Work Life Balance In The Workplace

Strategies that can be done to support the families are first, “employment training programs that are geared to traditionally higher paying jobs, second, offering employment training programs for jobs that gain higher wages, such as employment in office administration, health services, trades, etc. should be explored” (R.A. Malatest & Associates LTD, 2006. p. 56). In addition, employment and training programs should be increased to better meet the needs of families. Lastly, flexibility in working schedule “organizations should provide formal supports such as family-oriented policies and benefits (e.g. parental leave, ability to take time off and make it up later, flex-time, job sharing, sick child care, and flexible work arrangements), which give employees autonomy over their hours and their absence from work. Second, the organization can supply a number of informal supports such as a family-friendly organizational culture (e.g. flexibility around hours and location of work) and supportive managers, which may help employees, deal with work–life conflict” (Higgings, Dusbury, & Lyons, 2008. p. 31). If these strategies are being implemented, it will help single parent balance their work place and family domain and reduce the risk of unhealthy living among lone-parent families. In addition, it will increase the level of commitment they utilize for the organization and their families in a healthy

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

Robert Dorment’s summary from his article talked about that women always complained about men did wrong but men who worked so hard for their family and work-life balance. Richard used that word “castigate” for men that means women scold men, but they did not realize men worked so hard. Other quote about the castigation of men, “…person whose husband, by her own admission, sacrificed much in his own academic career to do other heavy lifting with their children, all so she could pursue her dream job and then complain about it, bitterly, in the pages of a national magazine” (Dorment 708). Anne-Marie Slaughter explained that women who get promotion from other positions that they realized they do not have spent time with their family and some women who leave their jobs because of their family reasons. The quote said, “It is unthinkable that an official would actually step down to spend time with his or her family that this must be a cover for something else” (Slaughter 682). Third article called Women, work and work/life balance: Research roundup talked about the wage inequality and unequal responsibilities between men and women. Women have more family responsibilities than men do because some women are staying at home while taking care of their kids. Last article, Work-Life Balance – An integrated Approach: The case for joint and several responsibility talked about the

However, this also places such women at a higher disadvantage when divorced, when they can no longer afford childcare and must balance their career and taking care of their children. And even among professional couples, the husband's career tends to come first. The couple invests more heavily in the husband's career, because it is the unspoken assumption that, even if women have a career, their primary duties lie in childcare and supporting her household/husband. Again, we circle back to the concept of women's labor being more intensive and undervalued than men's. Even when they have careers outside of the home, they are still expected to perform (unpaid) emotional and physical labor in the

With the focus on the working American parent with benefits such as a flexible working hours paid parental leave for the men and women will achieve a better working life balancing and keep employees happier and more engaged at work. Not only should flexible schedule benefit the women but the men should also receive the option. The division of household labor has changed a lot in the last few decades, with many fathers taking primary caregiver role for their kids. Over 50 percent of fathers said they find it difficult to juggle work responsibilities and family life.

Sometimes men and women find it difficult to live together because of the different ways they handle responsibilities. Going to work and being there on time is a responsibility detrimental to almost every aspect of a relationship. It affects not only the relationship with each other, but also the relationship with an employer. As an example if a situation was to arise without warning, an employee who is late or never comes to work is less likely to be excused with pay, as someone who is at work at their scheduled time. Another responsibility commonly discarded is housework. To have a good functioning home life there should be a schedule of chores that each partner should know and do. Women should not be the only person responsible for; cleaning, cooking, and doing laundry, but by the same token men shouldn’t be the only person

Some believe it is absurd for women to work outside the home since women are not suitable for their role is to be a mother. Due to this view, some claim that women should not work outside the home since they should be the one to nurture their children, not the day-care. Working outside the home means women will have less time for their children which can result to further problems for both the family and the child. Therefore women should only have the role of a mother. Even though women do have the role of being a mother, they should be able to work outside the home as well. Why should women be the one to give up their career when she can care for her children and work at the same time. It is common for women to leave work for when her child is newly born and return when her child is old enough for school. Furthermore, women are needed at workplace. Women and men working together will create versatile environment that will complement each other. In an article by Lisa Anderson in the Reuters shows report that women and men working together does not only increase the performance in workplaces but also the job satisfaction. Professor Katrin Olafsdottir of Iceland's Reykjavik University conducted a research on balance in the workplace. Olafsdottir explains that “those working in gender-balanced groups scored highest in both job satisfaction and productivity, including less absenteeism and turnover, compared to those in settings dominated by females or

If this balance is actively pursued by the organization, changes and implementations can be made to align it with its balance goals. Elissa Tucker (2012) performed an analysis on companies considered benchmarks for work-life balance. Tucker found that best practices offer support for dual-career families, work-at-home policies and practices, and flexible hours. These common proceedings among industry standards are aligned with one common theme: flexibility. An organization with flexibility in regards to employees’ personal lives has an advantage in retaining and satisfying top talent. It is with flexibility that organizations are able to accommodate the requests and concerns generated by work-life balance conflicts. Organizations that are able to serve effectively the requests of its employees do not always resort to protocols. Finding a solution to an employee’s needs may come from not having a policy as much as having one. Flexibility is, in essence, the ability to find solutions. Today’s work environments are becoming more varied by the task and setting than ever before. An organization structured in a way that provides alternative and flexible work schedules can have an extreme impact on its employees’ work-life balances. Life comes with many uncertainties. Employees have many responsibilities and perform many roles. Flexible work

