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.

Equal employment opportunity act and work-life balance : do work-family balance policies contribute to archieving gender equality?

Abstract: This paper has two objectives. One is to clarify the aims of the government’s formulation of policies concerning work-life balance after the Equality Act entered into force and the intentions of companies in introducing systems relating to work-life balance; the other is to consider whether or not policies concerning work-life balance have had any effect on women’s participation in the labor market, using both macroand micro-level data to examine this question. As a result, the following has become clear. Firstly, the government’s main measures to promote a better work-life balance were implemented as measures to counter the declining birthrate. The vast majority of companies provide support for achieving compatibility between work and child rearing as part of their efforts to make a contribution to society. However, around two-thirds of companies have implemented measures to support achieving compatibility between work and family with the expectation that this will improve the motivation of female workers and increase their retention within the company. Secondly, over the last 20 years, the female attrition rate due to marriage has declined considerably and the level of female retention, as seen in terms of the proportion of women among long-standing staff members, has increased. At the same time, women’s relative wage has also risen. Moreover, since 2000, the employment rate among women with preschool-age children has risen, as has the proportion of female managers. However, the rise in the relative wage of women is very sluggish. Thirdly, comparing individual companies, the more assiduous the senior management at a company is about measures to promote a better work-life balance, the higher the level of female retention, and the higher the level of female retention, the more successful women are in a company.

Work-life balance among architects

Abstract: While work-life balance is defined as enabling individuals to maintain a satisfactory equilibrium between work and non-work, within the construction industry professions this is complicated by project-based nature of work, which involves travel to and from projects, long hours to meet project deadlines and the need to demonstrate commitment in order to maintain employment security. Our research aims to investigate the extent to which work-life balance initiatives operate in the architecture profession and whether they address the needs of those employed there. This paper draws on qualitative data comprising 55 interviews with Chartered architects employed in a variety of settings from sole practitioners to large practices conducted in an overall interpretive paradigm. The data reveals significant concerns over maintaining a satisfactory work-life balance within the profession. Interestingly, it is (often) the salaried architects in practices who report the greatest difficulties in balancing their work commitments with family and other non-work commitments. The sole practitioners and principals/directors of practices/companies, while also working long hours, report much greater levels of satisfaction with their working lives with flexibility in managing this time commitment. Most employee friendly work-life balance was observed within local authority employed architects but this came at a price of a less creative and smaller jobs. Our argument is thus twofold: (i) where the existing debates on work-life balance have largely ignored the employment context this is an important variable in establishing and maintaining work-life balance within [some] professional occupations such as architecture; and (ii) while a seismic shift in industry culture is required to address the time management issues reported, this will be difficult to achieve because of the project-based nature of work in the industry. Therefore, for the concept to benefit employees work-life balance research must look into these contextual factors; innovative solutions are required to negotiate the time pressures.

The effect of organizational communication towards resistance to change: a case study in banking sector

Abstract: Today’s business environment is more dynamic due to vast technological growth. This growth is most visible in the IT industry. Efficiency, together with work-life balance, is found to be one of the most important factors of success at workplace. Positive impacts of work-life balance include: retention of employees towards their employer, better motivation, and increased efficiency due to an increased employee satisfaction. Recent literature findings show a direct positive relationship between efficiency and work-life balance. Flexible work arrangements have positive impact on work-life balance and efficiency. This study analyzes the impact of flexible work arrangements on employees’ work- life balance and efficiency, using a non- random convenience sample selected from BiH’s IT employees. In the initial phase of data collection, quantitative survey instrument was adopted based on the original one from Mount Holyoke University. It was translated and back translated from English to Bosnian and again back to English and then verified as the part of pilot testing on 40 IT employees. The study was conducted in a cross-sectional time manner in the period June-July 2016. A modified, 18 questions, primary quantitative survey instrument with a 5-point Likert scale was conducted on 503 Bosnian IT employees. Fourteen questions covered inferential and last four descriptive statistics. The study aims to test if there is a significant relationship between flexible work arrangements, work-life balance, and employee efficiency with respect to their gender, age, time they travel to work and their children status. The results indicate that flexible work time and location can have a positive impact on employee work life balance and this opinion is shared by all the employees surveyed. Although 64.80% of participants stated that their work life is balanced with their personal life, there is always place for improvement. Participants agree that better work life balance, caused by flexible work time and flexible work location, will improve their efficiency and reduce stress.