Work-life balance has been shown to result in increased productivity and better health for employees. However, it cannot be offered in every job situation or to every employee. Work-life balance is an important benefit that should be included in all jobs where it is feasible. Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardyn (2012) describe a case about work-life balance. One individual in this case had the misconception that working his way up the corporate ladder to an executive at a major bank would result in less work, which would allow him to spend more time with his family. In reality, it resulted in working six or seven days a week at multiple locations and spending more time on the road. The promotion allowed him to see his family only on the weekends …show more content…
(2012) referenced another individual who was recruited by a company. She was able to negotiate work-life balance by getting the company to agree to a four-day workweek and the option to work from home when client visits were not needed allowing her more time with her family. This individual was able to increase productivity while maintaining work-life balance. However, the company did find that work flexibility does not work for everyone, but seems to be a good fit for individuals that are motivated, disciplined, and have concise performance measures (Gomez-Mejia et al., …show more content…
Jobs requiring employees to be physically present at the worksite, such as teachers, sales clerks, and assembly-line workers would not be able to complete the required tasks off-site (The Executive Office of the President Council of Economic Advisors, 2010 March). However, many jobs can incorporate work-life balance. Sarbu (2014 April) states there are factors in determining if employees can have flexible work arrangements. Those with higher education, tenure with the company, and the use of computers in the job increase the likelihood of having flexible work arrangements and firm size and young employees reduce the likelihood. Examples of jobs best suited for flexible hours or location are senior project managers working in Information Technology, actuaries, attorneys, management consultants and tax managers (Smith, 2013). Smith (2013) also shares that working from home is a privilege is usually granted to experienced workers who have proven to be trustworthy in the work
Previous generations have a strong belief of keeping work and home life separate; that work is for work and home is for play (Rampell, 2011, para 21). Today’s professionals do not seem to abide by similar beliefs, constantly crossing the borders of one into the other. While many recognize this as an issue that could result in employees being less productive, it has actually resulted in them accepting that their work may run late into the evening or even into the weekend. I agree with this completely in that I grew up being taught that business is business and personal is personal; you leave your home life at the door. But now times have changed, and my weekends are no longer dedicated to my home life, but for work, because I attend classes during the week. Also, in my line of work in the Allied Health industry, it is a requirement to work off hours. Long gone are the days of working nine to five, Monday through Friday; technology and the demand of wanting affairs done and done as soon as possible, has made it so the “work week” is now 24-7. “Jon Della Volpe, the director of polling at Harvard Institute of Politics, said, ‘Some experts also believe that today’s young people are better at quickly switching from one task to another, given their exposure to so many stimuli during their childhood and adolescence’” (Rampbell,
The job that I currently work at offers work-life balance like Best Buy; such as my boss letting me work only Friday and Saturday to help balance out with my fifteen-credit school schedule, as well letting me have Sunday off for church and being with my family. We are also goal driven, as being able to sell a lot of product during sales and increasing in the years has pleased our employer, and she rewards us for our efforts with scratch offs of a store product for free. Having a surplus of employees like Best Buy would not work in our situation because that would lead our employers to pay the surplus in employees and could result in an increase in product price and/or decrease in other workers’ salaries to compensate, and we have enough employees in our department to fill in the days when someone is gone. I would not make any changes because I believe our current work environment is
at some point all employees will eventually need time off from work to deal with either a serious personal illness or other family obligations. “Many European nations took to the idea of making balancing family and work easier for employees but the movement did not gain momentum in the United States until the late 60s and 70s when working women were no longer the minority” (AAUW). There was a general shift in the nature of the common everyday american household and a two income household was slowly but surely becoming the new reality of american life.
People will argue that having a low-paying job and freedom is better than a high-paying job and a 60-hour workweek. However many including myself, don’t share the views of Hal Niedzviecki’s essay’s “Stupid Jobs Are Good to Relax With”. Having a higher paying and longer hours provides much more income and allows for a lot more financial freedom. This freedom can help bring much more happiness into your life compared to the lower paying workweek. Hal Niedzviecki mentions many benefits to the easy jobs with low-paying workweeks in the following statement
This source explains the relationship between working overtime and the work-family conflict. With this source, they “investigated whether work-family conflict is prospectively related to adjustments in work schedules… in this relation”. (Jansen) They also wanted to prevent work- family conflict. They also know that balancing work and family is a challenge in today’s society for individuals. Consequences associated with work and family “job burnouts, psychological distress, depression, life dissatisfaction, elevated need for recovery from work, prolonged fatigue, and increased sickness absence”. (Jansen) The companies are starting to notices that employees are looking for other jobs that support them balance their work and family. Jansen used questionnaires to figure out the work-family conflict investigation. Each questionnaire was use with different types of working people. For example, the part-time and full-time workers. The results for the work-family conflict, “employees might adjust their working time arrangement to better reconcile work and family life…” (Jansen) They are considering their next research on the adjustments to “result in an improved work-family balance, improved health outcomes, and ultimately whether these adjustments prevent workers from leaving the labor force early.” (Jansen)
Imbalanced, our lives are imbalanced. We do not have time to climb the ladder of success if we want to be home to raise our children. We do not have time to raise our children if we want to climb the ladder of success. There are not enough hours in the day to do all the things that we need to do to have a fulfilled life. We do not have time to cook a healthy meal from scratch. We grab a box of Hamburger Helper, a can of peas, and a bag of rolls and we have dinner. Exercise consists of walking between the car and the door and maybe a little wrestling around with the kids before bed. At work productivity is counted by how many hours you spend doing your job instead of the results that our produced in that time. Mindsets like this hold us back. Flexibility for the employee is the future to balancing our lives.
