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| Articles » A Report on the Importance of Work-Life Balance |
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A Report on the Importance of Work-Life Balance |
| by Melissa Abercromby |
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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 and thus strengthen employee
loyalty and productivity.
Numerous studies have been conducted on work-life balance. According
to a major Canadian study conducted by Lowe (2005), 1 in 4 employees
experience high levels of conflict between work and family, based
on work-to-family interference and caregiver strain. If role overload
is included, then close to 60 percent of employees surveyed experience
work-family conflict.
Of all the job factors that influence work-life conflict, the amount
of time spent at work is the strongest and most consistent predictor.
The higher levels of work-to-family conflict reported by managers
or professionals often are a function of their longer work hours.
Other reasons include: job security, support from one’s supervisor,
support from co-workers, work demands or overload, work-role conflict,
work-role ambiguity, job dissatisfaction, and extensive use of communication
technology that blurs the boundaries between home and work.
Today’s workers have many competing responsibilities such as
work, children, housework, volunteering, spouse and elderly parent
care and this places stress on individuals, families and the communities
in which they reside. Work-life conflict is a serious problem that
impacts workers, their employers and communities.
It seems that this problem is increasing over time due to high female
labour force participation rates, increasing numbers of single parent
families, the predominance of the dual-earner family and emerging
trends such as elder care. It is further exasperated with globalization,
an aging population, and historically low unemployment. |
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| The Negative Effects of Work Life Conflict |
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Long work hours and highly stressful jobs not only hamper employees’
ability to harmonize work and family life but also are associated
with health risks, such as increased smoking and alcohol consumption,
weight gain and depression. Work life conflict has been associated
with numerous physical and mental health implications.
According to a 2007 study by Duxbury and Higgins, women are more likely
than men to report high levels of role overload and caregiver strain.
This is because women devote more hours per week than men to non-work
activities such as childcare, elder care and are more likely to have
primary responsibility for unpaid labour such as domestic work. Furthermore,
other studies show that women also experience less spousal support
for their careers than their male counterparts. Although women report
higher levels of work-family conflict than do men, the numbers of
work-life conflict reported by men is increasing.
Work-life conflict has negative implications on family life. According
to the 2007 study by Duxbury and Higgins, 1 in 4 Canadians report
that their work responsibilities interfere with their ability to fulfill
their responsibilities at home.
Employees, especially the younger generation who are faced with long
hours, the expectations of 24/7 connection and increasing pressure
of globalization are beginning to demand changes from their employers.
Also, people in the elderly employee segment are working longer now
than in the past and are demanding different work arrangements to
accommodate their life style needs. |
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| Current Practices |
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Employers are becoming increasingly aware of the
cost implications associated with over-worked employees such as: operating
and productivity costs, absenteeism, punctuality, commitment and performance.
There are five main reasons why companies participate in work life
balance programs: high return on investment, recruitment and retention
of employees, legislation, costs and union regulations.
There are a wide variety of practices currently being used to help
employees achieve work-life balance. It is important to note that
some work-life balance programs help employees handle stress and otherwise
cope more effectively while other programs help to reduce the absolute
stress levels by rebalancing work life.
A growing number of employers have implemented wellness programs or
pay for their employees’ gym membership as part of a benefits
package. Some companies invite fitness trainers or yoga instructors
into the office to hold lunchtime sessions.
Some companies undertake initiatives to improve employees’ healthy
eating habits. Others offer stress management programs which include
stretching, yoga, counseling, as well as bringing in Registered Massage
Therapists to work.
Many employers are offering longer vacation times than the mandatory
2 weeks per year imposed by Canadian legislation. Additionally, some
companies will offer “flex” days. Interestingly, sick
days tend to go down once some is “entitled” to three
weeks or more a year of holidays.
Human resources policies that can be used to increase work-life balance
include implementing time off in lieu of overtime pay arrangements,
providing a limited number of days of paid leave per year for child
care, elder care or personal problems, or having policies around weekend
and evening use of laptops and Blackberrys.
There are some issues that arise when employees have flexible work
hours such as lack of face-time with other staff and not being as
available to clients; these issues can be solved by ensuring employees
discuss scheduling with supervisor and let clients and other employees
know their hours of availability.
Sometimes in order to accommodate workers need for work life balance,
firms may need to reduce the amount of work given to each employee.
To accomplish this, employers can hire new people, reduce time spent
in job-related travel, allow for job sharing, or reevaluate the work
itself and how it is structured and organized with work
process improvements and/or reengineering of work.
According to a study by Messmer in 2006, flexible scheduling is the
benefit valued most by employees. However, increased flexibility,
if implemented without conditions and used to facilitate business
ends without provision for worker consent, could compromise instead
of enhance work life balance. |
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| Conclusion |
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Evidence suggests that improvements in people management
practices, especially work time and work location flexibility, and
the development of supportive managers, contribute to increased work-life
balance. Work-life balance programs have been demonstrated to have
an impact on employees in terms of recruitment, retention/turnover,
commitment and satisfaction, absenteeism, productivity and accident
rates.
Companies that have implemented work-life balance programs recognize
that employee welfare affects the “bottom line” of the
business. Parameters are required to ensure that programs are having
the desired effect on both employees and the company. Six parameters
that can be used to evaluate work life balance programs are: extent
of management buy-in and training, how programs are communicated to
employees, corporate culture, management controls, human resources
policies and employee control.
Finally, self-management is important; people need to control their
own behaviour and expectations regarding work-life balance. |
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| About the Author |
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| Melissa Abercromby has an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier
University with a focus on Strategy and a Civil Engineering Degree
from the University of Waterloo with options in Management Science
and Water Resources. She is currently employed with Corix Utilities
Inc. doing Project Management and Business Development for Ontario
Region. |
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| © 2007 Melissa Abercromby |
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