Benefits Of Work Life Enrichment

Thesis Statement: Today, many working families are having issues finding a good balance between work and family life. There are options available for those who seek help to find a better balance between the two. Many of these options range from organizational practices or policies, training, corporate involvement and even laws.

Thirty-eight percent of Americans report some tension between their work and home lives. Today’s highly publicized work/life balance conflicts are multiple, and their nature differs significantly depending on the jobs individuals have and on their family situations. Tensions between work and family life clearly have implications for the well-being of individuals and their children and ramifications for society in general. Yet because the personal needs, desires, motivations, and economic circumstances of Americans are so varied, there appears to be no single way to resolve these tensions, no universal best practices with regard to work/life balance. For example,

The overall purpose of this project is to investigate if a work environment in which work life balance is anticipated and supported will provide positive impact on employees’ performance and attitude. In addition, this research will examine the current understanding of attitudes toward the concerns of work life balance across the gender roles. This review of qualitative data will provide answers to the following questions. First, would implementing a work life balance provide employees with a happier and

Thompson, C. A., Beauvais, L. L., & Lyness, K. S. (1999). When Work–Family Benefits Are Not Enough: The Influence of Work–Family Culture on Benefit Utilization, Organizational Attachment, and Work–Family Conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 54(3), 392-415.

Companies whose organizational design supports its employees’ work-life balance may be more financially successful than those that does otherwise. Many employees consider work-life balance more important than the monetary reward. Employees with a balanced personal and professional life demonstrate a better job performance than those who feel “pressured” in either their personal or professional life. In ideal situations, employer demands and employee’s ideal work situation rarely meet the middle ground, those who do, perceive that they are in control.. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the Healthcare Clinic’s organizational design based on the employees’ work-life balance.

Many Americans in today’s society are subject to workaholism, an addiction that can alter a person’s personality and values. Hauk and Chodkiewicz, both part of the Institute of Physcology and University of Lódź, Łódź, Poland, conducted a study analyzing the the role of occupational stress in workaholism and family relationships. They concluded that occupational stress was mediator in this relationship leading to the conclusions that stress, a symptom of workaholism, was influencing relationships outside of work. As more work means more stress, workaholics are burdened with large accumulation of stress they cannot escape, since they are driven by the desire to constantly work. This desire, as Hauk and Chodkiewicz point out, isolates a worker and leads to a work-family conflict (WFC) because all of the laborer’s resources are consumed by work. A WFC, according to Greenhaus, Drexel University, and Beurell, Seton Hall University, is defined as a conflict in which “participation in the work (family) role is more difficult by virtue of participation in family (work) role” meaning that full participation in one role came at the expense of another (Greenhaus) . Li-Chaun Chu, School of Health Policy and Management, states that “WFC commonly appear as an antecedent for psychological distress and mental health problems”. Poor mental health does not increase productivity in work, and workers with poor mental health will actually tend to have more absences and eventual job burnout. In order for society to prosper, proper relationships need to be established between people to have a healthy, communal society. Under pressure to perform and to produce at a great volume, workers will begin to change and alter their relationships. In Summary , stress will push workaholics to work until they break, but the trade off is not

Industrial psychologists devote much time to job satisfaction. They investigate factors that have been found to relate to satisfaction, including employee turnover, absenteeism, age, pay, and attitudes toward unions. Industrial psychologists also study motivation because evidence suggests that both motivation and ability are necessary for employees to succeed in their jobs. Thus, psychologists develop systems for rewarding good performance, and they redesign jobs for greater interest and challenge.

Many employers have enacted policies and strategies to encourage employees to balance their personal and professional responsibilities. According to Wang and Verma (2012), “The aim of these programs is to help organizations to attract and retain highly skilled workers by providing support to balance workers’ personal lives and their work” (p. 411). When making the decision to return to the workforce it is important to review and evaluate employment options especially while attempting to strike a balance between a workplace environment and home life.

The generalizability of published studies related to harmonising the work and family domains are uncertain. The topic have been carried out in several studies investigating on aspects such as influencing the impact of practices in particular frameworks (Wood & Stephen, 2007; Beham et al., 2012; Stock et al., 2013). As earlier scholar in this work and family interaction, Rapoport and Rapoport (1965) reported that the effectiveness of the interaction between work and family domain involves a certain amount of conflict. This is because of a serious changing point in work and family role systems. Thus, in this study, we will disclose the important factors associated with the balancing role between work and family at the workplace. Some of these factors include personal variables, individual personalities, line-manager attitudes, macro-socioeconomic and cultural values (Dávila de León & Finkelstein, 2011; McCarthy et al., 2010; Poelmans et al., 2003). They are most common influences’ on work and family practices or programmes and have been identified based on the challenges faced by the employees at the workplace.

As more women enter the workforce and fathers have become more involved in raising their families the need for work life balance has become a necessity in the job force. In terms of the forces that are promoting work-life balance they benefit from flexible work schedules, more time with their families. According to the Reed.co.Uk website there are five benefits for employees of a work life balance, these include, “your health and well being will improve, you will be more productive, you can enjoy work, you have more time for yourself, and you will not miss out on family time” (Reed.co.uk, 2017). In respect to the forces that resist work-life balance programs Harvey points out that “When work-life balance issues are not addressed there can be organizational costs.” (Harvey & Allard, p. 338). When the programs are implemented in the workplace companies will see “a return investment of 3$ to 4$ in the work house saved, insurance cost, sick leave, decreased absenteeism and fewer on-the job inquiries.” ( Harvey & Allard p. 339). The company becomes more desirable for potential applicants as well as improves the retention rate.

Employees who are comfortable balancing life responsibilities experience less stress and more work satisfaction. This pays you back in increased motivation, positive customer service, and effective coworker relationships.

Work life balance is a really important factor within today’s industrial revolution as it is the relationship between an individual’s work/family commitments, thus having an impact on their behaviour between their work and home environment. Offering employees an satisfactory equilibrium allows them to balance their primary priorities which they have in their current employment position as well as maintaining their lifestyle outside of their position (Armstrong, 2014).

This Literature Review focuses on the implementation of work -life balance policies and the effects they have on organisations. As defined by Lockwood (2003) work-life balance is “a state of equilibrium in which the demands of both a person’s job and personal life are equal.” This paper will review the consequences work life balance policies have on organisational performance, weighing up the cost and benefits for the organisation when introducing a work life balance policy. It is important to determine if the net impact is positive, and if it is beneficial for organisations to implement work life balance policies. A firm will only implement such policies if it has a positive return on investment. The

However, as Desrochers claims, work-family blurring can be minimized by keeping a consistent schedule through boundary activities such as discouraging family members from disrupting one's work and working only in a particular room of the home (2003:5). In addition, telecommuting provides flexible work hours, which allows telecommuters to spend more time at home with their families so as to strengthen emotional ties within them. Therefore, as Raines and Leathers explain “telecommuters perceive the consequences of the alternative workplace to be an improved quality of home”(2001:2).

When one thinks of work-life balance, one needs to determine what that means for them. Each person has an opinion of areas that are more and less important, but this is where it needs to fit the individual. “Work-Life Balance is not a problem to be solved. It is an issue to be managed,” according to Jim Bird, CEO of Worklifebalance.com (Bird, n.d.). The best way for companies to assist the employee achieve a work-life balance is through work-life training programs. Success at work is just a portion of work-life balance.