Work–life balance

About: Work–life balance is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2252 publications have been published within this topic receiving 36240 citations. The topic is also known as: Work Life balance & work-life balance.

Work-Life Balance: What Organizations Should do to Create Balance?

Abstract: Ignoring personal, family and social aspects and increasing emphasis towards financial bottom lines has created an imbalance in the life of the workers at all levels. The result is stress in life, conflicts in family, social distortion, deteriorating performance and low productivity. To overcome this, work-life balance is necessary which is not a recommendation but a Divine order. This research is carried out to find out the answer to the simple question: what organizations should do to create balance? The results show that training and development, professional commitment and adherence to the core values, time management, clarity of vision, purpose and objectives, employee relationships and humanity, salary package and conducive work environment and innovation are the areas that organizations should focus and act upon to create WLB. These findings look generic but their ranking and priority is unique and hence may be of interest to many organizations.

Norway leads the world in gender equality and work-life balance: a qualitative life course study of Norwegian women

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The Role of Work-Life Balance and Worker Scheduling Flexibility in Predicting Global Comparative Job Satisfaction

Abstract: Prior research has indicated that the nature of work has changed dramatically in recent years in response to economic shifts and an increasingly global economy. In part, this shift has resulted in a greater efficacy of various work-life balance and worker schedule flexibility elements in the experiences of employees in the workplace. However, little is known about the overall comparative quality of work and job satisfaction around the world in response to a shifting and increasingly interconnected global economy. In this study, we use non-panel longitudinal data from the most recent wave of the International Social Survey Program (Work Orientations IV, 2015) to conduct an exploratory comparative analysis of the impact of various workplace conditions, job characteristics, and employee attitudes in relation to comparative job satisfaction across the globe, with a special focus on the role of work-life balance and worker scheduling flexibility. Employees across the globe respond quite differently to work scenarios, which poses challenges for companies operating in multiple countries, requires adjustments to human resource practices to optimize performance levels of employees and reduce turnover expenses, and should caution managers to scrutinize their procedures to adjust to new demands in the workplace. This study adds value by making global comparisons of various workplace factors and their impact on job satisfaction using a database reflecting practices in 37 countries.

The Working Lives project: a window into Australian education and workforce participation

Abstract: Lifting the rate of workforce participation in Australia has been called ‘the challenge of the decade’. In light of the ageing workforce, changing nature of work demands and workforce attitudes, the need for insight into current patterns of workforce participation has never been more urgent. The following paper offers an overview of an Australian Research Council funded, small scale, exploratory Linkage Project which charts the first 10 years of the working lives of a group of skilled Australian workers. Using a mixed methods approach involving a retrospective, quasi-longitudinal, life course methodology focusing on self-reported reasons for job changes, the study examined the major life events and occupational transitions experienced by two groups of graduates: one from a trade and the other from a higher education pathway. The study documents an increasing emphasis on work–life balance for these workers and provides some insight into educational and workplace practice changes. The findings also indicate...

Work–life balance: how can we help women IT professionals in Morocco?

Abstract: Purpose The present study aims to understand how Moroccan women working in information technology (IT) perceive the roles they fulfill in both their private and professional lives and assess their Work–life balance (WLB). Design/methodology/approach Existing research about WLB in Morocco focuses mainly on the public sector. As the present study is the first of its kind to deal with the private sector and more specifically IT, it is exploratory in nature while adopting a qualitative methodology. Twenty Moroccan women working in IT companies in the city of Casablanca were interviewed. Collected data were analyzed using a content analysis approach. Findings It emerged from the data analysis that adhering to the cultural assumption of being the pillar of the household and to the culture of respondents’ organizations seems to be a key factor in employee WLB. Three main recommendations stemmed from the current research, namely, increased maternity leave duration, workplace nurseries and telework, may help IT female employees improve their WLB and well-being. Research limitations/implications First, the study participants were selected by one individual, which may create a “sampling bias”, where one specific profile of IT specialist could be selected. Second, only IT workers took part in the study and no IT employers were interviewed, which may yield having only “one side of the story”. Practical implications The results that emerged from the current study, particularly the three main recommendations made by the 20 interviewees (increase of maternity leave duration, workplace nurseries and telework) may be used by different IT companies in the hopes of improving female employees’ WLB and well-being. Overall, employers ought to put in place measures and accommodate employees to help them reconcile their work and personal life commitments. Social implications It has been documented that lack of WLB can result in increased stress, deleterious effects on psychological and physical well-being and increased family and marital tensions (Burchell et al., 2001; Lewis and Cooper, 1999; Scase and Scales, 1998). Therefore, various stakeholders, in addition to employers, such as the government and IT employees’ families should work collaboratively to implement meaningful WLB arrangements and, in turn, prevent the negative effects of work–life imbalance through, among others, government policy interventions. Originality/value The present study is the first of its kind that looked into the perception of WLB among Moroccan women operating in the IT industry. It offers valuable insights about how to assist female Moroccan IT workers to reconcile their work and personal life commitments.