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.

The Flexibility Paradox

Abstract: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, flexible working has become the norm for many workers. However, does flexible working really provide a better work-life balance, enhance worker’s well-being and gender equality? This volume offers an original examination of flexible working using data from 30 European countries and drawing on studies conducted across the world including China, the US and India. The book reveals how flexible working can lead to workers working longer and harder, with work encroaching on family life. This is largely due to our current work and work-life balance culture, where long hours work in the office is hailed as the ideal productive worker, compounded by the decline in workers’ bargaining power and increased levels of insecurities. Similarly, norms around gender roles and intensive parenting cultures shape how the patterns of exploitation manifests differently for women and men. Women end up exploiting themselves at home by increasing time spent on childcare and housework, reenforcing traditional gender roles. This, and assumptions around women’s flexible working can explain why women and mothers may especially be party to negative career consequences when working flexibly. However, all is not lost. The book shows changes in cultural and institutional contexts, and the wide-spread of flexible working can help change the patterns of flexibility paradox. Taking a critical stance, this book investigates the potential risks and benefits of flexible working and provides crucial policy recommendations for policy makers, managers, and workers alike in overcoming the negative consequences.

The Effect of New Normal Leadership and Workplace Flexibility on Employee Burnout and Work-Life Balance During COVID-19 Era. (c2022)

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic created a “New Normal”. Lockdown measures forced everyone to remain at home and compelled organizations to fully embrace flexible work arrangements in an effort to maintain sustainability. Overnight, work from home, previously considered as a luxury and conditionally applied by certain organizations, becomes the norm. Employees had to swiftly adapt to remote working lifestyle while juggling between home chores and home schooling and facing the uncertainties related to health and safety. This blurred the boundaries between home and work interfaces resulting in burnout and work-life balance disruption. Likewise, leadership realized that managing remote employees is quite challenging and requires specific set of skills and behaviors; hence the emergence of new normal leadership, that is people-oriented and characterized by its flexibility and resilience. Resilience becomes a vital characteristic of an organization during disturbances like the COVID-19. Furthermore, resilient employees will have the ability to strike a balance between work and home interfaces. Studies on employee resilience, although in its infancy, is progressing rapidly since resilient organizations rely on resilient employees to survive. Hence the aim of this thesis is to study the relationship between flexible work arrangements and employee burnout and work life balance in the presence of employee resilience and new normal leadership. Particularly the roles that employee resilience and new normal leadership play in the relationship between flexible work arrangements and employee burnout and work-life balance will be investigated. The conceptual model is empirically tested through an online questionnaire circulated among employees working in the Lebanon and the region. The proposed relationships were supported by the findings generated by PLS-SEM equation modeling.

Where are the female CFOs

Abstract: Most Chief Financial Officers are male even though female accountants should be well-placed to occupy these board-level positions. This article examines the impact of interactions between parenthood and the organisational environment on the career trajectory of women in the executive pipeline. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with middle management female accountants we reveal that parenthood temporarily changed their preferences for work-hours in order to balance career aspirations with desires to care for children, but they subsequently experienced discrimination as their managers and/or colleagues perceived flexible working to be synonymous with lower prioritisation of the organisation. In contrast, all women who were able to work part-time with their original employer while their children were young resumed successful careers once their children were older. If society wishes to increase the number of women at board-level then workplace culture must be developed to integrate and facilitate flexible work practises at all organisational levels.

Work-life balance: a case study analysis on google and a comparative study of practices followed in norway and india

Abstract: The concept of work life balance emerged during the Industrial Revolution. In those days Industrialists agreed upon labour union’s demand of ‘One day off’. Later on, this is converted into ‘two day off’ which is followed in all the western countries. Grady et al (2008) stated that the term’ work-life balance’ is more comprehensive and includes “family, community, recreation and personal time.” The objectives of the research are to study the impact of practices followed in Norway and India on work-life balance, to gain insight on Google company’s work-life balance practices, to identify and suggest vital work-life balance practices that can be applied in Indian context. The research is descriptive in nature. The data has been collected mainly from secondary sources – research papers, annual report of companies (employee engagement) and articles. The tools used for achieving objectives and analysing are comparison method, case study analysis and survey method. The comparative and case study analysis shows that the education system, job security, income inequality are some of the factors which hinder the work-life balance in India. Flexi hours, time for creativity, family participation in workplace boost the enthusiasm and morale of the employees. The research is based on secondary sources. The primary data would more effectively convey the problems faced in work life balance. The work-life balance practices followed by only one company is taken into the study due to time constraint. The comparative analysis of work-life balance practices of big films would give better insight and would help in deriving dynamic solution. The sector centred, institution centred or gender centred study will give broader overview of the work-life balance. The search acts a base for comparative analysis. KeywordsWork-life balance, stress, employee, family,