ABSTRACT
Work-Life
Balance is increasing interest in academic literature, legislation and public
sector. It is meaningful daily achievement and enjoyment in life. Organizations
have started introducing various schemes to attract, retain employees and productivity.
Majority employers support the work –life balance concept. Work-life balance
which primarily deals with an employee’s ability to properly prioritize between
work and his or her lifestyle, social life, health, family etc., is greatly
linked with employee productivity, performance and job satisfaction. Where
there is proper balance between work and life, employees tend to put in their
best efforts at work, because their family is happy.
The
researcher used Merchant bank, Koforidua branch as a case study to find out the
effects improper work-life balance has on the performance of employees in an
organization.
Concerning
methodology, data used in compiling this research were gathered from both
primary and secondary sources. The management and employees of Merchant bank
were issued questionnaires. Text Books, Magazines and News Papers on work-life
balance were also used in compiling this research.
Based
on the findings revealed from the data analysis and interpretation, the
researcher came up with some suggestions and recommendations. The major
findings in this study shows that 92% of the total respondents used for the
study suffer from stress related problems brought about by the nature of their
work. Majority of the respondents complained about common stress illness such
as headaches, stomach pains etc, and their inability to balance family
responsibilities with their jobs. However, the study went ahead to reveal that
employee productivity is greatly affected by the individual’s ability to
balance work and life, as employees with better family ties tend to be more
happy and highly effective in their work place. These findings and
recommendations, in view of the researcher, will help improve productivity and
employee performance if implemented by the organizations in Ghana as well as
the government of Ghana.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Today,
work-life balance has become an increasingly pervasive concern to both
employers and employees of most organisations. Work-life balance which
primarily deals with an employee’s ability to properly prioritize between work
and his or her lifestyle, social life, health, family etc., is greatly linked
with employee productivity, performance and job satisfaction. Where there is proper
balance between work and life, employees tend to put in their best efforts at
work, because their family is happy. Most research studies have shown that when
there are happy homes, work places automatically become conflict free and
enjoyable places to be. Increasing attrition rates and increasing demand for
work-life balance have forced organisations to look beyond run of the mill Human
Resources interventions. As a result, initiatives such as flexible working
hours, alternative work arrangements, leave policies and benefits in lieu of
family care responsibilities and employee assistance programmes have become a
significant part of most of the company benefit programmes and compensation
packages.
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY AND
ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE
The
origins of research on work-life balance can be traced back to studies of women
having multiple roles. Barnett and Baruch (1985) investigated the psychological
distress connected to the balance of rewards and concerns generated by
individual women’s multiple roles as paid worker, wife and mother. They found
that positive role quality – more rewards than concerns experienced in a given
role – was related to low levels of role overload, role conflict and anxiety.
Based on their research, Barnett and Baruch defined role balance as a “rewards
minus concerns” difference score which could range from positive to negative
values.
Over
the past two decades, various studies on work-life balance practices have been
conducted and have been discussed in publications representing a number of
different academic disciplines – economics (e.g., Johnson & Provan, 1995;
Whitehouse & Zetlin, 1999), family studies (e.g., Hill, Hawkins, Ferris,
& Weitzman, 2001; Raabe, 1990), gender studies (e.g., Nelson, Quick, Hitt,
& Moesel, 1990; Wayne & Cordeiro, 2003), industrial relations (e.g.,
Batt & Valcour, 2003; Eaton, 2003), information systems (e.g., Baines &
Gelder, 2003; Frolick, Wilkes, & Urwiler, 1993), management (e.g., Konrad
& Mangel, 2000; Perry-Smith & Blum, 2000), social psychology (e.g.,
Allen & Russell, 1999; Hegtvedt, Clay-Warner, & Ferrigno, 2002), and
sociology (e.g., Blair-Loy & Wharton, 2002; Glass & Estes, 1997). The
most common approach is to view work-life balance practices through a business
case lens: that is, by offering these practices, organizations attract new
members and reduce levels of work-life conflict among existing ones, and this
improved recruitment and reduced work-life conflict enhance organizational
effectiveness.
A
review of the literature, however, questions this purported link between
work-life balance practices and organizational effectiveness. The majority of
studies investigating the outcomes of work-life practices do not measure
work-life conflict, and thus cannot support this proposed mediated relationship
(Eby, Casper, Lockwood, Bordeaux, & Brinley, 2005). The mechanisms by which
the provision of work-life practices affects both employee behaviour and
organizational performance remain unclear, and under-researched (Allen, 2001;
Schutte & Eaton, 2004). The results of a number of studies reviewed in this
paper appear to suggest that work-life balance practices do not necessarily
influence levels of employee work-life conflict, but instead improve
organizational performance via other routes, such as reduced overheads in the
case of employees working from home, improved productivity Work-Life among
employees working at their peak hours, or social exchange processes arising
from perceptions of organizational support (e.g., Allen, 2001; Apgar, 1998;
Shepard, Clifton, & Kruse, 1996).
This
study examines the literature to identify the various ways in which
organizational work-life practices may influence organizational performance.
Using a wide range of studies from a variety of disciplines, the empirical
support available for the link between work-life practices and organizational
performance at both the individual and organization level of analysis is
reviewed. Integrating the literature in this fashion provides us with important
new insights regarding potential moderators and mediators of the link between
work-life practices and organizational performance, and suggests new research
questions that may further enhance our understanding of how (or if) this link
operates.