if there are differences across demographics and work-life balance. To identify the factors causing stress due to improper work life balance and its management among the executives.To identify policies, practises and programs offered by companies with reference to work-life balance.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGYTYPES OF RESEARCH

Exploratory Research

Formulating a problem for more precise investigation.Gives rise to new findings,facts,insights and priorities for further research.New research problem may be formulated.

SAMPLING DESIGN

Sample Size- 102 Married individuals.

Demographic Details Area- Mumbai suburbs and Navi Mumbai.Target Population- Working Married individualsMales - 49Females -53

SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

Non random sampling

Convenience Sampling- It is a non-probability sampling technique where subjects are selected because of their convenient accessibility and proximity to the researcher.

DATA COLLECTION

Primary Data:

QuestionnaireInterview

Secondary Data:

Literature ReviewBooksJournals

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

MALES FEMALES

49 53

1. GENDER

More number of married females were approached

20-25 1026-30 3931-35 2336-40 741-ABOVE 23

2. AGE GROUP

The young corporate brigade is responsible and active at work but also know how to manage their lives keeping stress levels at bay

YES NO

63 39

3. ARE YOU ABLE TO BALANCE YOUR WORK LIFE?

39 of them being majorly females

music

reading books

dance

exercise

sleep

yoga/meditation

sports

entertainment

friends/family

36 13 8 5 3 18 5 36 3

4. HOW DO YOU MANAGE STRESS?

Music and entertainment are an important and popular stress busters

Technology

Frequent Travelling

Negative attitude of peers at work place

Negative attitude of Supervisors

Negative attitude of family members

None

25 23 22 20 11 17

5. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING HINDER YOU IN BALANCING WORK AND FAMILY COMMITMENTS?

The rise of technology and other tools, which were meant to make work easier , indeed caused them more worries than ever.

Hypertension

Obesity Diabetics Frequent headaches

None

11 12 6 25 49

6. DO YOU SUFFER FROM ANY STRESS RELATED DISEASES ?

A positive feedback

7. Relation between number of working days in a week and balancing the work life

H0: There is no relation between the number of days you work in a week and balancing your work lifeH1: There is a relation between the number of days you work in a week and balancing your work life

We conclude that there is a relation between the number of days employees work in a week and balancing work life as the more number of days married employees work in their organization the more they are unable to balance their work and life.

Majority of employees work for 5 or 6 days a week. They have given a response that they can balance their work life

The employees who work all 7 days a week are totally unable to balance their work and life.

8. Relation between quality time with family and balancing the work life

HO: There is no relation between missing out the quality time with family and friends due to pressure of work and balancing your work lifeH1: There is a relation between missing out the quality time with family and friends due to pressure of work and balancing your work life

We conclude that there is a relation between missing out the quality time with family and friends due to pressure of work and balancing your work life as if your work life is balanced you hardly miss out any quality time with your beloved ones.

The employees whose responses are never and rarely are the employees who manage their family time and work time quite well Majority of employees have response as sometimes and they are the ones who miss the family time The employees who always miss the quality time are the ones whose company just wants the work done.

9. Relation between preference of food and work life balance

H0: There is no relation between preference of food and balancing your work lifeH1: There is a relation between preference of food and balancing your work life

We conclude that there is a relation between preferences of food and balancing your work life as if an employee’s work life is balanced the preferences of food he/she will make will be healthier and nutritious.

In the data the majority of responses are for homemade food, some for less caloric organic food and some for diet food. We noticed that these employees are the ones who have given responses as their work life is totally balanced.

The second majority goes with the employees who prefer spicy/junk food and food from office cafeteria. They are the ones whose work and life are not balanced.

10. Relation between number of working days and suffering from stress related diseases

H0: There is no relation between number of days you work in a week and suffering from any stress related diseaseH1: There is a relation between number of days you work in a week and suffering from any stress related disease

We conclude that there is a relation between number of days you work in a week and suffering from any stress related disease

In the data we the employees who work for only 5 -6 days a week are the ones who do not suffer from any stress related disease

The employees who work for 6 days a week or more generally do suffer from stress related diseases. Frequent headaches and hypertention are the most vulnerable diseases to such employees.

11. Relation between provisions of the company and time spent with children

H0: There is no relation between provisions provided by the company for balancing work life and time spent with children.H1: There is a relation between provisions provided by the company for balancing work life and time spent with children. We conclude that there is a relation between provisions provided by the company for balancing work life and time spent with children because employees who have the option to work from home are able to spend more time with their children.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a strong perception among the respondents that it is important to achieve a balance between paid employment and personal life ((95%), that this enables people to work better (92.6%) and that work-life balance is a joint responsibility of both employers and employees (84.2%).  There is an expectation among staff that an employer should be sympathetic towards employees’ needs by providing work-life balance policies and flexible working arrangements. It can be inferred that this is likely to influence employees’ choices in terms of employment. From an employer point of view it makes good business sense to support work-life balance

RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendations at individual level

1.Maintain relations in private life 2.Make time for yourself and your family’s health 3.Physical activities 4.Take breaks (coffee, lunch) 5.Social activities with people in the same field (networking, receptions etc) 6.Get a mentor 7.Prioritise (you are Nr 1) 8.Don’t compete when it’s not necessary / Don’t try to be perfect 9.Change direction when you have to / before it’s too late 10.Make working hours visible (for yourself and for others) 11.Share household chores with partner

Recommendation on company level

1. Meeting activities, also high-level meetings, should take place during regular working Hours.

2. Career after 40 and further training for people 45+ should be possible: during times of family responsibilities, it should be possible for both women and men to make horizontal career moves or work, for example, in positions that require fewer business travels without taking away the opportunity to move vertically a bit later. 3. E-learning can be used as an alternative / supplement to face to face courses, as more people can attend and time can be saved. 4. Companies, especially large ones, should consider different kinds of meetings, eg using IT or videoconferencing as they also save travelling time. 5. Companies should improve the circulation of information (e.g. concerning company goals etc and make the goal visible)

6. Transparency of company policies (e.g. on discrimination)

7. Keep contact with people on leave – information on website, meetings twice a year, career planning once a year etc

8. Using company ‘elders’( retired people) and senior programmes to help other people further training, mentors, support regional senior knowledge programmes etc  9. Stress training, seminars – what happens in your body etc

10. Self confidence training

11. Ability to change jobs within company: also horizontal movements, job rotation etc.

12. Vouchers for cultural and physical activities  

General Recommendations Improve communication. Undertake a review of relevant existing policies and extend their scope where appropriate Ensure fairness and consistence in the way company policies that support work-life balance are implemented. Consider implications for work-life balance in relation to workloads and working outside conventional hours

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