Dbf1 Work Life Balance Paper

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,

Explain (in 1 or 2 paragraphs) why it is important to maintain a work/life balance.

Thesis: When there is a cohesive balance between work and family life, it leads to a more productive working environment and family atmosphere.

In today’s world many people are trying to balance their work and their personal life which can be a huge challenge. There have been studies showing that having a poor work life balance can cause an unhealthy level of stress; unhappiness and it can actually reduce productivity. Also many people suffering from poor work life balance can find it impacts their relationships and ability to actually enjoy and value their lives.

When working in an organisation it is important to maintain a work-life balance. This means that you are able to separate work life from your home life. It is important when working in an organisation to put in as much effort as possible into your role and to achieve goals that you have set yourself to impress employers and earn personal satisfaction. When you are in a work place for long periods of time it can be hard to shut off emotions that you are feeling at work ready for when you go home this means that when you go home sometimes you may still feel as though you are still at work, even if you enjoy your job this can be hard to deal with and can become too much for some people to handle. Not being able to maintain a work-life balance can leave people feeling upset and in some cases could cause depression.

Work-life balance is imperative to adhere to for all working professionals to avoid burnout or an induced level of stress. Excessive workloads and the feeling of being burned out can translate in other areas such as one’s overall health. In my experience, I have witnessed several employees request a leave of absence due to an enormous level of pressure they feel always to be “on.” Inefficiency and social forces are direct resultants from a work-life imbalance. In today’s workforce employers have implemented several kinds of flexible working arrangements to counteract the overexertion employees tend to exhibit.

The world of work is transmuting. The working patterns experienced by the post-war baby boomer generation (born: 1946–1964) are no longer acceptable to much of generation X (born: 1965–1980) or the millennial generation (born: 1981–2000). Work-life balance has entered the business lexicon and it is here to stay. From the perspective of employers often faced with skills shortages and skills gaps. Provision of flexible working arrangements is now part and parcel of the brand image of many organisations, particularly where the labour market for staff is global – where it was once national or even local. Moreover, in a world of always-on, always-connected economies, the line between work and home is becoming increasingly blurred.

3. The work-life balance: the new generation professionals take their family life as important as or even more important than their work life. So a company must create an environment that accommodates every possible help for its employees to arrive at this balance. For example, maternity or caring for elders have to be given a special consideration by the management. Many potential and talented woman executives leave their jobs when they find that they cannot keep work –life balance.

For many employed people, a workplace is like a second home. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 2016 in the United States, the annual hours actually worked per worker on their main job is 1,783 hours (OECD, 2017). The atmosphere of a workplace contributes to the mental and emotional wellness of its employees and the productivity of an organization, as a whole; therefore, it is important to establish consistent house rules or guidelines to communicate to both management and employees how to conduct themselves for the goodwill of the company and its people. Every person at an organization brings a diverse set of individual needs and motivations apart from the company’s primary agenda. Despite their commitment to perform their specific work responsibilities while in the workplace, each person obligates himself or herself to non-work urgencies that can produce interruptions within the boundaries of their required duty to an organization (Casper & DePaulo, 2012). Such non-work urgencies may involve a spouse or a child for a partnered employee; therefore, many organizations establish “family-friendly” policies in consideration of a partnered employee’s life outside of the workplace or the exceeding obligations of a person with parental responsibilities (Casper & DePaulo, 2012, p. 232). Family-friendly policies could include a flexible work schedule with the option to telecommute some days, or extra time off to care for an ill partner or

There used to be a time when the borders between professional life and personal life were fairly clear. But, in today 's world, it has become a norm that to become successful in your career, you have to compromise your personal life. Maintaining work-life balance is a topic which is very much debated and discussed. Life balance involves all components of our life. For many, this includes career or paid work, child raising or elderly care, though not always, of course. No matter our circumstances, life balance is an important function of feeling satisfied in our lives. When our life balance is out of kilter, we might feel resentful, disappointed and burnt out, and our physical and psychological health may suffer.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss strategies for work-life balance. It focuses on outlining the importance of work-life balance by assessing short and long-term goals and deciding priority, timing and support needed. “The pursuit of a meaningful, multifaceted life involves endless choices about both short-term tactical issues and long-term strategic ones.” (Sinoway, 2012, p. 111). Life is too short to focus on a single area (e.g., work) and we cannot expect to have it all and to do it all with perfection, so it must be a way of life to prioritize, plan and achieve while pursuing a healthy balance between work and home/personal commitments.

In some countries such as France and Denmark, there is a great deal of emphasis on ensuring citizens enjoy an appropriate balance between the demands of their jobs and their personal lives through governmental and private sector programs. In other countries, though, such as Japan and the United States, employees may not enjoy the same level and type of support from their society and organization for their work-life needs, placing increased levels of stress on them in ways that are detrimental to day-to-day productivity and overall performance and job satisfaction. These are especially salient issues in information technology companies where the fast-paced nature of the business places enormous pressures on knowledge workers to innovate or perish. To determine what types of work-life problems are common in the information technology workplace and how companies can respond to these issues, this paper provides a review of the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature to identify the problem concerning work-life balance issues in general and how they affect the information technology workplace in particular, followed by an analysis of current best practices. A discussion concerning the options that are available to information technology firms is followed by recommendations for practice. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings are presented in the conclusion.

“Critically discuss the importance of work-life balance in the effective management of people at work in contemporary organisations.”

However, in the absence of balance, most commonly known as work-family conflict, research shows it has been linked to higher turnover intention and sickness absence, in addition to, lower productivity. A large percentage of an individual’s time is spent at work which constitutes as a significant aspect of their life. As a result, their well-being can be greatly affected due to their experiences at work and their experiences/behaviors at home. Once an employee recognizes an imbalance between their work and personal life, they are more likely to experience higher levels of stress and depression. Because work-life balance is a broad topic area, it is vital for human resource practitioner’s to develop a conceptual understanding of its various constructs. With that, they will be better equipped with the knowledge to develop appropriate interventions for both employees and organizations.

Previously, the female workforce in India was mainly employed in non-managerial, subordinate or low-profile positions. Now, they occupy almost all categories of positions in the workplace. These changes in work culture have added to the women 's duties and responsibilities to their family as well as to society. The conflicts between competing work demands and personal and family needs seem to be the most probable reason for this scenario of work-life conflicts. The present study is assessing the prevalence of work –life balance among female married college teachers in Thrissur Corporation. The purpose is also to present and discuss specifically the problems married female college teachers’ face in the process of balancing their work and family life. The study was carried out with stratified random sampling and adopted the questionnaire developed by developed by A. Rashida Banu & K.Duraipandian to measure the work-life balance of professionals. The Sample size consists of 75 samples from government, aided and autonomous colleges. The results of the study brought out the