When the U.S. is compared to the conditions of other workers in other countries the numbers come as quite a shock. According to the magazine Psychology Today, “The United States—one of the richest countries in the world--ranks 28th among advanced nations in the category of work-life balance, 9th from the bottom” (Cummins 1). This stressful imbalance of home life with excessive work hours has left us in desperate need of more time and is becoming a strong identifier of American culture in the world. As Cummins explains, “We log long hours at work with the fear of losing our jobs through downsizing hanging over our heads. Then we fight rush hour traffic to get home in time to be super-parents, putting dinner on the table, helping our kids with their homework, and checking in with friends and family members we feel we have neglected because we are so overwhelmed” (Cummins 1). This well pa...
(Carlson, Kacmar, Wayne, & Grzywacz, 2006). It has also been defined as “the extent to which participation at work (or home) is made easier by virtue of the experiences, skills, and opportunities gained or developed at home (or work)” (Frone, 2003). Work-family enrichment is noted as being bidirectional, in that work can enrich family life (work-to-family enrichment) and family can enrich work life (family-to-work enrichment) (Frone, 2003). It is also refered as ‘the extent to which experiences in one role improve the quality of life in the other roles’ (Greenhaus & Powell, 2006). Work-to-family enrichment occurs when work provides resource gains resulting in enhanced individual functioning in the family domain. Likewise, family-to-work enrichment occurs when family resource gains lead to enhanced individual functioning in the work domain (Carlson et al., 2006; Greenhaus & Powell, 2006). Evidence suggests that work-tofamily enrichment and family-to-work enrichment are distinct in that they tend to be weakly and differentially correlated with other aspects of work and family life such as pressure on job, decision latitude, support at work, affective support from family members, and family criticism/ burden (Carlson et al., 2006; Grzywacz & Marks,
With the modern corporate world, work enables employees to recognize contemporary economic process as well as individuals to sense responsibility as individual achievements. (McGann, et al 2016) However, this to encourage individuals risk taking and taking autonomy over their lives. Although the employment and working condition are significant in the modern corporate work as individual well-being and quality of life is
The notion of work-life balance has evolved greatly becoming ambiguous over time, along with the struggle of achieving it. It is important to realize that work-life balance can mean different things to different people. It can change and mean different things at various points in people’s careers. Work-life balance is the relative importance of work and personal life to a particular individual (work-life Balance, 2016) . With my own literal interpretation of the meaning behind this term, work-life balance is basically trying to find an equal level of work outside life. It is about having a perfectly-optimal career along with a perfectly-optimal life. But with close introspection you come to realize that work
Human resources will need to place emphasis on employee wellness my initiating programs that “include work-life balance processes, stress management, and therapy programs, and facilitating an open dialogue about mental health and illness to remove much of the stigma that plagues the conversation and ailments (Guppta, 2016).” By utilizing flexible work schedule options, demanding jobs with high-stress levels are possible because employees’ free time does not have to be sacrificed.
Companies that have implemented work-life balance programs recognize that employee welfare rebuilds the foundation 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: degree 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 minimize expectations regarding work-life balance.
Options for flexible work schedules--once nonexistent--have become a reality, with benefits for workers and employees alike. Job sharing, compressed work weeks, reduced hours, work at home, and flextime have provided employees with the means to realize a better balance between work and family and an opportunity to engage simultaneously in more than one endeavor, e.g., school and work, two careers, and work and leisure. They can also lead to economic and emotional stress and to limited opportunities for professional growth. This Digest examines flexible work options, including the characteristics of workers who select them, the organizations that offer them, and the influence they have on worker satisfaction, performance, productivity, and career progression.
...ees are expected to appreciate the work of the experts and should show enthusiasm when facing such a challenge. From the research it is evident that this is a challenge that many people face (Gambles, Lewis, & Rapoport, 2006). All employees who are facing this type of a challenge should ensure that they balance their lives. If it is difficult to do so, they should seek help from specialists who will help them solve their problems. This is a problem that many people have faced. If a person is faced with it, they should not feel that they have a problem. They should be aware that many people have been through the same situations and they were able to balance both lives. It can be possible if a person is willing and has created interest to balance both lives. This is because it is a culture and an ethical recommendation for a person to be able to balance both lives.
Various scholars have studied different factors that influence on work family issues and common aspects of the work life balance concept. Based on their view work family conflicts could occur because of various reasons arising both work and family life. This may be either Work to Family Conflict or Family to Work Conflict and personal life enhancement. People have limited number of time for all the activities. Personal issues can be more time consuming that it is difficult to keep them separate from work time that may