The role of work has changed throughout the world due to economic conditions and social

The aim of this study is to investigate how managers understand and manage the work-family balance practices (WFBPs) and how undertaking these new practices impact their dual-level position (i.e. organisation and individual level) in the organisation. To achieve this aim, this study will first explore the work-family relationship that has been broadly and conceptually defined by previous scholars and different conceptual definitions were taken into account. The term used in this study is Work-Family Balance Practices (WFBPs) that will be used to refer to the human resource practices and policies establish by organizations. Namely, these available practices are able to implement amongst workers in the workplace. Although the work life and family life are different, yet they are interconnected (Clark, 2000). Thus, this study views various perspectives when conceptualizing the work, family and work-family balance following on from the earlier discussion.

A good professional person is one who is able to maintain the gap between his/her personal and professional life. S/he does face problems in both the roles of life, but they know how to cope up with that so that their work as well as that personal life may not get disturbed. There was a time when the link and boundary between the personal life and professional life was vivid, but due to the growing challenges that are faced by the organizations, the workload is highly increased. Employees started working for late hours and targets achievement became more important than any other thing. This made the organizations to become more rigid in terms of achieving goals. Especially those people, who have their families and kids, are facing much difficulty in managing their work and their families. Organizations now expect more work from their professional people and believe on the fact of "lean and mean" (Hall & Richter, 1989).

In this present day, individuals are constantly faced with challenges that cause conflicts between their working life and their personal lives, which ultimately has an effect on productivity at work (Naithani 2010). Work life balance strives to strike an equilibrium between the professional and personal/social life spaces available to an employee with support from top management/employers and governments. Consequences of effective and ineffective work life balance techniques result in improved employee retention, improved quality of life, employee satisfaction, low level of morale, low productivity level and ultimately impacts on organisational performance (Kumar,Harish 2013).

Work and Life balance has become a consequential topic about a few decades ago up until today. Work-life balance was originally derived in the 1970’s to refer to the balance that exists in one’s professional life and personal one (Newman & Matthews, 1999). In the past decade or so, there has sparked a curiosity in the work-life balance realm. More and more studies and research came about on the topic and attracted the attention of scholars, the government, press, etc. This increase in curiosity could be driven by the worry that a lack of adequate work-life balance could spillover into health and even lower productivity for organizations. Today, we see that most people are working harder and longer than they ever were which makes it nearly unimaginable to attain that crucial work-life balance. Having a sustainable work-life balance means that there occurs adequate work functioning as well as the home with there being little to no role conflict (Sturges & Guest, 2004). Sturges and Guest (2004) also discuss that there are graduates that are pulled into situations where they have to work lengthy hours which inevitably leads to a poor balance in the work and life aspect. At the core foundation of this, work-life balance characteristics are contingent upon the various communication methods that occur in one’s organization. Having both formal and informal forms of communication, are crucial for both mentally and physically in order to be happy in the workplace. This paper focuses

Working mothers face a whirlwind of responsibilities. The working mother struggles between both her family obligations along with her work obligations creating a constant clash between which obligations are considered more important. A healthy balance between both spheres is hard to develop without the help or give of the other. Work-life balance or work-family culture, as defined by Chang, Chin and Ye is the, “shared values and assumptions regarding the extent to which a company supports the integration of employees’ work and family lives” (2014). Work-life balance and work-family culture are interchangeably used to demonstrate the same desired affect of balancing both demanding obligations. Various studies have been

The arrangement of the staff has different affectedly in recent decades all over the world. In the year 2000, 61% of all married women over age 16 in the US were in the workforce, compared to just 41% in 1970 (US Census Bureau, 2001); More employees are now engaged in a dual- earner lifestyle where both partners work and share responsibility for family care-giving (Greenhaus et al., 2000). In fact, recent research indicates that 85% of employees report having some day-to-day family responsibilities (Bond et al., 1998). These changing demographic trends, coupled with greater family involvement by men (Pleck, 1985) and heightened interest of employers in employee’s quality of life (Zedeck & Mosier, 1990) prompted a proliferation of research on the relationship between work and family roles. Interest and concern in the interface between work and non-work life, especially family life. Numerous scholars (e.g. O ' Driscoll, 1996; Edwards & Rothbard, 2000; Frone, 2003; Grzywacz & Marks, 2000) have observed that changing social demographics, altering family-role expectations, shifting family structure, aging workforce, as well as recent technological developments, increasing globalization, and international business competitiveness have contributed to a blurring of boundaries between the domains of employment and family and to greater permeability between these domains. For example, globalization may require key employees to travel or