Work Balance : Work Life Balance

Work-life balance has been a popular topic for employees across all age and occupations for years, representing a rising concern of contemporary human resource management and labor policies. This topic has attracted the attention from the millennium generation, who is stepping into the market and beginning to grow a career. Therefore considering the increasing demand, well-designed workforce planning with diverse scheduling options offered to employees appears to be extra credits for most companies. This research paper aims to communicate the positive effects of four-day workweek, and providing support for why employers should adopt this schedule for employees and themselves through 1) introducing background and history of four-day workweek as a work schedule option and 2) demonstrating benefits of four-day workweek from both employer and employees’ perspectives.

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,

We’ve looked at work from many different views in this class. From the bottom in Mike Roses book, Mind at Work which looks at the, on the jobsite skills and intelligence needed in the work force. Along with the way our society and education play a role in that. And then there was the middle working class view by journalist and author Barbara Ehreinch and her book Nickel and Dimed, which saw a middle class person look at the low wage lifestyle of Americans, and her failed attempt to live off wages. It ended up very one sided and controversial since it was a wealthier person trying to look in on a subject they could never understand. But one thing that I never really felt or saw either one really look at is the connection between work and life balance they only looked at the different aspects of work and those factors. But I feel there was a factor left out and it is life, family, personal aspects.

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

Work-life balance is a generalised term in which an individual is able to manage or

It is imperative that the employee can balance his/her working life against his/her personal life. With sufficient time off and rest periods, employees will feel “looked after” and be motivated to put in more effort. There will be a reduction of mistakes because the employee has had adequate rest which results in a more positive working environment. Employers who introduce such practices in the work place in order to help employees achieve a better and satisfactory work/life balance can expect to see an increase in motivation, enhanced performance/productivity and greater staff loyalty. By implementing a positive work/life balance, companies are successful, secure a good reputation and promote positive employee relations. The Working Time Regulations 1998 stipulates that employers should provide employees with the following basic rights:

It can also become challenging to achieve work-life balance when not all employers offer employees benefits which our textbook outlines as ‘stress removers’. This includes - flexible and limited work time, job sharing, telecommuting, personal leave, and child care support (McShane & Glinow, 2017). The article also stressed that many employees face being penalized or terminated stating, “Most people do not believe that their workplaces truly support flexibility or that they could work an alternative schedule without career risks” (Chan,

Ms. Isabel Rimanoczy made great points in this article. Though some may view her as a work body, she and I share a mutual understanding when it comes to work-life balance. Ms. Rimanoczy is not buying the idea that there is some sort of balance between the two aspects of our lives. “Work-life balance is dead” and it may be a good thing” (Rimanoczy, 2015). I agree with her statement because if anyone takes the time to think about it, they will soon come to terms with the idea that it really becomes impossible to separate work and personal life. Some of us grow up with moral values, standards, and family traditions carried on through religious beliefs. When we go to work we will bring along our character because our personal life defines us as

Understanding this fact is critical in understanding how true work-life balance can benefit not just the employees but the company as well. When employees are in better control of their lives, are motivated and are able to manage stress better, the attendant productivity will ultimately, positively affect the organization within which these employees work. Achieving optimal work-life balance is critical to job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is the degree to which people enjoy their work. (Spector 1997). Singh 2013 identifies that job satisfaction reflects how well an individual is happy with various aspects of his job to which work-life balance is an aspect. The following factors make up a Work life Balance plan that should be implemented by the Jones Bank of Canada and caters to the varying needs of Baby boomers, Generation X and Millennials.

It is important for employers to ensure that their staff can maintain a work-life balance and this will provide its own benefits for them, such as:

Work-life balance is a combination of interactions among different areas of one’s life; the advantages and disadvantages associated with that balance/imbalance are countless and can affect multiple levels of society (Schoenfeld, 2005).

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.

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.

My recommendation to work-family conflict is to alter the conflict that causes employees to develop negative attitudes toward work due to an unbalanced life between their job and family, thus this can be remedied by some of the following suggestions of implementing workplace flexibility to allow families to plan their work lives and their family lives. Also, instituting short term and extended leave from work as well as including paid time off for family and medical leave and paid sick days are great benefits to reduce work-family conflict. Likewise, other recommendations include managers, allowing employees to tackle the small stuff during work time such as taking care of household-related tasks while at work, such as paying bills or arranging plans by phone. All the more another suggestion could be to leave work early in order to take care of family responsibilities, or coming in earlier or taking work home to accomplish the needed work. Equally important to emphasize is the fact that many households entail both parents working and thus there is not sufficient amounts of time being spent with family for recreational activities and just the idea of spending time with one another. Now more family oriented policies have been implemented to foster efforts for on-site day care accessibility for employees and even going as far as to pay for child care costs or implementing programs to assist employees purchasing their first home.

A healthy work-life balance has many benefits including better general health for the employees, higher job satisfaction, reduced stress in both the professional and personal life and greater focus on meeting the work objectives.